"I'm telling you mate," said Ron Weasley as he and his best friend Harry Potter walked through the Transfiguration Courtyard carrying their brooms "The Cannons are sure to finish top of the league this year."
"Not likely," said Harry "its Puddlemere United's year to grab the cup. By the way, when did you get that broom?"
"Oh, mum got it for me as a reward for becoming a prefect," replied Ron "It's no Firebolt, but a Cleansweep Eleven is good enough for a keeper."
"Kind of expensive as well," observed Harry.
"Yeah. I guess Dad will have to work a bit of overtime to pay it off, but it'll be worth it when I make starting keeper for the Chudley Cannons."
Not too far away stood Hannah Abbott, whose eyes were shooting daggers at Ron's back. "I bet I know where the money for that broom came from," she muttered under her breath.
"Hannah?" asked Neville in a quiet voice.
She shook her head and led Neville off in the opposite direction to Harry and Ron, saying "Come on, the sooner this mess is sorted out the better off everyone will be."
They soon made it to the owlery and took a look around.
"Hannah, how to we take one of these owls into the castle?" asked Neville.
"Just stun one," replied Hannah as she reached into her pocket and took out a piece of parchment, an envelope and a self-inking quill.
"What are you doing?" asked Neville.
"Just checking something," said Hannah as she put the quill to the parchment and wrote
Hi mum. Just a note to say hi.
The first week back has been ok so far, though the teachers are definitely piling the homework on this year. I've always wondered why it's called homework, as we don't actually do it at home.
Justin says it's impossible to use up six feet of parchment when writing about bubble-head charms and I am inclined to agree. I've written four feet and eight inches and there is literally nothing more to say on the subject. Maybe I should make my handwriting bigger.
Saturday afternoon was fun. We all went outside and sat by the lake for lunch and stayed there for the rest of the day. We had a great time and it's unfortunate that we'll probably have to wait until May before we can do something like that again, as the sun will probably disappear behind a cloud and not be seen again for eight months.
Anyway that's all for now. I'll write to you again soon.
Love Hannah.
Hannah folded up the parchment, placed it into the envelope and wrote her mother's name on it. She then called down a tawny owl and attached the letter to its leg before letting it fly off.
"And what exactly are you checking?" asked Neville.
"Just watch," said Hannah.
They watched as the tawny owl flew over the grounds and towards the gates of the school ground. A moment after it soared over the gates there was an unmistakable flash of red light. By that point it had been difficult to make out the owl, but there was no doubt in either of their minds as to what had just happened.
"They are watching for owls," muttered Neville.
Hannah nodded before turning around, drawing her wand as she did so, and firing a stunning spell of her own.
A little Eurasian scops owl slumped on his perch.
"Seems a little small, don't you think?" asked Neville.
"Easier to carry about unnoticed," replied Hannah as she scooped up the small owl.
After two hours of searching, Katie and Bianca were at a loss. Fred and George Weasley were nowhere to be found. They had not been in the Gryffindor Common Room, or in their dormitory. They had not been near the kitchens, or down to the Quidditch Pitch. They were not out on the grounds or wandering through the corridors.
Angelina, Alicia, Lee and everyone else that they had asked all stated that they had not seen either of the twins since breakfast. This was not an especially unusual occurrence as Hogwarts castle was rather big and its current population was rather smaller than what the place could potentially hold.
It was, however, rather frustrating that they didn't have so much as a hair to go on.
"Well," said Katie "guess we'd better go back to the common room and begin there again."
"How about checking in there?" asked Bianca, pointing to an open door to their right.
Katie looked around and saw that it was the entrance to the library. She turned back to Bianca and the two of them broke out into a fit of loud giggles.
They were interrupted by an annoyed voice calling out through the open library door "Do you mind? Some of us are trying to read in here!"
The two girls' giggles broke off at once and they entered the library. There, sitting on the table nearest the door on the left hand side were Fred and George Weasley.
"Holy crap, you are actually studying!" exclaimed Katie.
"We certainly are," replied Fred, not looking up from the heavy tome that lay open in front of him.
"And we would appreciate it if you kept the noise down," added George, who seemed to be taking a copious amount of notes.
"What on earth are you two up to?" asked Bianca "This can't be for your N.E.W.T exams!"
"You're right, it's not." said George.
"What is it then?" asked Bianca.
"It's private." said Fred
"Private my foot!" retorted Katie and snatched up the nearest book.
"Oi!" exclaimed George as Katie flipped the book over to get a look at the front cover.
"How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying." she read aloud "A Wizarding Guide to Setting up Your Own Business."
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