Fred and George and the Toilers of Trouble (Year 1) ✔

Chapter 10:2

The debate raged on during Herbology, where they failed a surprise test on aromatics, and then all through Potions, where Professor Snape gave them detentions after measuring their homework and finding the parchment short by half an inch for Fred and a full inch for George. Still, their thoughts lingered on the rite of passage awaiting them. Especially in History of Magic, having just spotted Graham and Briers in the corridor, each with a Quaffle under one arm and looking dangerously eager. As Professor Binns expounded on the Elvish Resistance of the fourth century in a haunting drone that put nearly everyone to sleep, the twins wondered how they could avoid being taken at all. Fred settled on the idea of hiding under the invisibility cloak.

"And what...sleep in the same bed?" George protested in a whisper. "Like when you used to have bad dreams about —"

"Don't even say it, George..."

"— the undead!"

Fred's eyes bulged from their sockets, and he gnawed anxiously on his bottom lip. "Inferi are a real thing and you know it! Grindelwald the Many used them. Or...he tried to...or something."

"Shouldn't we be bringing the cloak back to Dumbledore?"

"Why? He's been keeping it locked up there in his office. Bit greedy, isn't it?" said Fred. "I don't see why we can't borrow it for a while. I mean, how often does he need to be invisible? I'd wager he never finds out, even if we held onto it for years."

"Well, we can't keep hiding it under our beds, can we?" George persisted.

Fred was grinning. "That's why there's a trunk in the throne room. You need a place to stash all your bits and baubles. Which is why we have to get it open. We can store the cloak in there with whatever Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs left behind."

"Let's save that adventure for another day, shall we?" George insisted. "We need to find out where they're taking us tomorrow night. That way, we'll know what to expect."

After an exercise with Professor McGonagall on how to transfigure a bowler hat into a tea cozy, where they did little more than stare out the window at the distant town of Hogsmeade, the twins snuck away to the fifth floor corridor, and to the throne room behind the nasty statue of Gregory the Smarmy. Fred unfolded the Marauder's Map on the wooden table, and their eyes instinctively searched for Victor Sparrow. According to the map, he had been questioned regularly by Mr. Filch about the paintings. It seemed too easy to assume Victor had done it, though they agreed he was most likely responsible. His dot was constantly wandering the school alone, in search of trouble. He had numerous hiding places, served detention on a daily basis, and appeared to have a surprisingly cordial relationship with Peeves the Poltergeist.

Following this, and desperate for clues about Hogsmeade, Fred and George attempted to communicate with the essence enchantment within the parchment, but the four marauders were still unwilling to discuss anything but the secrets of the map. Fred looked for the dot labeled 'Angelina Johnson' next, hoping that she had been released from the hospital wing. George sat forward on the carved seat of Helga Hufflepuff and rested his elbows on the wood table, grumbling to himself about their fellow Gryffindor. Then he noticed four cylindrical holes, no more than an inch deep, in the center of the table. After a moment's consideration, he realized they were the same size as the handle of a magic wand. George lit his wand with a spell and inserted the larger end into the hole. Instantly, the room radiated in the soft glow of wandlight.

"Clever trick," Fred concluded, adding his wand to the table.

"Those founders knew what they were doing," said George, admiringly. "If only they'd left a map of where that dead awful path behind us was leading."

"Well, think for a moment," said Fred keenly. "In Transfiguration, we had a clear view of Hogsmeade, right? Based on where the classroom is on the map...that puts the mountain here...and the town in this area, here." He pointed to a spot on the table, just left of their position. "If the path behind us is going this way...and all these other passages lead away from the castle in the same direction... Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I knew there was a reason I put on my good shoes this morning."

"George, none of your shoes are good shoes."