In the thick of the crowd, George watched Flint clutch his stomach and collapse, while Wood's nose wouldn't stop bleeding. He shook his head regretfully. "Wood, you really should've aimed for his nose, that absolute gorilla—" George didn't even finish before someone yanked hard on his shoulder.
He turned to see Fred. "Fred, where have you been? You missed it, the most incredible—"
"Quiet! Come with me, I need to talk," Fred cut off George's enthusiastic recounting, getting straight to the point.
It was then that George noticed the grim look on Fred's face. He quickly ducked and squeezed out of the crowd, following Fred closely.
"What's going on? Did Filch find our secret research lab?" George joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Fred first looked left and right, making sure no one was paying them any mind, before leaning close to George's ear. "Do you know who got us that vodka the other night?"
"Wasn't it you?" George pushed Fred's face away in disgust; he could practically feel Fred's spit on his ear.
But Fred slapped George's hand away. "That vodka wasn't mine." Fred's voice was barely a whisper, and the red hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. "It was Ginny's. But Harry said the Firewhisky was identical to the one in Hagrid's cabin."
George's pushing hand froze mid-air. On Halloween, when Fred had slipped him that bottle, he'd only said he'd "managed to get hold of it." He hadn't said Ginny had given it to him. Now that he thought about it, Fred's expression had been off that day.
Hearing George bring up that night, Fred explained, "The drinks supplier wrote to me saying they were out of strong spirits, and my order would be delayed a few days. Then Ginny promised she'd help me get some."
"How did Ginny know?" George asked curiously.
"She overheard our conversation," Fred said evasively.
"Overheard? Merlin's beard! I never would've thought Ginny was the most like us. Ron certainly wouldn't—" George was excitedly rambling, but under Fred's stern gaze, he finally shut up.
"It's not that big of a deal, is it? We did much crazier things at her age," George whispered, mimicking Fred's action and leaning closer to his ear. He still wasn't taking it seriously.
"But Harry told me that bottle of vodka was Malfoy's!" Fred said, gritting his teeth.
George thought his ears were failing him. "What?"
"I said, that bottle of vodka was Malfoy's! As in, Draco Malfoy!" Fred enunciated each word.
George's jaw dropped in shock. He stared at Fred in disbelief, but Fred simply nodded gravely.
It took a while for George to grudgingly accept the fact. He stammered, "B-but how is that possible? Merlin's scarlet underpants! Ginny actually knows that little ferret Malfoy?"
"I can hardly believe it either, but given that Malfoy was willing to give Ginny strong spirits, it seems their relationship isn't exactly ordinary," Fred said grimly.
Seeing George's continued shock, Fred grabbed George's head and pulled it closer. "George, have you seen them together on the Marauder's Map lately?"
"Merlin's beard, of course not! I don't make a habit of spying on my own sister," George said, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Then we'll have to keep an eye on this, at least to figure out what they're up to," Fred whispered.
"You don't seriously think they're... dating, do you? Ginny's only in second year!" George's voice involuntarily rose.
"Keep it down!" Fred hissed.
"Merlin's beard! If that's true, Dad would absolutely lose his mind!" George said, lowering his voice.
"Stop saying 'Merlin's blasted beard'! When did you start sounding like Ron?" Fred snapped, annoyed.
"That's not the point." George gave Fred an exasperated look. "The point is, are we really going to spy on Ginny? If Mum finds out, your backside is definitely going to be symmetrical again."
"Of course," Fred hesitated for a moment, then said, feeling a bit guilty, "Perhaps we should go ask Hagrid about the specifics first. Harry didn't want to tell me more; he told me to ask Hagrid myself."
"Hagrid's cellar only has brandy," Fred said, kicking at the air in frustration. "Unless it's that batch of Muggle alcohol—remember? He said some 'old acquaintance' left it there, and that the French letters on the bottle looked like spiders crawling."
George was also utterly perplexed. "Are you saying that batch of gin was supplied by Malfoy? How would he even have Muggle alcohol? He probably thinks Muggle matches are dirty."
Suddenly, George remembered Ginny asking him about Hagrid's place a while back, giving the reason that she was curious why Harry went there so often.
"Remember the first Quidditch match? Malfoy, that little ferret, was standing alone in the rain, and then Ginny said she had something to ask Hagrid and stayed behind," George whispered.
