Weekends weren't rest days for the Quidditch teams, no matter which one.
Especially this year, after Slytherin introduced a team equipped with the Firebolt 2001, all the house teams went crazy. If they couldn't compete with their equipment, they would just have to sweat more.
As for the Slytherins, they were more than happy to show off the speed of their new brooms on the pitch. Even if it couldn't crush the opponents' morale by tons, flying in the air while showing off their skills on the latest broom was still something to enjoy. How good they were at playing didn't matter; what mattered was that their brooms had to look cool.
As Slytherin's sworn enemy, the Gryffindor team was probably the hardest-working team. Captain Wood not only dragged everyone out early in the morning but also didn't let any of the students return to the common room during breakfast or lunch.
"Sandwiches are enough. Do you want to lose to those Slytherins?" He scolded his teammates.
So, when the Gryffindor Quidditch team returned to the locker room, they realized they were the last to know about Filch's large-scale student arrests.
"Scrubbing toilets, washing bedpans, wiping trophies, handling potion ingredients, fermenting dragon dung; Gryffindor's been doing all the odd jobs at Hogwarts. I think after we graduate, we could apply for jobs in Hogwarts' kitchen."
When the Weasley twins returned covered in sweat and dirt, their friend Kevin was in the common room complaining to everyone around him. Among the listeners was their friend Lee Jordan.
"Hey, Kevin, Lee, what are you guys up to?"
George greeted his friends, trying to ignore the fatigue from a day of practice.
However, for the first time, his enthusiastic greeting was ignored. Kevin glanced at them, and Lee Jordan remained still, like a statue.
"Hey, Lee?"
But Lee Jordan didn't respond. Instead, Kevin yelled at Fred and George. "Stay away from us… For at least a week, Weasley, stay away from us!"
"I've become 'Weasley' now? What happened, Kevin?" George asked in surprise, but the response he got was his friend's cold stare, and Lee Jordan didn't even lift his head.
Though the twins tried asking questions, they got no meaningful answers.
Their friend Lee Jordan wouldn't even turn his head to speak to them, and this made them both frustrated and forced to give up on continuing the conversation. Their practice was over, but they still had detention later that evening.
"Alright, Lee, Kevin. We don't know what happened, but there's no time right now. I think we need to have a proper talk—when we come back."
The two of them hurriedly said their goodbyes and rushed to the bathroom to prepare for their work before detention that evening.
"They have no idea. Are we going too far?"
Once the Weasley twins left, the people who had gathered started asking questions.
"It's not going too far. No one knows whether this is some new prank those two came up with. Can you guarantee that this isn't them trying to scare us but losing control of the situation?"
This question had been raised earlier in the afternoon, but besides Lee Jordan, no one could firmly believe that the twins hadn't planned some prank.
Since the Weasley twins had arrived at Hogwarts, they had been playing pranks. Though their intentions weren't malicious, they certainly had a history of playing tricks on other students.
As for this incident, it was entirely possible that the twins had planned for Filch to scare everyone. If they hadn't been caught searching Filch's office, then after Professor McGonagall arrived, all the students would have been able to leave as long as they gave a proper excuse. Hogwarts didn't have any rules against gatherings.
"Change Lee's position. If he stays the same, then it'll be clear he's under the Petrification Charm."
When the twins left the common room, their friend Lee even started angrily waving his fists at them, which made the twins feel quite upset for a long time.
***
"George, looks like we've been considered traitors."
"Yes, Fred." George answered weakly, thinking about how those guys had been caught.
"But we haven't pulled any of those low-level pranks for ages, and then there's Lee—wait, it looks like Lee was controlled!"
This conclusion cheered them up.
"Let's skip detention. We haven't gotten out of detention yet, so let's rush back to the common room and save Lee—we…"
Just as they were struck with an idea and about to discuss its feasibility, a knight quickly rode past on the wall, halting in front of the painting closest to them.
The horse came to a perfect stop, panting and tossing its hooves, as if it was ready to go again.
"Mr. Weasley, I bring apologies from Professor William. The location of detention has been changed, so you'll need to head to the Wizard Self-Defense Magic classroom."
The knight gave them a bow, then stared at them until they remembered to return the gesture. Satisfied, he tugged the reins.
"If you need any help, just come to me. A true knight never refuses help from those in need."
The last half of his sentence was carried far away by the galloping horse, and the two brothers, now informed, had bitter expressions on their faces.
"Now we can't use the excuse that we forgot about detention."
"Can't claim to be sick either."
"And we definitely can't say we were delayed by being caught by Filch."
The two exchanged a glance and abandoned the idea of skipping detention. Without any excuse, it was no different from waiting to be dismissed.
***
"George? Fred? You two are here too?"
As the two of them sluggishly made their way to the classroom, a familiar voice came from inside the door.
The accomplices who had been giving them the cold shoulder were now all smiles, brimming with enthusiasm. Aside from a hint of awkwardness on their faces, they were completely the same as before.
"Ugh, we even suspected you were pranking us. This situation…"
Kevin, looking embarrassed, apologized to the twins, and the rest of the group also came up to offer their sincere apologies. Nothing brought people closer than serving detention together.
Naturally, the twins forgave them, just as they had forgiven the twins' pranks all those years ago.
They even started discussing the other misfortunes.
"What? Lee's going to clean the bedpans?"
"…"
"…"
Just as they were deep in conversation, the door creaked open.
"Good evening, everyone. Here, take a paper each. Finish it before we start with today's tasks. If anyone fails, you can go clean the toilets—thanks to Filch, he found another toilet that hasn't been cleaned yet." William gave a warm smile, addressing them with friendly cheer.
"Aren't we supposed to be copying some materials?"
"Copying materials requires a basic level of skill. Otherwise, the information won't be usable. So, please answer seriously. If your paper is too messy, it will be marked as a fail."
William explained with a smile. There were so many students to arrange, and for convenience, he had referred to an entrance exam from a small website, combining it with magical history and library management data to create the paper.
"Focus! I even worked overtime this afternoon just to prepare this paper for you."
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