An hour later, Harry finally understood what the Weasley brothers had meant by their "big surprise."
They had been in Charms class at the time, with Professor Flitwick enthusiastically teaching them the Banishing Charm… but a sudden round of boom-boom-boom from downstairs promptly interrupted the lesson.
Curious, the class wandered out into the hallway. They saw Headmistress Umbridge charging down the stairs, wand raised high.
Below them, chaos had erupted—someone had set off an entire crate of enchanted fireworks…
Professor Flitwick made no move to stop the students from leaving the classroom to "observe." When they reached the stairwell, the source of the disturbance was obvious.
Fireworks of every shape and style were streaking through the corridors, spewing brilliant red flames and exploding with ear-splitting blasts.
Filch froze on the stairs, clutching a massive broom, looking utterly bewildered.
Umbridge was flinging spells wildly, but none of them were the slightest help in dispelling the fireworks.
Professor Flitwick had just pushed through the crowd to investigate, but the moment he saw Filch and Umbridge in their pitiful state, he casually squeezed back the way he came, as though nothing had happened at all.
Harry laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.
A few minutes later, using the Marauder's Map, he quickly located Fred and George. The twins were hiding behind a tapestry, listening gleefully to Umbridge and Filch shouting below while trying—and failing—to hold back their laughter.
"You two were brilliant!" Harry said, unable to hold back his praise. "I think you might put Zonko's Joke Shop out of business."
"I hope Umbridge thinks to try the Vanishing Spell," George Weasley said with a wicked grin. "That'll give her an even bigger surprise."
...
For the entire rest of the day, the fireworks continued blazing across Hogwarts.
And strangely, none of the other teachers seemed inclined to stop them…
For example, during Transfiguration, a firework shaped like a dragon burst into the classroom and exploded loudly. Professor McGonagall only said dryly, "Miss Brown, would you please inform the Headmaster that there is a stray firework in our classroom?"
Umbridge spent the entire day racing about the castle. After several exhausting hours, she finally found a method to deal with the fireworks, and called in the Investigative Task Force to help her end the chaos.
By evening, a soot-covered, sweat-drenched Umbridge staggered back into her office.
Filch and the members of the Investigative Task Force trailed behind her.
"Have you seen Christopher?" she asked suddenly, panting and disheveled.
Malfoy and the others froze, then shook their heads.
In the frantic rush of the entire day, no one had noticed that Christopher Patrick hadn't appeared even once.
"We saw him last night in the Slytherin common room," Pansy Parkinson murmured. "That was the last time. As for today…"
"Patrick last night…" Malfoy suddenly exclaimed, "He seemed suspicious of the Weasley twins. Could he have gone looking for them—and been attacked?"
"You mean those two troublemaking seventh-years?" Umbridge frowned sharply.
"Exactly," Malfoy nodded. "I suspect this fireworks incident is their doing too—they're very skilled with that sort of thing."
"Excellent. We're going to the Gryffindor common room to find them!" Umbridge barked.
"Headmistress Umbridge…" Pansy Parkinson glanced down at her own soot-stained robes. "Could I… bathe first?"
...
Without a doubt, bathing and changing took far too long.
By the time they reached the Gryffindor common room, the Weasley twins had already vanished.
The only thing certain was that they were still somewhere in the school… because in the days that followed, classrooms would erupt with even more troublesome fireworks, corridors were transformed into swamps, and Umbridge's office was suddenly raided by a rogue Niffler…
Of course, it was also possible that other students were causing trouble under the Weasley name.
The entire school descended into chaos. It was as if the teachers had lost their magic—they were completely helpless against the madness breaking out around them.
Peeves joined in eagerly. For the first time in his mischievous life, he became beloved by both students and staff. Every night he screeched with glee, flipping desks, causing havoc, toppling statues and vases; twice, he even locked Mrs. Norris inside a suit of armor…
Harry hadn't enjoyed a school year this much in ages.
In the midst of the fun, he still had a responsibility: using the Marauder's Map to track Filch and Umbridge so they wouldn't discover Fred and George.
"Fred and George are in the fourth-floor corridor… Filch is near them… Danger…" Harry shouted while watching the map. "Ron, warn them!"
"Right." Ron Weasley pulled out a Galleon and tapped it with his wand.
Hermione had enchanted these Galleons—when one changed, its paired coins would signal the others.
Thanks to their warnings, and to the Weasley twins' deep knowledge of Hogwarts' secret passages, Umbridge, Filch, and the Investigative Task Force never got close to catching them.
"They're safe," Harry sighed in relief, seeing the twins and Filch move in opposite directions on the map.
"Wait—Harry!" Hermione suddenly shrieked and snatched the map out of his hands.
"What are you doing? You nearly tore it!" Harry shouted.
Hermione pointed at the Headmaster's Office, her finger trembling. "I just saw a name here… behind that ugly stone statue at the entrance."
"That's impossible," Harry said. "No one can get into the Headmaster's Office."
"But…" Hermione hesitated, her voice softening.
She had seen a name—only for it to vanish instantly.
It had to be a mistake, she told herself, because—
The name she'd seen was "Jon Hart."
And Jon Hart should have died nine months ago...