The Weasley Twins
Anne-Leigh was making her way through the corridor towards the Headmistress' office when she unexpectedly bumped into the headmistress herself, seemingly coming from her office to meet her. McGonagall greeted her politely before falling into strides with her, opting to start their conversation outside the office, seeing as no one else was nearby. Leigh assumed students were still having a blast in the great hall, catching up and eating all that their hearts could desire.
"How have you experienced the first day back, Miss Conway?" McGonagall's voice cut through the silence, her gaze turned towards the floor in front of them and her hands clasped together upon her robes.
Leigh took a breath, nodding her head, "Good," she managed to squeeze out before mentally punching herself in the gut. Pull it together.
She tried a second time. "It was lovely to meet everyone again. Seeing Nova, Harry and the rest. Some of which I at one point never thought I'd see again. And had the opportunity to catch up – I heard Ginny is playing for the Harpies." At the mention of quidditch McGonagall immediately seemed to perch up. "You must be proud."
McGonagall nodded with a faint smile. "Oh yes. Very proud. Miss Weasley certainly had a talent for the sport. Seems to run in the family.”
Leigh hummed in agreement. Upon a moment of reflection she realized the words rang true. Both Ron who had been Gryffindors' keeper a few years back, and the Weasley twins having been beaters, and now Ginny, who needed little explanation.
"Do you know if there will be a tournament this year?" Leigh asked. She wasn't too into quidditch herself, but remembered the conversation her friends had had around the table during the meal.
"I'm afraid I can't answer that just yet Miss Conway. Regardless, I'm certain something quidditch-related will happen this year. After all, what would Hogwarts be without the incredible quidditch spirit?" Leigh agreed silently, and McGonagall continued, "Are you planning on trying out for the team?"
Leigh shook her head, and laughed internally. "Oh, no, I'm afraid my opportunity to be involved in quidditch has passed. I'm quite certain my focus this year will be solely on my studies."
McGonagall nodded approvingly. "So I have heard. And that's also what I wanted to talk to you about today." The two of them rounded a corner, nearing the Headmistress' office. "You let me know, not too long ago, that you were interested in partaking in some extracurricular activities that could help the school, correct?"
Leigh nodded, "Correct. As I'm thinking of which steps to take after my graduation, I figured that taking initiative around the school and being involved in projects outside my classes might benefit me in that journey."
"Understood. Do you know what you want to pursue after Hogwarts?" She asked with curiosity.
Taking a second to gather her thoughts, Leigh hummed to herself. In all honesty, she had no clue anymore. A few years ago she had been set on working within education, perhaps within the Ministry's Department of Magical Education. Considering that to be an impressive enough answer, she divulged it to McGonagall, who seemed pleased.
"Then I'm sure this opportunity will be valuable. As you know, we've all been through some difficult times lately. As officially in charge of Hogwarts, I'm attempting to find solutions to make things...easier...for students the coming year. For some that might mean access to support and an opportunity to process the recent events. For others, this might mean distraction." Minerva stopped and looked at her as they stood outside the entrance to the Headmistress' office. "I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts."
McGonagall signalled for Leigh to follow her into the moving staircase, and soon enough they were entering the office. Leigh hadn't been in this office a lot of times while Dumbledore had been Headmaster, but still, it felt strange to see it belong to someone else. But seeing Minerva stride into the room with such confidence in front of her absolved any uncertainties.
New paintings were hanging on the walls, some of which gave Leigh a nod of welcome as she stood in the entrance of the space.
"Please come in," McGonagall said as she stood in front of her desk in the middle of the office. It was first then that Leigh noticed another two figures in the room, sitting in both of the leather chairs opposite the desk. "I'm sure you are acquainted."
Leigh scrunched her eyebrows together as she took in the two forms in front of her. Of all people, the Weasley twins were the last two people she had expected to see. After all, she had agreed to meet McGonagall here to discuss initiatives relevant to her academic pursuits, not to discuss how to turn the whole school yellow (once again, she had no grasp of what exactly the twins' products were doing, except being a nuisance).
Her eyes trailed from one to the other, and a brief moment of silence ensued as the twins returned the look. McGonagall coughed lightly, having expected one of the three to initiate the greetings between them, but that moment never came. Instead, she took matters into her own hands. She faintly waved her hand in one of the twins' direction, following up with the other. "Fred and George."
Leigh looked back at the twins. In the leather chair furthest from her, Fred was sitting leant forwards with his elbows on his knees. The last time she had seen him, or any of the two for that matter, was in the battle. His hair had grown since then; it wasn't long, but had grown a bit down his neck, curling behind his ears, and fell down his forehead to frame his face. He was clad in a white dress-shirt and a tie which was tucked in behind a pitch black vest. He looked up at her.
