A Joke is not a Joke

Ch. 3

Standing up, George turned to a prefect. "We need to tell Professor Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall too, about this thing," he told the prefect, who nodded. The prefect gazed thoughtfully into the fire, then turned back to George and said, "Well, either Hermione or Ginny or both should go, of course, and-" he scanned the group, then returned his gaze to George- "you and one of Hermione's classmates." Hermione stood up to go. Harry offered to come, and they set off.

As they walked, Harry glanced sideways at George. Something odd was going on. There was no trace of laughter in his pale young face. His eyes seemed heavy with a weight they could hardly bear, and he seemed to be having some kind of internal struggle. Finally he asked, "George? Is something wrong? You don't look like yourself."

George sighed. He knew Fred would kill him, but he had to tell someone or he'd go nuts. "It was Fred's idea. He found a potion recipe in one of his joke books and thought we should try it. We figured it would--you know--do something like turn us blue. He thought it was a joke. I think--I'm not sure, but I think--that that thing Hermione and Ginny saw came out of our potion. Nothing happened while we were there finishing it, so we figured it was a dud."

The younger two looked stunned. George couldn't blame them. If he'd found out that his best friend's older brothers had created a beast bent on murder, he'd be stunned too.

Then Harry spoke up, ever so softly. "George, you've got to tell the teachers. That's not something you keep to your--"

A scream rent the stillness of the hallway. They looked at each other and fled down the corridor. Turning a corner, they stopped in shock.

A girl lay there, injured. Her arm was clearly cut badly and she seemed to have hit her head. However, she was also Petrified. The three stared in horror. George felt terrible. He had a feeling that she had been attacked by the beast that he and Fred had created, and now it was hurting people. It had just been a joke. Really. If he'd known...

A strangled gasp came from the other end of the hallway. Oh. He should have realized that the girl's scream would have attracted teachers, too, and anyone else still in the hallway. He looked up. Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Professor Sprout were easily visible. From behind, tiny Professor Flitwick wormed his way out to see. The teachers were staring at the girl, and obviously had not noticed the three Gryffindors. George found himself praying that Snape would not be the one to look up and discover them, or they'd find themselves in detention faster than you could say "wait". Of course, he and Fred probably would get detention anyway, because of the potion, but there was no need for Harry and Hermione to get one too. It wasn't their fault.

As luck would have it, it was Professor Dumbledore who saw them first. Looking up, he said, "What are you doing here? What happened?"

The other teachers looked up as Hermione replied in a shaky voice, "We--we wanted to talk to you, Professor."

Professor McGonagall offered, "My office is nearest. We can use that."

"Thank you, Professor," said Dumbledore.