THE PRANK

After Fred and George so dramatically leave the school, Lee Jordan feels the need to carry on their legacy. And he does, with the help of two certain female chasers.

"So, what should we do next?"

"Patience is a virtue, my dear Angelina. I just finished switching out the old cow's teacup with a nose-biting one, I'm going to need at least an hour to think up the next prank."

"Fred and George would have only needed a minute," Alicia Spinnet folded her arms indignantly.

"Fine, fine," Lee Jordan groaned, exasperated. "There is one thing I've been thinking about doing for a while, but were gonna need a lot of luck to pull it off correctly."

"Okay, what do you want us to do?"

"Well, were going to need a balloon, a toad (We can ask Neville for Trevor) and a pink, frilly dress."

"What?" Angelina said. Alicia also looked confused.

"I'll explain when you find the stuff, but right now I really need to write my Uric the Oddball essay for Binns. Meet me in the common room in three hours and we'll put everything in motion."

Angelina and Alicia, although still extremely curious, nodded and left.

-------------------------

"Its perfect!" exclaimed Angelina later that night. "Now all we need to do is shrink the dress!" She took out her wand and performed said shrinking charm, then proceeded to carefully slip the now miniscule pink dress onto Trevor the toad's fat little body.

Alicia lovingly stroked the feminine looking toad and asked "Lee, did you fill up the balloon yet?"

"Oh! Right, I almost forgot." Lee said as he got out his wand and muttered Aguamenti. The balloon filled up with water and he tied the end up in a secure knot.

"If my calculations are correct," Lee continued, "Old Dolores will be wearing that horrible cardigan of hers tomorrow. You know what I'm talking about; its the fluffy one with the really big pockets."

"Um? How the bloody hell do you know that, Lee?"

"Well, if you must know, Fred and George figured out like the third week of school that she wears it every time she goes to the Ministry. We think she wears it to impress Fudge. And, as she happily told us yesterday, she is going to the Ministry tomorrow to try to get that torture instrument approved for use on the students. She'll want to look her best."

"So we're doing this tomorrow morning then? At breakfast, before she leaves?" questioned Alicia.

"That sounds good, yes."

"We'll have to get someone to cause a distraction so you can slip Trevor in, though," Angelina pointed out.

"No problem. I'll get Shane and Kenneth on the job."

"Okay. Do you really think it's going to work?"

"Yes, Angelina, I really do."

-------------------------------

The next morning came quickly, and as Lee Jordan made his way down to the Great Hall, he couldn't help but feel lucky. In fact, he felt like he had recently swallowed a whole bottle of Felix Felicis. He knew that this was going to work, he just knew it.

"Lee!" Angelina was running towards him.

"What is it?"

"Alicia just told me that Umbridge is coming down to the Great Hall! She'll be here in a less than a minute! Where are Shane and Kenneth?"

They both looked around and quickly spotted them.

"Oi! Ken!" Lee shouted. Kenneth Towler was a rather serious young man in Lee's year, but a good friend nonetheless.

"She's coming right now!" Lee said once he had gotten Kenneth's attention. "Quick, when she walks in, start complaining..and remember, do it loud like I told you to!"

Lee and Angelina then took their seats close to the door, so they'd be able to get at Umbridge easier when she came in. Almost as soon as they sat down, Umbridge entered the hall and the show commenced.

"That rotten old witch gave us another essay last night, Shane can you believe it?" Kenneth Towler whined rather loudly.

"I know, Kenneth. She's the most terrible teacher I've ever had, and ugly to boot! I wish I could---"

"Hem, hem."

As soon as Lee saw Umbridge start questioning the two boys, he and Angelina ran quietly over to her. As Lee had foreseen, Dolores Umbridge was wearing her awful, but large-pocketed cardigan. As carefully as he possibly could, Lee pulled back her right pocket and delicately slipped one water balloon in. He was delighted to see that she was so absorbed in her interrogation of the boys, that she didn't even notice the bulk in her right pocket.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me what you were talking about, boys? Maybe you'd rather tell Mr. Filch?" Lee heard Umbridge say at the same time as he saw Angelina put Trevor in her left pocket. Amazingly, Umbridge didn't even seem to feel it.

"No, ma'am! We weren't talking about anything of importance."

"Very well, then," Umbridge gave a sickeningly fake smile, "I'm going to have to arrange for both of you to have detention with me tomorrow." She did a little satisfied nod and started to waddle away.

"Now!" Alicia, who had just entered the hall, whispered to Lee.

"Rumpeus Exeo," Lee muttered under his breath. It was a spell that he, George and Fred had made up in their second year to pop non-explodable balloons.

The effect was almost instantaneous. From where Lee was standing, it looked like a gallon of water had just rushed out of Umbridge's robes. He knew he had hit his mark.

"Oh no, professor!" Alicia cried, "Your water's broke!"

Umbridge looked down and shrieked, not because of the water, but because Trevor, clad in his shiny pink dress, had just jumped out of her pocket and onto the floor.

"And look," Alicia continued, "That must be your daughter…wow, she looks just like you!"

"No, that can't be right Alicia," Angelina took her cue to join in. "We all know that babies aren't born that way."

"Yeah, the baby came out of her pocket, just like a kangaroo does.." Lee said, and then a look of comprehension appeared on his face. "Oh, I get it Professor, you must be some kind of rare marsupial!"

"But toads aren't marsupials!" Harry Potter had decided to take part in the prank. By now, most of the students were laughing, and the teachers were trying very hard not to.

"That's why I said rare, Harry. Marsupials aren't that ugly; Professor Umbridge must be some odd type of crossbreed. She's probably a tatypus. That's the scientific name for the offspring of a toad and a platypus, of course. Or she could be a --"

"Enough!" Dolores Umbridge screamed, cutting him off midsentence. "All four of you, my office, NOW! There is going to be SEVERE punishment for this!"

"But Dolores," Professor McGonagall had risen from her spot at the teacher's table, "You have not yet gotten permission for the 'severe punishments' to be used at Hogwarts. And I think most of us can agree that these students were just stating the obvious."

"The obvious, Minerva? The obvious?! Don't be such a fool. These children shall be punished."

"Then I will see to it, Dolores. They are in my house, afterall. Come Potter, and you three. Follow me."

--------------------

Lee couldn't believe their luck. It was a week later, and he, Angelina and Alicia had gotten away with only two detentions, and Harry one. All the Gryffindors had congratulated them on the success of their prank, and McGonagall had started giving ten points to Gryffindor every time they answered even the simplest of questions. Best of all, Fred and George had sent him a niffler in the mail this morning, and Lee knew exactly what he was going to do with it.