Chapter 32

Just like yesterday, it was raining. The grey clouds drooped lower than the day before and over the distance you could see a group of dark grey clouds. Whether or not they were coming closer to Hogwarts, Albert didn't care, as it should miss Hogsmeade. At seven o'clock, the twins awakened Albert to get ready.

He followed his daily morning routine as normal. He had a showered, brushed his teeth and washed his face before leaving the shower room to enter his shared bedroom. Albert then got dressed, made his bed and placed dirty laundry in his basket ready for the house-elves to take. After that, he was dragged to the kitchen, as breakfast would not be served yet.

"I don't get it. What's so exciting about a magical village?" Asked Albert in a hush tone.

"Yesterday, I told it is one of four magical settlements in Britain. One belongs to Fenrir Greyback and his werewolf compatriots and the others have been abandoned," Lee Jorden said quietly. "Only the third year and above can go to Hogsmeade under the supervision of the professors. Wait, George, don't run ahead."

But it was too late. George was practicing the Wand Lighting Charm I taught him yesterday. He was getting impatient as his brother, Lee, and Albert were taking their time, so he thought he would go on ahead to the kitchen to tell the house-elves that three more people were coming. However, he was unlucky, as Finch was patrolling this area after the incident with Albert yesterday. Finch caught George and took him to the office.

The other three were lucky not to get caught. While George was running of ahead, he ignored a cat meowing at the intersection. Albert was familiar with Ms Norris and took the two boys with him to hide while Finch went past. They heard the whole commotion and followed the caretaker and his cat at a distance. They followed him down the corridor where his office was, but didn't go to find it in case they get caught.

Meanwhile, in the office, Finch was having the day of his life. He had caught one friend of the brat from yesterday wandering around the castle in the early hours of the morning. Although he couldn't exact revenge on the brat, his friend would do. He got a parchment out with 'Hogwarts' Form for Misconduct From Students' with the Hogwarts' insignia placed above it.

"Name, House and Year. And don't try lying to me, boy," Finch asked in a delighted tone.

"George Weasley from House Gryffindor and in First Year," George said meekly as he quickly scanned the office.

"You'll have to repeat that. I'm getting old and my ears don't work like they used to," Finch said as he filled out the form. He recognised this boy was from 'Most Noble and Ancient House Weasley' because of his red hair and striking resemblance to his misbehaving older brothers.

"George Weasley from House Gryffindor and in First Year," George said.

Finch had a habit of speaking out about whatever he wrote. "Name... George Weasley. House... Gryffindor. Year... Class of 89/90. Offence... Using magic in the corridor when explicitly told not to. Punishment... "

"Wait, sir, I only used the Wand Lighting Charm because I couldn't see," George said.

Finch turned a deaf ear to it. "... Hmm. What to do, what to do? Ahh, I know the perfect punishment. I heard all the chamber pots and cauldrons have not been washed since the summer and the mould has festered. Punishment... Clean all the camber pots and cauldrons in the hospital wing. Perfect, take it, boy, and I better not see you around."

George's expression sunk and he promptly left the room after taking another quick glance around Finch's office. As he left the corridor to take a corner at the intersection, he felt a stiff hand cover his mouth and drag him into the corner. It turned out to be his brother. He jumped up and hugged his brother, and then told everyone what happened in the office. They burst out laughing at his punishment.

"Pmftt, I almost feel sorry for you. Almost," Lee said as he patted George on the back.

"It's not funny," George said.

"It is brother, more than you ever will know," Fred said as he lead the group towards the kitchen.

"Don't worry. I'll try to teach you the Cleaning Charm later on today. That'll make your job easier. Remember to show Madam Pomfrey the slip so she can sign it, otherwise you'll have to do it again," Albert said. "So them me what you saw in the office."

"He had a rack of whips, handcuffs, and chains behind his desk and some rope in the room's corner," George said.

"He must have some weird fetishes then. What else brother," Fred asked.

"He had loads of cat pictures on his desk," George said, trying to think hard about it.

"That can't have been all you saw," Lee Jorden said.

"On the way out I saw a filing cabinet labeled 'Confiscated items form Students'. There were a couple of rocket shaped stands, some items from the 'List of Banned Items' and a black parchment on a shelf by itself. That was weird, but hey, it must be good since it was confiscated."

Albert realised that the blank parchment George was talking about was the Marauders' Map. In canon, the twin retrieved it later on in the First year. One of them lured Finch out of his office by using a broom while the other sneaked in and ransacked that cabinet.

"I think that'll teach you a lesson about running off ahead of us," Albert said as they entered the corridor where the kitchen was.

"Why was I the one who had to be caught? I don't get it," George said as he tickled the pear on the portrait.

"Dippy? Are you here?" Albert said as they entered the kitchen.

"Yes, master, Dippy is here. Are you here to have breakfast again?" Dippy asked in an excited tone.

"Yes, I am, and I even brought my friends today," Albert said.

"Yay, more people to serve. Dippy is thrilled. Master, follow me," Dippy said as she grabbed Albert's hand and took his to sit down where he sat yesterday. Again he saw the house-elves work the magic as the others were in shock at how fast the house-elves worked. Unlike yesterday, there were four baskets laid out on the table with baked products.

Today the house-elves served an oatmeal porridge with orange or pumpkin juice and pancakes. As they were eating, two Hufflepuff boys came in to the kitchen. Fred and George jumped up and went to say hello to one boy. They soon led the boy back to the table with the other following behind after finishing talking to one house-elves and introduced him.

"Guys, this is our handsome cousin," George said.

"And neighbour, Cedric Diggory. Now say hello Cedric," Fred said.

"Hello Cedric," Cedric said, as he laughed at his own joke. "Hi, I'm Cedric from Hufflepuff, first year. Nice to meet you."

Lee stood up and placed his hand out, and Cedric shook it. "Hi, I'm Lee Jorden, Gryffindor."

Albert did the same. "Hi, I'm Albert Anderson. Pleasure to make you acquaintance."

The other boy came up with two baskets in both his hands and said as he placed the baskets down, "Hello Albert, long time no see."

"It's only been four days," Albert said.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Cedric asked.

"Yeah, I met him in the summer and taught him some spells. You know he did everything I taught him that's in the first year syllabus within five tries and he's the one I..." He said before feeling a sharp pain in his shin. He was Albert, was the one who did it. "Aww. That hurt. What was that for?"

"Don't you remember what I told you?" Albert asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Anyway, aren't you going to introduce my to your friends?" Gabriel asked.

"Fine. The red heads are George and Fred, and the one stuffing his face is Lee Jorden. Happy?" Albert asked.

"Yeah. It was nice seeing you again. Come on, Cedric, grab two of the baskets and let's go. People are getting hungry, you know," Gabriel said as he waved bye to the four Gryffindor boys.

"Bye guys, I'll see you in whatever lessons we have together," Cedric said as he waved at them.

"Bye," the twins shouted as Albert and Lee waved.

Outside the kitchen, Cedric asked, "How do you know that kid?"

"You remember the thing I told you on the train? About Me almost getting expelled, well, the other boy in the story was that kid," Gabriel said as he banged the barrels on the other side of the corridor. "You should make friends with him. With his magic talent, he could be someone really important in the future."

Cedric nodded as he got on his knees and crawled through the tunnel to enter the Hufflepuff common room, followed by Gabriel.