𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗻, cedric diggory

˗ˋ 31

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
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-: seventh year :-

── IN WHICH EXPLANATIONS FOLLOW

. . .

"What the living fuck was that all about?" Fred exclaimed, crude language lost in the loudness of the crowd as they joined the steadily moving tidal wave of students as they left the Great Hall, finally dismissed by students.

"I'll tell you what-" Rosie began, but she hesitated, glancing around the room. "But when we're in a little more private space, I don't know how many people actually managed to pick up on what she was saying, but I'm not about to let Crabbe and Goyle hear it  - come on you ugly brutes, scram." 

She gestured for the two gormless Slytherins to move out of their way, but they just glanced at each other before planting their feets.

"Come on, I'll shove one of these fireworks up your sorry arses and that'll make you move." Fred's tone was casual as he pulled a brightly-coloured tube out of his pocket, holding it out in front of him like his wand. 

He waved it about wildly until they did move, rolling his eyes as they managed to reach the staircase at last. "Only they could be fooled by a tube that one was filled with Bertie Botts." George shook his head.

"They're idiots, you could convince them of anything really. Probably why they follow that blond prick around like lapdogs." Rosie let out a sigh, glancing around the floor they had landed on. "Come on - this way. Behind that tapestry is a staircase up to the Gryffindor floor, plus it'll give us some privacy."

"Lead the way, captain." Fred mock-saluted her as they careened off of the path and broke the flow of the other Gryffindor students making their way up to the Common Room. It seemed that they had lost Angelina and Lee in the fray, but it didn't matter too much - any of the three could tell them the rest of it later.

Glancing from side to side, George lifted the tapestry aside and raised his wand, tapping on the stone behind it three times before the staircase was revealed. "Lumos." The twin muttered, taking the first step up.

Rosie followed him, then Fred, who also cast the spell.

When the older of the twins finally got through, the tapestry fell behind them and extinguished the orange glow of the torches that lined the hallways outside, replaced by the blue of the spell, ultimately giving it a much colder, eerie feeling.

"So what did it mean?" Fred asked, as they began down the slow passageway to get to the spiral staircase upwards. "I probably would've got it, had I listened, but I was too busy thinking about setting her cardigan on fire."

"Parvati would appreciate that, I'm sure." Rosie had caught the Gryffindor of the Patil twins mouthing something across the hall to her Ravenclaw counterpart about it. "As would everyone else, I don't think I've ever seen anything so ugly."

"Alright, alright, just get to it." George called back to them. "I would give an excuse for not listening, but if I'm honest I had already learnt how to tune her out and was just trying it out."

"Fair enough." Fred nodded, tone and expression the picture of approval.

"The Ministry is trying to take control of Hogwarts." Rosie said it much louder this time, and with a lot more confidence to it. The words reverbrated off of the stone walls, bouncing back and forth in the silence that followed her words.

"And how do you know that? Not that I'm doubting you or anything." George piped up as they reached the stairs, but instead of going up them they settled on the bottom few, Fred placing his wand in the centre of the group.

"Well think about it this way. Harry and Dumbledore have been facing slander from the newspapers all summer. Who is most definitely behind this? Cornelius Fudge. His reaction to hearing about Voldemort's return was more than enough to confirm this." Rosie began, instantly having the attention of the twins, unlike a certain pink-wearing frog lookalike. 

"And that was during the summer, so Harry and Dumbledore were naturally nowhere to be found. So, when school comes back into full swing and the headmaster of said school as been called a raging lunatic in all sixty-eight daily editions of the Daily Prophet that have been released since then, Fudge will have a little more power over that." She continued.

"How will he achieve this? He'll plant a mole. Not just any mole, but his Undersecretary, Dolores Umbridge, a stubborn, no-nonsense bitch of a witch who won't stand for any of his crap. Umbridge will then be a direct link between him and Hogwarts - London and Scotland aren't particularly close, y'know?"

"Yeah I figured." Fred nodded. "Considering the train journey we take every year."

George elbowed him.

"So that's what he does. He sticks his mole right into the thick of it, in the position that clearly nobody else will have any interest in because a, it's cursed and b, the last guy was secretly a death eater in disguise, before that was a werewolf, then a self-absorbed prick and then a guy who had Voldemort attached to his head." Rosie continued anyways.

"Now he has someone here who can report back to him whenever, and who has got the authority to do whatever the hell she wants. She can just drop his name and boom, crisis averted and she's now in charge." The girl finished. 

"So what does that mean for Hogwarts?"

"That we're all in deep shit."

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