Back to work!

We get to see Merlots work with runes, and learn of her detentions with Quirrell. A heads up, some of these spells she mentions may seem overpowered and out of character for Merlot to learn, and that's because they are. Merlot is being taught spells by Quirrell in detentions, under the guise that she is also learning how to better dispel them. Spells like the fiendfyre charm and its variations, enchanted shield spells, etc.

Still, these are mostly defensive spells. Some of them just have bitter consequences if one with no experience attempts to cross them.

So without further ado, let's get into it!

—0—

"Your work continues to baffle me."

Merlot sat upon one of the armchairs in the headmasters office. He was looking over her compiler and arranged notes while she was looking over the invisibility cloak with a magnifying glass.

"Perhaps you should raise the bar a bit more." Merlot spoke in monotone, all of her concentration set upon her new sample of study.

"It has only been a month and some change, you have completed fifteen chapters!"

Merlot nodded, leaning closer to the cloak and observing the tiny stars in its ethereal fabric. Even looking closely with a magnifying glass, she was unable to discern much. The silver glow of each star was familiar in a way, giving off a magic that she knew from somewhere.

"I mainly compiled my most relevant notes together in a system of complexity, beginning with the very basics and working up to what you say is complex."

Albus chortled at the young witch as he flipped through her compiled volume of rune notes.

"I would point out several spelling mistakes… we'll, more than several it seems. Can you tell me what 'saguturus' means?"

"That isn't how you spell Sagittarius?" Merlot blinked.

Albus couldn't help but laugh as the witch pouted. "Oh come now my dear, it is perfectly fine. Everyone has their strengths and everyone makes mistakes. I see how the mention of Sagittarius would fit into this chapter."

Merlot grumbled as she turned back to the invisibility cloak. "Obviously there are some things I will have to fix."

"And don't worry about asking others for help." Albus pointed out. "For something as trivial as spelling, it would be fine to request aid without giving mention to your helper in your work."

Merlot sighed. "Trivial… it feels so irritating to hear that in regards to my reading and writing ability…"

"Once again Miss Scortwit, we all have our strengths." Albus smiled. "How go your counseling sessions with Poppy?"

Merlot shrugged. "I'm making progress, apparently. I do enjoy when Professor Snape fills in, however."

"So I have heard." Albus smiled. "Fear not, I don't know of what you talk about, I simply know that you are growing. What of your detentions with Professor Quirrell?"

Merlot's eyes sparkled. "I don't think anyone quite understands just how remarkable a professor the man is."

Albus blinked. That was not what he expected.

"Granted, his speech impediment can make him a bit difficult to understand, however he is such a wellspring of knowledge. He has taught me so much!"

Albus nodded. "All within safe bounds I assume? Nothing… deadly."

"Oh of course not." Merlot shook her head. "But he's taught me spells that I can use to protect, even this fancy one that makes a wall of blue flames."

Albus nodded, his fingers beginning to thump softly upon the top of his desk, a nervous habit he had never seemed to break. "The incantation wouldn't happen to be Protego diabolica, would it?"

Merlot nodded. "That's the one. He told me it is rather dangerous… he was mainly showing me how the spell operated so that I could understand how to dispel it if I ever had to. I figured the rest out on my own."

He was teaching her how to dispel it. That meant he had made it to Severus's task in the third corridor. It was honestly one of the more brilliant traps in the gauntlet, made with a combination of his knowledge, Bathsheda Babblings runes, and the drop of dark magic from Severus.

The whole room functioned as a puzzle. The doors on either end of the room were covered in a runic array that produced the flames. If any enemy of Albus's were to walk through without one of Severus's potions, they would turn to ash. If they drank any of the potions, they would be able to pass through, unharmed, although any mental shields they had would be destroyed, Albus and Severus would be alerted, and the philosophers stone would activate as a portkey and return to Gringotts, where Nicholas would pick it up after being notified.

Quite the fun little bit of security, and Severus was still working on a few improvements that had something to do with nettle wine.

"You do understand the…" Albus paused. "True function of such a spell."

Merlot nodded. "It's a variation of the Fiendfyre charm. I know that it can cause a lot of harm to people but I think I could find a way to change that."

Albus nodded. "Well, there isn't much I can do if you already know the charm… what else has Quirrell taught you?"