In the other chair, George sat, also with a white dress-shirt, but him with a red vest on top. He delivered a small smile her way.
McGonagall lifted a hand in Leigh's direction. "Anne-Leigh Conway. I'm sure you've crossed paths. Friends with your brother Ronald, I believe?"
Again, her eyes met Fred's. "Long time no see," he said, eyes twinkling, surely remembering some prank they had pulled on her a few years prior.
"Indeed," Leigh muttered, mostly to herself, before looking back at McGonagall expectantly.
"I'm sure you're wondering why the twins are here," she started. Obviously, Leigh thought to herself. The last thing she needed was unnecessary stress from having to start to look out for mischievous gingers sneaking around the corridors trying to ruin her day. She had had enough of that for a lifetime.
"As you may have heard, Fred and George's store, Weasley's Wizard...–" McGonagall trailed off.
"Wheezes," the twins spoke simultaneously. They still seemed to be sharing one braincell.
"Right...Wheezes–," Minerva said and slightly cleared her throat, "–has been quite successful the last couple of years, even more so after the war. People seem to be flocking around the idea of jokes and whatnot."
Leigh looked at her, still not really understanding what she was getting at.
"And so, after hearing the news that the Weasleys might be opening a small shop in Hogsmeade, since old Zonko's has been closed and boarded up for years now – I believe Bilton Bilmes retired to go move to his sister in Cornwall - nice place – I decided to reach out to them. Students will undoubtedly visit the store in Hogsmeade, and will, with or without the staff's knowledge, bring items back into the school. Having an open conversation with the owners of said shop would help to ensure the safety of students, and keep staff prepared of what to expect."
At this part of McGonagall's explanation Leigh could see the twins have those mischievous grins on their faces as they looked at each other briefly. She narrowed her eyes slightly at the sight.
"So, what I'm asking of you is to keep yourself updated on that very topic. Regular meetings with the twins. Communicate back to me anything worth sharing. And remember, the fact that these meetings are arranged should not be getting out to the students."
Leigh's mind was blank. Sorry?
"Regular meetings? With the twins? About pranks?" She uttered, as if in disbelief, although she caught herself quickly. "What sort of information would that be?"
McGonagall smiled. "Now, that's up to you to decide." She looked from the twins to Leigh a few times before turning on her heel, walking back towards her desk to seemingly take a look at some papers. "Thank you all for this brief meeting. Now if you don't mind, I have some slips to sign, and some owls to send. I'm looking forward to hear your progress on this."
Leigh was at a loss for words. This didn't turn out like she expected at all. She knew McGonagall had a soft spot for the twins, specifically because of their long involvement in the Gryffindor quidditch team, but surely it couldn't go so far as her accepting, or even encouraging, possibly dangerous joke items in the school.
She saw the twins stand up from their chairs, walking past her as they aimed for the exit. Avoiding to spend any prolonged period in their presence, she decided to hang back to have some final words with McGonagall.
As the twins' footsteps slowly faded out, Leigh spoke. "I have to be honest, this is not what I expected."
McGonagall chuckled lightly. "I can tell," she said as she looked up from the papers on her desk. She smiled knowingly. "I'm aware it might not be what you had in mind, but remember, it is a skill to find value in things which may not seem valuable at first. At the end of the day, you are advocating for the wellbeing and safety of Hogwarts students. Even if it may not feel like it in the moment. Through having an oversight, we're able to see if there's anything we should be worried about."
Leigh bit her lip, at loss for words. She could understand McGonagall's point. But still, that didn't necessarily make it better. "Wouldn't it be easier to just ban the products on school grounds? Surely that would take the danger out of the equation."
McGonagall hummed. "Perhaps. But we aren't just trying to keep students away from the products. We want them to have fun and enjoy themselves, as long as they're safe doing so. Although, it didn't come from me." She smiled playfully. "Merlin knows they deserve a bit of fun. And besides, banning items is never a guarantee they won't enter school grounds. Rather, they might enter unbeknownst to us, causing even more danger than necessary."
Leigh supposed that was as good of an explanation as any, and she doubted she could make McGonagall change her mind at this very moment.
Sensing her slight disappointment, McGonagall spoke again. "Knowing you, you will make the most of it."
Leigh forced a smile before nodding politely, saying her goodbye, and walking towards the exit of the office. A discussion for another day.
She was knackered. After a day full of socialising, food, and now this, she was ready to take refuge in her dorm to have a well-needed rest. She could wait to update Nova on the situation tomorrow.
Just as she took the last step down the stairs and reached the corridor, and could almost envision the feeling of her head hitting her pillow, she almost bumped into something. Or rather, she almost bumped into someone.