"Don't know what things are coming to? Youngsters today, no respect for their elders."
The one apparently called George became serious for a moment. "Why the hostility toward Ron? If you had to sit beside him at mealtimes we could perhaps understand..."
Harry found himself liking these two, even if they were related to Ron. They both oozed the personality and charm that was sadly lacking in their younger sibling. "Your brother tried to barge his way into our group. When that didn't work, he reached for his wand and fired a curse at Hermione. He couldn't even do that right though and hit Padma instead. That's why the girls were in the infirmary when that troll attacked."
The twins shared a nervous glance, "That's not exactly the story he told us."
Hermione huffed at that news. "Why am I not surprised. Your brother is a jackass yet we all end up with the matching mule ears at breakfast. I'm with Harry for a little payback."
Both twins laugh at this. "Looks like we've got some competition in the pranking stakes, we'll have to watch our food from now on."
"Oh slipping someone a potion is so old school, we four intend to be a little more imaginative than that."
This had the twins laughing again at the audacity of these first years. "Young Harrykins, you've got some nerve."
"Yes, George and I look forward to seeing just what you and your mini-marauders can do."
"Just remember the prankster's motto - Don't Get Caught!"
They walked away leaving the other three all staring at Harry, Padma was first to crack. "You have a plan, right? Even the older Ravenclaws don't mess with the Weasley twins, and apparently for very good reason."
"Relax Padma, we'll just have to unleash our secret weapons on them. Ron Ron, his twin brothers and not forgetting Snape."
This made Neville even more nervous. "Eh, Harry - I'm actually in favour of forgetting all about Snape. If I never have to see him again it will still be too soon."
Padma quickly agreed with Neville but something Harry had said got Hermione thinking. "Wait until we hear what these secret weapons of Harry's are first before we all start panicking."
This earned the witch a smile from her best friend, before he then let them into his ideas. "Well our first secret weapon is Neville, he's our inside man for Gryffindor house and Weasley payback. Next, I happen to have some recipes for goblin potions that will see Snape sneering out the other side of his face."
Neville was shocked at his friends depending on him, this had never happened before. "What do you need me to do?"
Harry could see Neville was practically shaking with fright but determined to do his best. He quickly reassured the Gryffindor. "All we need is information Neville. Until we know more about them, we won't be able to figure out the best way to get back at the Weasleys. If we were to slip the twins a potion, the entire thing would just escalate. I want to put a stop to this, not make it worse."
They sat beside the Black Lake in the weak September sunshine, throwing ideas in and out of their grand plan. Scheming revenge against those who have wronged you was certainly a pastime worthy of any goblin. It was only when Harry announced what his other secret weapon was though that his friends started to believe they could actually pull this off.
-oOoOo-
Something was certainly off with Fred and George as they entered the Gryffindor common room through the portrait hole later that evening.
"Detention with Filch, I can't believe we got caught."
"That's the least of our worries Fred, the map's stopped working and none of the secret passages would open for us."
"How are we going to cope without access to the kitchens? The only portrait working for us is the Fat Lady." "Yeah, and even she didn't seem too happy to be opening for us. What is going on?"
George nudged his twin, drawing his attention to the first year sitting holding a book up to hide his face. It was hard to miss that this first year was struggling to hold his laughter, and that was more than enough to raise the twins' suspicions.
"Good book there Neville?"
"Or were you finding something else funny?"
That was too much for the young wizard, the laughter he'd been holding back burst forth.
"Are you getting a bad feeling about this George?" "Oh yes, brother of mine. Could it be that the mini-marauders have struck back?"
It was a clearly thoughtful Fred Weasley who answered his twin's question. "The timing would suggest that, but I have no idea how they could be involved?"
Between his bouts of laughter, Neville was able to give them a clue. "Hogwarts doesn't like that you decided to prank her champion, the castle is now closed to you."
The horrified look on the twins' faces set Neville's laughter off again.
"Little Harrykins wouldn't do that to us?" "We have stuff hidden all through the castle, and now we can't get at any of it!"
Both sank onto a sofa as the reality of what Hogwarts working against them meant. "The ghosts told Filch what we were up to..."
"..and the portraits led him straight to us. We're going to get away with nothing!"
Neville was still chuckling to himself as he made his way up to the dorm. He couldn't wait to tell his friends what had just happened, and to see the next part unfold at breakfast tomorrow.
-oOoOo-
Breakfast was Ron's favourite part of the day, closely followed by lunch and dinner. He was unaware that was all about to change. He was just contemplating what to grab for his first course of second helpings when his plate disappeared.
"Hey, I wasn't finished with that!"
This though was only the tip of the iceberg. As Ron reached for more food, the serving platters would disappear before he could get his hands on them, only to reappear once he'd moved back out of range. The guile, effort and determination shown by the boy as he continually attempted to stalk more food was light years away from his lackadaisical performances in all of his classes. Unfortunately, all he had to show for his sterling efforts during the rest of breakfast was providing entertainment value to the other diners. Most of the hall was now laughing at him.
It was left to Neville to deliver the coup de grace. "It would seem that Hogwarts has taken Professor McGonagall's advice to heart. You eat like a pig so your plate vanished when the castle thought you had eaten enough."
It was slowly beginning to dawn on Ron he'd been pranked, though the rest of the hall had reached that conclusion ages ago.
Severus Snape certainly had, and thought this was just more evidence that the Potter boy was his father's son. He had stood there yesterday and said goblins didn't do pranks yet pulled one the very next day. The potions professor was certainly not going to miss this opportunity to point out that he was correct to the rest of the senior staff, and that's where the trouble really started.