"Minor animation charms and uses for summoning. He did show me a few interesting spells when we got into composite work."

Albus raised an eyebrow. If Quirrell was teaching the girl composite spells, that meant he had more use for her than getting through the forbidden corridor. The dark spirit possessing her must see some promise. Perhaps that was why Light feared her? Or maybe… just maybe, Tom was still inside of the evil spirit of Voldemort. Maybe he was experiencing the same thing Albus did.

The headmaster would have to find some sort of way to look into that.

"What sort of composites did he teach?" Albus inquired, slipping back into reading Merlot's rune work.

"Again, mostly defensive spells. He showed me how to enchant a shield spell, which was probably one of the most draining things I've ever done." Merlot spoke, looking back at the invisibility cloak. "It led into our discussion of the disillusionment charm."

"And how have you been practicing these shield spells?"

"We do a pseudo duel." Merlot answered. "I don't really enjoy fighting him, that's why we mainly work on defending. But it's still progress for me, I've faced another wizard, you know?"

Albus nodded. It was even more surprising to hear that. Voldemort had been helping her with her disposition of magic use on other beings. If there was anyone who knew what 'off the deep end' meant, it was the dark lord. He was a professional at harming others. It did Albus wonders to know that he was fixing someone instead.

"Well, I am glad that everything is going well. It is however, getting rather late. You should probably return to your common room before dinner, we will be having latkes tonight I am told." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "And since Christmas is soon to be upon us, I do have to ask, are you okay with staying here for the holidays?"

Merlot folded up the invisibility cloak and nodded. "Scortwit and Charlie were both called to South America to investigate a sighting of an Asian Lung, they aren't supposed to be that far west."

"Yes, that's quite far…" Albus stroked his beard. "Well then, I will look forward to seeing you at the Christmas feast. I assume that I will have to put together a gift for you in the meantime…"

Merlot shook her head as she stood up. "I really don't need anything sir, the opportunity to study the cloak has been enough."

Albus smiled. "If you insist… I'll just put the galleons into your quidditch fundraiser. The Black Wraith indeed!"

Merlot blushed and gave a quick bow. "Good night sir."

"Good night miss Scortwit. Do mind the gargoyle on your way down the stairs, he will give you the new password for the changeover next week."

Merlot nodded and walked out of the headmaster's office, leaving the man at his desk as he pondered the information he just received in bulk. With a shrug, he picked up a small cube from beside his inkwell and rolled it on the tabletop.

As it landed, a shower of purple and yellow sparkles flew up before swirling around and turning into a picture of a lemon.

"How entertaining!"

—0—

"So tell me why we're standing in front of this weird tapestry?"

"I told you, the room is around here somewhere. All the books say so at least."

"What books say so?"

"The books you can't get to of course. Isn't that right Fred?"

"Yep, too ickle of a firstie George."

Ron rolled his eyes at his twin brother's antics. "So what's the big deal about this room anyway? And when are you going to pay me and Draco for our work?"

"Soon! Soon! To answer your first question, the room of requirement is the key to a mountain of problems concerning the two of you and our business of pranking!" George grinned.

"It's rumored that the room can provide whatever the person who summons it needs! A potions room-"

"A workshop-"

"A secret passage-"

"A hiding place!"

"The point is, having our own personal area that can be anything is a bit of a big deal." Fred said.

"Indeed, that and if it does have everything, we can brew potions that will make pranks much much easier."

"Polyjuice,"

"Stinkers Draft,"

"Weak love potions, etcetera."

"The only question is, how do we get in?" Draco spoke for the first time that night and walked up to the tapestry.

Fred and George looked at each other and nodded, before stepping up behind the blonde. "Well, what we're supposed to do is pass the tapestry three times."

"All while thinking about something we need."

Behind them, Ron walked back and forth shaking his head. 'Honestly, why can't we just find the room and be done with it. Fill it with Quidditch things for all I care.'

The sound of stone scraping on stone echoed through the hall and the group turned, watching as a door slowly grew out of nowhere upon the wall.

"Wicked."

Fred and George shared a handshake before stepping up to the doors. "Ready Fred?"

"I'm ready George. One, two, three!"

The dynamic duo wrenched the doors open and gazed in awe at the room before them.

It was a regulation size quidditch pitch, held indoors! The walls were decorated with pictures of Hogwarts alumni, old brooms, house colors, books, and various other trinkets that had to do with the sport.

