Harry Potter And Common Sense

A couple weeks later Harry finally had his prank for the Weasley twins ready. Neville and Cassandra knew because they helped him research its components and Aaron knew about it since Harry brewed the potion portion during one of their tutoring sessions. He'd recruited the his elves to get the potion into the twins' food. That night at dinner everyone who knew smiled when out of the blue Fred and George started singing "Ten green bottles sitting on a wall." There were a few snickers but no one recognized the diabolical aspect of the prank until later.

Harry grinned as at breakfast the twins' dorm mates were glaring at the twins as they continued to sing the song at lunch the teachers joined the students. At dinner they themselves looked ready to cry and everyone at the Gryffindor table shunned them.

Neville told him how the twins' housemates the second afternoon had shut the two into a silenced closet because silencing spells on the twins themselves didn't work. Harry laughed and gave Neville a note to give to the twins. It read.

Payback's a bitch isn't it. You'll be singing that song three times through for every time you pranked me. - Son of Prongs P.S. Prank me again and I'll come up with something worse.

It actually took them three days to get through all the repetitions apparently they had been responsible for more of the pranks on him than he'd thought. The note however wound up being a less than good thing . McGonagall found it and assigned him detention for having disrupted the third year classes.

Harry didn't worry about it however. He found himself wildly popular with many in Slytherin after that though. The twins had never been particularly malicious in their pranks, but the Slytherins had been a target more times than they cared for. To see it go back on the two hapless lions amused them to no end. Will and Dan taught him some more specialized shields, and the entire quidditch team took him flying on the pitch each showing him the specifics of their position on the team. Harry made up his mind he would be getting a broom for next year when he did his school shopping. Flying was entirely too much fun.

Snape was torn. In the end the prank on the two annoying lions proved too much to resist. He gave Harry twenty points for a very well planned revenge when no one was around to hear.

Harry and Neville wound up serving two detentions together. The first one was cleaning the trophy room and the highlight for Harry was finding that his dad had been a quidditch captain and chaser for Gryffindor. The second was anything but routine. On the second detention the castle's creepy caretaker Filch led them out to Hagrid's hut.

"Hullo Harry, hullo.."

Harry took pity on Hagrid. "Hagrid this is my friend Neville Longbottom."

"Hullo, Neville"

"Headmaster says we're to go into the forest and figure out what's killing the unicorns. Four have died since March."

Harry wanted to snarl. Sending first years, especially first years that had an incompetent defense teacher into a place deemed dangerous enough to be forbidden to students. Dumbledore was just brilliant, NOT. He supposed they would be safe enough staying with Hagrid. Something powerful enough to prey on unicorns, what was the headmaster thinking? Oh that was right the Headbastard was thinking he wanted to test Harry and since Harry wasn't cooperating he would use the by hook or by crook method. Harry swore the old man had to be senile if not plain out crazy.

They ran into some centaurs and Harry found their cryptic nature very annoying. Then a ways into the forest they found a blood trail and Hagrid proposed they split up.

Neville protested. "But it's not safe!"

"If you need help send up red Sparks. Otherwise yeh' follow the trail of blood going that way and I'll go the other. This way we find the pur beastie sooner." He called Fang and was about to head off.

Harry shook his head in a combination of wry amusement and disbelief at the utter idiocy the giant man displayed. "Fine Hagrid but could you do me a favor first ? See that branch," he pointed to a limb on an oak tree. "could you break that off for me?"

Hagrid frowned but did as asked.

Once the branch was on the ground. Harry transfigured it into two bokken. He had taught Neville about six of the basic strikes and blocks with a bokken using the one in his trunk. He and Neville both knew some magic but they would be better off with the ability to have some sort of physical backup. By using the oak branch he was just about guaranteeing the tranfiguration would last. Taking the bokken he set them up with a modified lumos charm. Both wooden swords now glowed with a red light. He handed one to Neville and took the other for himself. They headed off following the blood. The light from the bokken easily giving them enough to see by, and the red color allowing them to keep their night vision as well.

* After walking deeper into the forest for about eight minutes, they found the unicorn. It was dead, its legs lying like sticks at odd angles on the ground. Its mane lying pearly white against the leaves on the ground. They took two steps towards it, when they heard a slithering sound and froze. On the far side of the clearing a bush rustled and a hooded figure crawled forward from the shadows to the body of the unicorn where it lowered its head to the wound in the unicorn's side to drink the blood.

Neville couldn't help himself, he said a half choked "Harry."

The hooded figure raised its head and looked straight at Harry-unicorn blood dribbling down its front. It got to it's feet and came swiftly towards them- but neither boy moved from fear.

Then pain pierced Harry's head, like his scar was on fire and he crumpled.

Neville saw Harry fall. Freaking out, he lifted his bokken and charged, swinging the bokken in what Harry called a basic joge-buri (Up down) movement only to get jostled to the side by a charging centaur. Neville watched as the palomino centaur reared and struck at the strange creature forcing it into a retreat. Neville turned to take care of Harry. Sending up red sparks as he did. The centaur soon joined him.

"Are you alright?" It asked as Neville pulled Harry to his feet.

"Yes-thank you-what was that?" Harry said.

The centaur stayed quiet. "You are the Potter boy. You had both better get back to Hagrid. This way."

A moment later the two centaurs they had met earlier came up "Firenze What are you doing?"

"Do you realize who this is? This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest the better."

"What have you been telling him?" growled the centaur named Bane from earlier. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"

A third centaur Ronan pawed the ground and said, "I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best."

Bane kicked his back legs obviously angry. "For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"

....

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