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

Chapter 28:4

When the team separated, Shep Quarter reached into his robe and handed the twins their Bludger bats, scarred and dented from so many years of play.

"What's this for?" asked Fred.

"Practice," Shep replied. "You need to be at your best if you're going to take down Slytherin. An hour or two each week." He prodded the twins with a loose fist. "Do that — and show up to the matches — and you boys will be unstoppable."

As they watched him join some of the most somber clusters of seventh years on the lawn, the twins felt themselves swelling with pride and more excited than ever for second year to come. That is, until Mr. Filch zipped over to claw the bats from their hands.

"No removal of school property," he said, an angry glob of spit dribbling from his lips. "Against regulations."

Mrs. Norris hissed at them, as he strode drunkenly back to the school. Fred glared down at the cat, his jaw set.

"George?"

"Yes."

"I'll be right back..."

"Of course."

George watched with delight as his twin brother stalked the caretaker and his foul cat from tree to tree, unaware that Angelina was approaching.

"Hey, Fred!"

He turned to see her coming, and glanced down at the blazing letter 'F' on his jumper. Angelina was unaware that she was addressing the wrong Weasley.

"What a year, huh?"

George nodded awkwardly and peered over his shoulder, as Fred pulled a root out of his pocket and tossed it at Mrs. Norris. She took it in her mouth and scurried away to the shadows of the forest.

"Fred, would you be willing to do me a favor?" Angelina unknowingly asked to George. He nodded uncomfortably. "Apologize to him for me, will you?

He suddenly felt his cheeks flushing with heat. "You...you know the spell is broken. You can actually talk directly to George."

"I'm aware of that," she replied, glancing over at Fred in the opposite sweater. "I just feel awful for all the things I'd said."

Looking remorseful, Angelina reached out and threw herself around him in a massive hug. George's arms were limp at his sides. It felt strange, but he hugged her back. And, for a moment, George wondered if she knew it was really him. When Angelina pulled away, she was smiling sweetly. He scratched at his head.

"I know George better than anyone, and he's...sorry, too."

Angelina nodded understandingly. "Well, I'm going to leave before he returns, if that's all right." She turned to face the path to Hogsmeade, following the other first years. "See you on the train?" she called back.

"Yeah, you should...er...sit with us," he replied uncertainly.

"Falling in hate again, are we?" said Fred charmingly, as he swooped up beside his brother.

"Oh, shut up. What were you even doing?"

He tapped his robe and opened it to reveal that one of the journals was stuffed into an inside pocket. "Let's just say, Mrs. Norris will now have a bark much bigger than her bite."

The twisting, pebbled road to Hogsmeade was a long one, but it felt shorter than ever that afternoon, and not just because Fred and George struggled to walk properly. They gazed up at the Shrieking Shack on the hill, and thought back to that terrible night when they had been properly recognized as members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. They smiled at the mass of trees in the Forbidden Forest, recalling the passageway to the castle that was expertly hidden in the underbrush. They saw the sign for the Hogs Head Inn and Zonko's Wizarding Joke Shop. And there, stretched along the platform, beside a row of sorrowful students, was the Hogwarts Express.

Their first year was through. It was time to return home.

The compartments were soon overflowing with clusters of students sharing snacks, playing wizard chess and Gobstones, and trading Famous Witches and Wizards cards, including the cabin where Fred and George were seated, along with Lee and Angelina.

"And there he is!" said George, as they spread out Lee's insignificant card collection.

The very card they had taken from the box of Chocolate Frogs on the first ride from King's Cross was a rare Wizard's card of Vindictus Viridian. The animated picture looked exactly like the man from the Pensieve — distinguished, box-jawed, with short wavy hair and a tailored beard. They flipped the card over so they could read his statistics.

"It's changed, just like our history books," said Fred, as he handed the card to Lee.

"Discovered at Hogwarts after fifty long years, thanks in very small part to a boy named —" Lee choked in a hoot of laughter. He spun the card round and handed it back to them.

"Quercy Weasley," the twins read, never laughing so hard in their lives.

"Having a grand old time, are we?" said Cedric Diggory as he peeked into their compartment. "Do you mind if I sit with you, at least until we leave the station?"

The twins scooted aside so he could fit on their bench seat.

"I have to ask, were you really the...Toilers of Trouble?"

Fred and George nodded proudly, still grinning from the misprint.

"And you thought it was funny to do that to the Hufflepuff jerseys?"

"What did we do?" asked Fred.

"I don't recall that one," George noted.

"The Pufflehuff team?" Cedric elaborated, looking at them disbelievingly. "With the fighting Puffskein emblem. Violet and black? Ring any bells?

"Oh, yeah. That one," George suddenly recalled. "Sorry, mate."

"You were an unintended casualty, Diggory," said Fred. "Had to be done. Now, if you want to see some proper magic..." He pulled out the square of parchment and handed it to their old friend.

"What is this?" Cedric asked, as he looked down at the few remaining ink dots that lingered on the school grounds.

"That...is a map of the castle," said George casually. "Shows everyone — students, teachers, house-elves...even the ghosts."

"How'd you get it?"

"Ah, that would be giving away the plot, now, wouldn't it?" said Fred in an enlightened tone.

"Hang on — what about the closing incantation?" Lee mentioned urgently. "You've gotta do it soon. The train is about to leave."

"Can't do magic outside of school," Angelina agreed.

"What incantation?" Cedric inquired.

George took back the map and set it on the shared table by the window. "How to shut the thing off. You know...so the Hufflepuff spies won't learn what we're up to."

Diggory laughed uncomfortably.

"What's it gonna be?" Lee asked, as the twins faced one another.

"It's got to be really great, George."

"That it does, Fred."

"It's simple," said Angelina, raising a clever eyebrow at them. "What are you going to use it for?"

In the silence of the room, the Weasley boys spoke to one another's minds. And as the train whistle resounded in the distance, signaling the departure of the Hogwarts Express, two very devious smiles lingered upon their matching faces. Fred and George reached for their mediocre wands, swung them down at the map, and spoke in one voice.

"Mischief Managed!"

THE END