"Wicked… there's a picture of you George!" Fred ran over to the Gryffindor wall. "And look!"

"One of you as well!" George grinned. "Are those…"

"Our old beater bats! I was wondering where those got off to." Fred blinked, taking a beaten up length of wood from the wall.

"It's not only you guys," Draco spoke, walking over to the Slytherin wall, and then looking at the Ravenclaw wall. "That's Eobard Flemming, he was a graduate of Hogwarts and a chaser for the English national team."

A picture of a reedy boy holding a quaffle on the back of a broomstick sat at the center of the Ravenclaw wall, next to pictures of other successful alumni.

"Decan Doving, Amelia Finch, Merlin…" Ron breathed. "This has got to be one of the biggest collections of Quidditch Memorabilia in the world!"

Fred and George walked down the side of the room, looking at all of the pictures one by one.

"Look, even James Potter is up here."

"James Potter?" Draco blinked, walking over. "As in the father of Harry Potter?"

"One and the same. He was a star chaser, even got an award for it." Fred nodded, pointing to an old picture of the man.

He was thin and had messy black hair. Picture showed him on an old broom, presumably a comet one twenty, dipping and dodging as if he were born to fly.

"Not every day a player like that comes around."

"He moves like Scortwit does." Ron blinked, watching as the picture played over again. "A lot like Scortwit… it's scary."

"The mark of a Quidditch ace." George nodded. "Most of 'em go on to join the national leagues. Wouldn't surprise me if Scortwit ends up going in herself."

The four boys looked at the picture a bit longer, before Ron shook his head. "How did all of this stuff get in here anyways?"

A pop alerted all of them to the arrival of a house elf, it's bat like ears waggling a bit as it walked over to the Hufflepuffs wall. The fact that it hadn't noticed the four of them as they stared at it was a bit surprising in and of itself.

It was dressed in brown canvas pants and a white shirt, the crest of Hogwarts emblazoned across its back. It let out a few whimsical hums as it took a rolled out scroll of paper and let it float up to the wall. The paper unfurled and became flat, as a frame appeared around it. The elf popped away as the frame hung itself on the Hufflepuff wall.

"Guess that answers your question." Fred blinked.

"Hogwarts has elves?" Draco stared at the spot the house elf had disappeared from.

"You didn't know that?" George looked at the blonde. "They dust everything and make all of the food."

"You didn't think everything was just magically conjured did you?" Fred blinked. "It's impossible to conjure food for starters."

Draco shook his head. "I just never realized. How many are bound to Hogwarts?"

"Probably around eighty some." George shrugged. "They're all pretty nice. All disowned from old families."

Draco nodded. "Interesting…"

"If you're thinking about disowning one of the Malfoy elves, we've certainly got a pace for them." Fred spoke.

"No… I just… Seeing how that one is dressed, makes me think a bit. They do Hogwarts proud."

The three Weasleys nodded as Draco pondered his own elf, who was not quite like the others. He had never been the same, and Draco had a feeling that it was because of his father.

"Look what the elf brought in." Ron said suddenly, walking over to the Hufflepuff wall. "It's Scortwit."

"The black wraith herself… Looks like a new poster." George blinked.

"Have to admit, the name fits."

"Watching her is literally like watching a cloud float around." Draco shook his head. "I'd kill to play her."

Fred shook his head. "It's impossible to be honest. We've sat in on some of the Hufflepuff practices, she's impossible to keep track of."

"The captain, Alden Summers, drills her hard." George shrugged. "Although she makes it seem easy."

"Yeah. The Hufflepuff beaters are pretty nasty themselves. Summers typically has them practice on her with six bludgers at once. Makes their aim pretty tough to beat, but she hasn't ever been hit."

"That's insane…"

"Six? Six bludgers at the same time?" Draco rubbed the back of his head. "That's nuts… That's risking your neck, back, brains… that's utter insanity!"

"Still, she does it. Craziest broom pilot I've ever seen." Fred shook his head. "It's getting late though… Now we know where the room is, we should go before curfew starts."

"What about-"

George rolled his eyes. "Check your pockets Ron. For you Draco, we know you've got money, so we gave you something a bit more… practical. At least for you."

Draco blinked as the twin pulled out two small vials, one holding a series of golden beads, and the other containing a swirling purple liquid.

