Snape Hunting

The day was dark, cold, and wet. The chill in the moist air outside kept most of the students indoors. It was the weekend, and the normally bustling corridors and classrooms were deserted and quiet. Large, warm and welcoming fires were lit in the dormitories, the common rooms, the library, and in the Great Hall. Most of the students were spending a leisurely day in front of those fires. Needless to say, to a pair of red haired Gryffindor boys, it was a very boring day.

"I am bored," Fred groaned loudly as he tossed one of his Exploding Snap cards into the Common Room fireplace. The loud noise, the bright flash of light, and the momentary startled confusion amongst the students that followed this action amused him for all of one second.

"Really?" George asked sarcastically as he turned towards his restless twin. "I'm not bored at all."

"Honestly?" Fred asked as he contemplated throwing the whole stack of cards into the fire for good measure.

"Honestly. I am quite content watching the grass grow," George stated as he gently took the cards from his brother's hands.

"That's the main difference between us. You're mental," Fred smirked slyly.

George nodded as if in agreement with his brother's statement. "You were going to throw those all into the fireplace, weren't you?" George accused as he picked up the top card and held it up between two fingers.

"Maybe," Fred drawled innocently.

"Well, shame on you," George’s tone sounded more mischievous than reprimanding. "Think of all of the poor Gryffindors you might have startled. Think of the damage you might have caused to our beloved common room! And-" George paused as he raised an eyebrow.

"And?" Fred inquired as he leaned forward.

"Think of the fireplace in the prefect’s reading room-"

"Where our dear older brother Percy is studying," Fred finished George's sentence excitedly.

George rose quickly from his chair. He flung the card in his hand towards the floor with such force that the card burst into a bright flame and singed the carpet. Both twins stared at the spot for a moment before beginning to laugh mischievously.

*******Five minutes and one extremely agitated older brother later****

"I have an idea!" Fred exclaimed as he jumped to his feet.

"All by yourself?" George asked sarcastically.

Fred shot his younger brother a look as he fished through his pockets.

"I wonder what trouble Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs can get us into today..." Fred smiled brightly as he produced what he had been looking for.

George quickly pocketed the rest of the cards, and snatched the old strip of parchment from his brother's hands. Checking to make sure that no one was looking, he tapped the paper and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"We could use that passage there to get to the girl's dormitory," Fred whispered as he peered over his brother's shoulder. "I need to borrow something from Angelina," Fred added as George gave him a questioning look.

"Hello, what's this?" George whispered as he pointed at the map.

The small dot that represented Professor Snape somehow seemed to glow a bit more brightly than the other the dots that represented everyone else at Hogwarts.

"What do you want with Professor Snape?" George asked the map.

In glowing green curving script appeared two words: Snape Hunting.

**************Meanwhile, in the library**********************

Oliver Wood was bored. All team practices were cancelled that weekend due to the fact that routine maintenance was being carried out on the Quidditch field. He sighed as he looked out of the library window. The sky had become even darker, and the breeze that whirled through the open window promised a torrential downpour. "A perfect day for a Quidditch game," he thought disappointedly as he stared at his Quidditch playbook.

He was about to begin to design a new play when he glimpsed a flash of red from the corner of his eye. He turned his head in time to see one of the Weasley twins duck behind a nearby bookcase.

"Did Pince see us?" Oliver heard a hushed whisper from behind the books.

"I think she was too busy dealing with the snake you summoned behind her desk," was the hushed reply.

"What are you two doing?" Oliver asked as he stood in front of the bookcase. He didn't want to know how the two had managed to wedge themselves in the space between the bookcase and the wall, but he did want to know what chaos they were planning to cause so that he could avoid it.

"All About Herbs by Geste, Leon," was the reply.

Oliver sighed as he located the large book and removed it. He peered through the gap and was greeted by a brightly grinning face of a Weasley.

"What are you two doing?" Oliver repeated, smiling. He realised that he had begun to whisper as well.

"Shh," a muffled hiss came from the visible twin's left.

"We're hunting,” the twin answered softly with a curt nod.

"Hunting," Oliver said as he shook his head in disbelief. "What on Earth are you hunting in the library?"

"Shh!" a much louder hiss issued from behind the books.

"We need bait," the twin said with a knowing smile.

"Bait!" Oliver exclaimed softly.

"We were out for a Slytherin, but we're settling for a Ravenclaw," George, or at least that's who Oliver thought he might be talking to, explained.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver sighed.

"The bait. There is no way to lure the target out with a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor," Fred, whom Oliver thought was George, answered.

"We've tried," George's muffled voice stated.

"What are you trying to hunt?" Oliver asked slowly, trying to keep the hyperactive second years on the subject.

