"Hurry, Lee!"
Fred Weasley crouched beside his twin underneath one of the many thick, wild bushes that grew near Hagrid's cabin. He motioned again, hissing urgently, "Before anyone sees!"
Lee Jordan, a tall sixth-year boy with dreadlocks, grinned at his friends concealed behind the bush, walking backwards toward them and expertly loosing a length of thick black wire that ran across the grounds and down to the lake.
It was a lovely Friday afternoon, seventy degrees and sunny; almost the opposite of the weather earlier in the week. Most everyone was outside. Students and teachers alike clustered about the lawns, enjoying the sunlight and the pleasant breeze that played about their faces. A few dipped their toes in the cool water of the lake, giggling as the giant squid sprayed them with a fine mist of water. It was early September, and everyone had just finished their first week of lessons.
Only the first week, and already the Terrible Trio was getting into trouble...
Lee finished with the wire, grabbing the end and hurrying over to the twin's hiding spot. He dropped down behind the bush next to George.
"About time," his two companions muttered simultaneously.
"C'mon, mates," protested Lee. "It's not like we're going to get caught." He extended the end of the wire to Fred, who took it and attached it to a small black box with a fuse. Fred and George grinned.
"It's ready!"
"This is brilliant," said Lee. "No one will ever expect this!" He gestured toward the students milling about by the lake. "They'll just be sitting about by the lake, minding their own business, and then..." He made a movement that suggested an explosion. "BOOM!"
"Yeah, Fred and I were pretty surprised ourselves, when we discovered these," agreed George. "Who would've thought..."
"That Muggles had developed explosives that we could use to our advantage," Fred finished for him. "'Course, we're not talking about nuclear missiles. Those are far too dangerous."
"And their idea of fireworks is a bit of a joke," said George.
"But we found some materials that would serve our purpose of wreaking havoc quite nicely," continued Fred, "and thought that this would be the perfect year to give them a go."
"Not too dangerous, of course," George reminded him. "We couldn't let ourselves get chucked out of Hogwarts."
"But enough to create a good show," Fred finished happily.
Lee Jordan shook his head in amazement. "Tell me again, how did you two manage to get a hold of this stuff?"
"Nicked it," said George casually.
"From a Muggle construction site near Cairo," said Fred. "We went to visit Bill in Egypt last summer."
"And we've been saving it," George said, "for an important mission. Like this one."
"What's this stuff called again?" asked Lee, holding up a spare explosive and examining it.
"Dynamite," answered the twins automatically.
"Cool," said Lee wonderingly, still clutching the stick. Then he frowned, and asked, "Are you sure this stuff will work? It was made by Muggles, you know."
"It will work," Fred assured him. "We saw them blow apart half a cliff, didn't we, George?"
"Right enough we did, Fred," answered George. "If Muggles can use it to blow up rock, than we can surely use it to blow up the lake."
"And anyway," Fred continued, "we've enchanted the explosives a bit. Those Muggles idiots never even thought of making the dynamite waterproof! And we had to make sure the explosion would be big enough to blast all the water out of the lake ..."
"Without damaging its inhabitants, " said George. He chuckled. "Everyone on the front lawns will be soaked!"
"Hope they've all taken their swimming lessons," said Lee.
"Haha, look, there's Harry, Ron, and Hermione," laughed George, pointing to the three friends who sat a short distance away. "Doing their homework, as usual. "It's no wonder, they've got their O.W.L. year coming up, I bet McGonagall gave them loads!"
"Well, they'll have to thank us, won't they, then?" said Fred. "Once the lake's been blown up their homework will be ruined! McGonagall will have to give them more time on it!"
"Yeah," agreed Lee. "Only, they'll get plenty of time off, won't they, when the Triwizard Tournament starts?"
Fred and George exchanged dark looks, remembering the great event the headmaster had announced at the beginning of term.
"Damn Dumbledore!" Fred swore under his breath. "If he hadn't have made that age requirement for the Triwizard Tournament, we wouldn't have to do this!"
"He knows we're not seventeen till April," muttered George. "It isn't fair! Not fair at all!"
"I like Dumbledore-- Mum and Dad love him, and he's never punished us too harshly," said Fred, "but now he's definitely gone too far! It's like he doesn't want us in the tournament at all!"