"What are-"

"These? The latest from our workbench. Persistent poppers, and an itching solution."

"Just enough to be annoying for a certain Slytherin quidditch captain." George winked.

"Put the poppers in his shoes, and they'll let out snaps and pops with every step. They don't go away, and after the first pop, they'll fuse to both his shoes, and socks."

"He'll spend the next weeks trying to get them out!" George grinned. "Months if you put them in with the itching solution."

Draco grinned as he accepted the two pranks. "Father definitely wouldn't approve. That just means I have to avoid getting caught."

"You're catching on there!" Fred clapped the boys shoulder. "Now come on, Filch normally starts his patrols on this floor."

Ron followed them out, counting the handful of coins that Fred and George had given him. As he was about to step out of the door, Fred stopped him.

"Listen Ron, we know that mum took your wand and is forcing you to use Charlie's old one."

George stepped back into the room after sending Draco on his way. "You've got a good hand on that illusion, making people think it's brand new. But the two of us can see right through that."

Fred waved his wand, causing the polished surface of Ron's wand to fade, and reveal the battered and old implement he had been using.

"Is it really that obvious?" Ron sighed.

"To us? Yeah. We've heard about you from some of our teachers." Fred nodded.

"Especially from Snape. He doesn't like wands misfiring in his classroom."

"And wands don't misfire often. Normally only if they truly reject their wielder."

George nodded. "That's how Olivander tests wands."

Ron huffed. "Yeah, Charlie's wand doesn't accept me. Unicorn is the exact opposite of a dark creature like an Acromantula. The cores reflect that. What's your point."

Fred looked at George, George looked at Fred. The two nodded.

"Our point is, Little brother, that we can get you a stand in."

"A stand in?"

"Third years can go to Hogsmead, the wizarding village? There's a branch of ollivanders shop there." George whispered. "Tell us what your wand core was, the wood, the length. We'll do our best to get something similar, which will last you the year."

"Okay… and what do you want in return?" Ron narrowed his eyes. "For something like a new wand, the price is probably pretty high."

Fred and George looked at each other, before looking back. "If anything, we'd need dew from a place untouched by man. So, from a place has not seen light or human feet for seven days."

"Strange request… where would I even find-"

"If we knew, we'd tell you." Fred rolled his eyes. "But, if you get us four teaspoons of it, using a silver teaspoon of course, we'll let you in on our side project."

"A silver teaspoon? I have the bare scrapings when it comes to money! Where-"

"We just found a room full of everything." George shook his head. "Maybe you could start looking in there?"

Ron blinked, before nodding. "Okay… and you promise me that you'll let me in on it?"

"Trust us Ron, you'll be doing a huge part of the work for us. If you do this, we'll give you something way better than gold."

Ron stared at the twins, before rolling his eyes. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. You're sure about the wand, right?"

"Oh, we're sure." George grinned. "What are the measurements?"

Ron looked at the two of them. "Twelve and a half inches. Acromantula venom core. Blackthorn with a twist of black walnut as the grip."

"Interesting…" Fred nodded as he jotted it down on a bit of parchment. "We'll get this for you of course. Should be fine."

Ron nodded. "Thank you…"

"Of course. Now, let's get back to the dorms. Seriously, we're pushing it right now."

Ron nodded, and the three redheads made their way through the castle to Gryffindor Tower.

—0—

Okay, Chapter whatever this one is now. For ffn, thirty seven? And for AO3, forty. Sorry for the wait of course, I've been busy with a pretty big project. Updates might be a bit slower from now on, but I'll probably jump in here and there because my posting is always erratic.

I hope you all like what I'm doing with Fred, George, Ron and Draco. I think having the two first years sort of be students to the twins is something that hasn't really been done. Then again, there aren't many stories where Draco and Ron start out as friends. Make no mistake though, this won't be the new marauders. I think that having Fred and George learning from the marauders is going to be a sort of passing the torch as the sort of 'Hogwarts Pranksters.'

Instead of having them devoutly worship Sirius and Remus, I want them to acknowledge the previous generation, and make their own path through pranking. Fred and George are always original in their pranks, they are very big on making their own splash, which is why they found the Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. They don't copy Zonkos, but they do their own thing. Making them junior Marauders just… it takes away from them in my eyes.

So, as always, let me know what you think. And until next time,

Adios.