" A most cunning, intuitive, and dangerous prey," Fred answered vaguely.

"What is it?" Oliver asked, not really wanting to know.

"Actually, you should ask 'who'," George, still carefully concealed, corrected him.

"Who?" Oliver asked, now slightly curious.

"Do you want to help us or not?" Fred asked, easily changing the subject.

"I'll help. I'll help," Oliver whispered with a sigh of defeat.

"Good," George said as he tapped Oliver on the shoulder. Oliver jumped back in surprise. He hadn’t even noticed that one of the twins had somehow managed to creep out from behind the bookcase and sneak up behind him.

Oliver whirled around to face the smiling mischief-maker. "How did you-?"

"Secret passageway," Fred answered as he clapped Oliver on the shoulder. Oliver turned around to see the second twin, who was now also standing in the aisle. He had to hand it to them; those boys were a sneaky pair.

"Well, come on then," George whispered as he ducked back behind the bookcase.

"I'm regretting this already," Oliver muttered to himself as he followed the redhead. To his surprise the wall behind the bookcase was false, and it actually concealed the entrance to a dimly lit curved stairway. The boys silently moved downward with George in the lead, Oliver reluctantly behind him and followed by Fred, who, for some reason, felt the need to walk down the staircase backwards.

George suddenly stopped halfway down the staircase. Oliver stopped as well, instantly raising an arm behind him to keep Fred from walking into them.

"Ok. Here's the plan. The door is a short distance ahead. When I say so, I'm going to yank the door open. Oliver, you jump out into the hallway and grab him as he walks past. Fred, you already know what we have to do."

Fred smiled at his brother and nodded solemnly. "This isn't what we planned, but it will just have to do."

"Who am I grabbing? What plan?"

"Some random professor," George dismissed Oliver’s concern. "We were going to lure him with bait, but since he's in the area already we might as well go for an ambush."

"Why do I have to grab him?" Oliver asked.

"You're bigger," Fred stated.

"What are you two doing? How do you know-"

"Hurry!" George whispered loudly as he rushed down the stairs, looking at an old strip of glowing parchment. "We'll miss our chance!"

************************The target*********

Professor Severus Snape was bored. The day had proved to be long and quite uneventful. He had passed the morning hours conjuring up various potions and magical concoctions. He had passed the early afternoon by prowling the corridors, hoping to come across any random students doing anything that might merit a bit of his guidance. Unfortunately for him the corridors were empty, save for a few prefects who were prowling the corridors out of the same restless need to discipline some wayward student.

He was dreadfully bored. An entire day outside of his office, and not one student had broken any of the rules in his presence, not even the Weasley twins. That the Weasleys might actually spend an entire weekend without making him the target of at least one prank was a near-impossible concept to him.

As he turned the corner he heard footsteps rapidly moving in his direction. The corridor was completely empty. He listened closely and realised that the footsteps were coming from inside the wall. He walked more closely to the wall, straining to hear the faint voices that he could now hear along with the footsteps.

Suddenly, he was tackled and pinned to the ground by a stocky fourth year in Gryffindor robes. The frightened look on the boy's face was indeed priceless. The boy looked frantically back at the wall.

"Would you care to explain yourself?" Snape asked, sounding as if students rushing at him from behind walls was an everyday occurrence.

"They didn't tell me they were after a professor! Especially not you! I thought they were after Filch or something!" Wood rapidly explained as he helped Snape to his feet.

Snape only half-listened to the boy's almost amusing excuse. "Snape hunting, were they?" he muttered to himself.

"A what?" Wood asked suddenly.

"Snape hunting. It seems to have become a Gryffindor tradition," Snape explained as he recalled a similar incident that had occurred in his youth, when he had been attacked by some hapless student tricked by Potter and his mischievous friends.

***********Meanwhile, in the library*******

"That was hilarious!" Fred exclaimed as he exited the secret passage.

"The look on Snape's face," George laughed as he followed his brother.

"The look on Oliver's face," Fred added, his face flushed from laughing so hard.

"I don't want to know," Angelina said as she returned her book to its proper place. "I honestly don't want to know."

"Angelina, fancy seeing you here. Come to the library often?" Fred asked as he leaned against the bookcase.

"Ha ha, you are so funny" Angelina answered, a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"I try my hardest to please," Fred smiled brightly as he bowed dramatically.

"Try harder," Angelina said before breaking into a smile. She turned to George. "So what were you two doing?"

George smiled and ushered her towards a vacant table. "It's a long story. It all started this morning in the common room. Fred was bored, so we decided to throw a stack of Exploding Snap cards in a fireplace to scare Percy."

"Which we did," Fred added.

"Which we did, but Fred was still rather bored..."

The End