The year was flashing by before my eyes. Tomorrow was Halloween, and Tonks, Alice and I had planned our best, Dumbledore­approved prank yet. I walked into Potions, the last class of the day, expecting some scary potion. Uncle surprised us all with Essence of Euphoria. I added some shrivelfig and wormwood and let it brew for the required four minutes twenty­seven seconds. I shoved in a few more ingredients and brought up my vial.
"Why is it that you always finish first?" Uncle complained.
"I learned from the best," I answered.
"I found your old Potions book. What does 'S​ectumsempra'​do?"
"Well," he said, looking suddenly uncomfortable, "It's a curse that makes the victim
bleed profusely from a wound where the wand was pointed."
"And you INVENTED this?" I shrieked. He nodded sadly as a Slytherin girl gave him
her vial.
"My mum forgave you, you know. I remember her telling Dad that she missed you." I
walked back to my seat.
Soon, class was dismissed. I needed to pay Dumbledore a visit to talk about our prank. I
transformed and Apparated into Dumbledore's office. He looked surprised, but not alarmed, to see me.
"What brings you here?" Dumbledore asked me once I had changed back.
"To talk about our prank."
"Oh yes, I have talked to Minerva and think it is possible," he said. Soon we were
immersed in conversation. Hours later, as I was leaving in phoenix form. I heard a voice say,
What am I, chopped liver?
Oh, I'm so sorry, Fawkes!​I flew over and hugged him as best I could with wings. I quickly pulled away when I realized Dumbledore was watching us in amusement.
Bye Fawkes, see you around.
Like I ever get out of this office.​He grumbled.
We've talked about this. Bye. I​said, and Apparated. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day's lessons were agonizingly slow. In Transfiguration, we had to change our
desks into shoes and back again. Then, in Herbology, we learned about Devil's Snare. Professor Sprout told us a rhyme that said something like:Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare, It likes the dark and damp.
After lunch, we rushed to History of Magic, with Professor Binns the Boring. He began monotonously droning on about Emeric the Evil's rebellion in 1472. Finally the bell rang, signaling that we could leave. I jumped up and ran to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Babcock was almost as boring as Binns. I swear they could be plotting to take over the world with boringness. At least he talked about vampires, but I had studied them last year while Uncle was teaching. I heard Tonks sigh next to me, her hair a depressing gray. On my other side, Alice was listening with rapt attention. Tonks looked at me, and suddenly a focused look appeared on her face. Her hair turned long, red, and wavy, her facial features changed, and her eyes turned green. Alice turned and whined, "Now I can't tell who Tonks is!"
Tonks promptly gave herself a duck bill, elephant ears, little beady eyes, and a coat of neon pink fur. She looked so ridiculous that the whole class erupted in laughter, even the Slytherins. This made Babcock look around, but by then, Tonks was back to normal.
The bell reverberated through the halls and Babcock drawled, "Class dismissed."
I raced to the kitchens, spoke quickly with the House­Elves, then ran to the Great Hall, sitting innocently next to Alice, waiting patiently for the feast to begin. Dumbledore stood up and clapped his hands.
"Happy Halloween! Let the feast begin." Suddenly, thousands of bats swooped down from the ceiling and landed on people's plates, while throngs of spiders crawled onto the golden platters in the center of the tables. Most people screamed, but one smart Ravenclaw yelled, "They're chocolate!"
Tonks, Alice, and I burst out laughing. Dumbledore looked over at us bemusedly and said, "Let us toast our first­year pranksters, Nymphadora Tonks, Alice Keddle, and Scarlet... Snape." Then he raised his glass and took a sip.
"Phase Two," I whispered. I tapped my friend's heads with my wand and dragged them to the door.
"FOOD FIGHT!" Dumbledore yelled. He threw a bowl of pudding toward the Slytherin table and it splattered all over Marie. Soon the whole school was throwing food. I yanked Tonks and Alice towards the door and dragged them to the common room.
"What did you DO?" Alice shrieked.
"I, uh, spiked the teachers' drinks with Essence of Euphoria," I said sheepishly. "You'll be in so much trouble," Tonks said in a worried tone.
"I know. I've been thinking that my detention day count is pretty low." "You've had more than a month of detention already!" Alice yelled.
"Exactly. That's why we won't get caught," I answered confidently.