Shifted: Book Two

Chapter Thirty Five - Hatching a Plan

"What did you see?", Harry asked Hazel as the two stumbled through the hallways of the school grounds that evening.

"I saw James-", Hazel began to explain, her mind rushing with a million thoughts she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"You saw my dad?", Harry asked in disbelief.

Hazel continued, nodding her head in agreement.

"He must've been our age, he was with Sirius, Remus and Peter too."

She took a deep breath, and the two walked round the corner, both finding a little more balance in their feet now.

"They began picking on Snape, hanging him upside down and calling him names- high school bullying", she regretfully admitted, because she knew that would give Harry a sense of disappointment in his father, though it did make it clear as to one of the reasons why Snape despised him so much.

Their conversation was quickly interrupted by the sound of a little boy sniffling around the next corner. As they walked round the bend, not only did they see the small, frail Gryffindor boy, presumably a first or second year, sat on the bench with his shoulders hunched, but they were pleasantly surprised with the greeting of Fred and George, no games, no tricks, they were simply there to comfort the poor boy.

"What's your name?", Fred asked softly, crouched down on one side of him.

"Michael", he responded, wiping his tears on the sleeve of his robe.

"Your hand's gonna be fine, Michael", Fred added, patting his little leg tenderly.

"Yeah. It's not as bad as it seems. See? It's fading already", George added, reassuring Michael as he showed him his hand too, presenting the faint scar printed on his skin.

"You can hardly see ours anymore, and the pain stops after a while", Fred finished, though the broken child continued to sniffle and tear up.

Michael continued to weep, and who could blame him? A boy of his age being tormented by the villainous Umbridge? That was regretfully understandable.

Hazel and Harry approached the three of them, hoping to comfort Michael too. Unfortunately for them, they were interrupted by that unsettling giggle. There she was, drenched in pink, Umbridge stood by the doors at the end of the hallway, her hands clasped in one another in front of her.

"As I told you once before, naughty children deserve to be punished", Umbridge spoke with a condescending grin, looking at Hazel before walking away.

Hazel clenched her fist; it was so peculiar how one, pathetic person could make Hazel's blood boil so hot that steam could blow out her ears. Umbridge enjoyed making people, especially children, suffer, and that was something Hazel wouldn't tolerate any longer. Fred and George stood up and watched Umbridge walk away before hatching a plan.

"You know, George, I've always felt our futures lay outside the world of academic achievement", Fred said, putting his hand in his pockets and staring into the empty doorway.

"Fred, I've been thinking exactly the same thing", George replied, as the two shared mischievous smirks.

They didn't reveal a thing, but they had just created, probably one of their best, tricks ever. All they needed to do was wait for the right moment, and that right moment soon whizzed by.