The Secret of the Blank Parchment

My name is Fred.

I'm the quiet twin. You laugh? I am. George is the loud one.

I came up with Canary Creams, you know. It was all Ron's fault. He made some silly comment about Ginny being a feather brain. George ribbed the two of them about it for weeks. It stuck in my head, so I pored over some potions texts and some of Mum's household charm books. The key is mixing different types of magic. Too many wizards don't think of using a potion and a charm in addition to a transfiguration hex. That's why no one can figure out our little tricks. All it takes is a little creativity.

George, now he's the one who comes up with the pranks. Have you seen Harry's map? It was George who figured out how to snitch it from Filch. We both saw the parchment; we both were curious. But it was he who came up with the dastardly plan. He knew how to set it into motion. And soon we had a lovely piece of blank parchment on our hands.

But it wasn't blank for long. I still remember what it said when George tapped it with his wand and declared, "I, George Weasley, order you to reveal your secrets."

Mssr. Prongs would like to tell Mr. Weasley to mind his own business and stop wearing yellow jumpers, as they look terrible with his hair.

Mssr. Padfoot would like to inform Mr. Weasley that he is going to have to try harder than that if he wants any of our secrets.

Mssr. Moony would like to comment on Mr. Weasley's abominable freckles and suggests that a lemon tonic might clear up his face.

Mssr. Wormtail would like to tell Mr. Weasley to mind his own business and stop wearing his sweaty Quidditch gear all about the castle.

I nearly wet myself I laughed so hard. George was less than pleased.

It took us months and months to find the trick of the map. It amused us in the meanwhile as it created new commentary every time we tapped it, but childish insults can only carry so far. It was an accident that we found it at all.

George had been teasing me that I wasn't the prankster he was. He said I spent too much time with my nose in the books. Lee had fled the room at the first sign of an argument; George and I don't fight often, but when we do, it is vicious. I told him that I was finding what we needed for the pranking in my books. It fell into a wrestling match, which I lost. My brother has always been a slight bit larger than me. George made me swear that I was a prankster.

I had braced myself against my night table, not realizing that I was resting my hand on my wand, which, in turn, was resting on the map.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

George had gasped slightly when I said that, so I kicked him in the shins. I was a prankster, even if I did read more than he did! Then he pointed to the map and I saw what I had done. I had accidentally found the Secret of the Blank Parchment, which had been haunting us for those many months.

You see, he is the loud one. He had the idea of the portable swamp. He thought of the spinning Catherine Wheels. He dragged me along the secret passages so we could have Butterbeer and illegal Firewhiskey even if it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend.

I thought of the charm that kept Umbridge from stopping the fireworks. I tested and experimented with the Skiving Snack-Boxes. I was the one who wanted to give Harry the map, back in his third year, when he was the only one who wasn't allowed to go out to Hogsmeade.

We make the perfect team: FrednGeorge, Gred and Forge (Ron will never let us live that down), the Weasley Twins, the pranksters, the inventors.

I am the quiet one. I am Fred Weasley.