Fred was about to say something when George suddenly shushed him. He impatiently turned to where George was looking; Ron was heading their way.
"Did you see Wood's face? He wanted to tear Flint limb from limb," George said as if nothing were amiss.
"Oh, absolutely! I never would've guessed they hated each other that much," Fred chimed in, catching on.
"Forget about Wood," Ron said, scratching his head in frustration. "Which of you is going to teach me the Disarming Charm?"
"What about Seamus? Isn't he your partner?" George asked.
"Don't even mention him," Ron said, pointing to a scorched mark on his arm. "I don't fancy being blown up again."
"Then go find someone who won't blow you up. Percy's quite good," Fred said impatiently.
"Percy?" Ron's eyes widened. "Are you serious? I'd rather not learn anything than go to him..." Ron muttered, turning back, only to find the Weasley twins had already left. He stood there, stomping his foot in frustration.
George and Fred, having ditched Ron, made their way to the other side of the Great Hall. Lee Jordan spotted his best mates and excitedly waved. "Come quick, look! I've caught a giant spider here!"
"Right," George said dismissively. "You just hold onto it for a bit; we'll have a look later."
After sending Lee Jordan off, Fred twirled his wand. "Should we ask Ginny?"
George looked across the Great Hall, where Ginny was currently duelling Neville. Fred also looked over, just in time to see Ginny hit Neville from an awkward angle, making him clutch his stomach and fall.
"Forget it. If Ginny finds out, neither of us will hear the end of it," George said, shivering. "Let's go ask Hagrid first."
Fred decided to get to the bottom of this immediately. "No time like the present! We'll go now. There's a secret passage to the Forbidden Forest on the ground floor."
"But I don't have the Marauder's Map with me. What if we run into the attacker?" George hesitated.
"It's fine. All the students are in the Great Hall today; only the professors are still out. You don't think a professor is the attacker, do you?" Fred said.
George realized he had a point and agreed to Fred's suggestion. They quickly discussed what they'd say to Hagrid, then left the Great Hall. Angelina frowned, watching Fred's stealthy departure. She stood there for a moment, thinking, then quietly followed them.
"That corridor has patrolling portraits," George recalled what he'd seen earlier, inching along the wall. "Let's take the secret passage from the dungeon entrance; we hid Dungbombs there last year."
Fred suddenly yanked George's robe. A dark shadow darted past behind a suit of armour not far away. The two instantly ducked into a nearby broom cupboard.
George secretly opened a tiny crack—it was Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, whose amber eyes were scanning the floor, her nose constantly sniffing the air.
"That blasted cat," George cursed under his breath, praying for Mrs. Norris to leave quickly. Seeing Mrs. Norris getting closer, Fred pulled out a Dungbomb from his pocket and handed one to George.
The twins held their breath. If Mrs. Norris found their hiding spot, they'd toss the Dungbombs to create a diversion. Luckily, Filch's voice rang out. "There you are, my sweet. What are you doing here? Come on, there are no students in the castle today; I'll let you relax."
Mrs. Norris gave a reluctant "Meow," still unwilling to leave. Filch seemed to understand what Mrs. Norris was trying to convey. "The Great Hall's at the end of the corridor; all the students are inside. You must have smelled them. Come on, I'll take you for a bath first."
Only then did Mrs. Norris grudgingly follow Filch away.
Once the white figure disappeared around the corner, George finally dared to breathe. "If we'd been caught today, we'd definitely have been branded as the attacker."
"Come on, let's go quickly and come back quickly," Fred urged.
The Weasley twins soon slipped out of the castle. Oddly, Angelina, who should have followed, was nowhere to be seen.
Thick smoke was billowing from Hagrid's chimney, and a dead rooster hanging from the porch swayed in the wind. Standing in front of Hagrid's cabin, Fred gritted his teeth. "If it really is Malfoy, I'm going to make him taste our new 'U-No-Poo' candy—this time, I promise his tongue will stretch across the entire floor."
George gave Fred a warning look, indicating he shouldn't say anything foolish later, then knocked on Hagrid's door. The twins heard a "clank" from inside—like an iron pot falling to the floor.
"Who's there?" Hagrid's voice came through the wooden door, tinged with obvious caution. George quickly cleared his throat and, in his most innocent voice, called out, "It's us, Hagrid! The Duelling Club was utterly boring, so we came to visit you!"