Mischief Managed | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 44

After the incident of the Whomping Willow and the fact that Davey Gudgeon had almost lost an eye, nearing the tree had become forbidden to all students.

"I still don't understand why they would even have such a tree in the Hogwarts grounds in the first place!" Lily shook her head. "That tree is dangerous. What's the point of it being here? Why don't they get rid of it?"

But nobody had any explanation to that question, though there were still rumors about how and why the Whomping had gotten there, one guess more unlikely than the other.

      As the weeks passed by, everyone gradually forgot about the chaos and rumors of the Whomping Willow, getting busy with loads of homework, tests, essays, and classes. Although all studies were forgotten for Jenna Potter as they neared the end of March.

     It was a peaceful day at the Gryffindor dormitory and Marlene, Alice, and Lily were sleeping in that day, seeing as it was a Saturday and they didn't have classes that day.

     But they all suddenly shot awake when someone yelled, "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!"

     "What! What is it!? Who's attacked!?" Marlene jumped out of her skin from shock and sat up straight on her bed with wide eyes, staring around in horror.

     "No one's attacked, Mar, you've been having a bad dream," Lily said sleepily from her bed, rubbing her eyes. "It was Jenna."

     Marlene only groaned and dropped herself back on the bed, covering her face with the red blankets.

     "Happy birthday, Jen," Alice said through a yawn, slowly getting up.

     Jenna was now jumping up and down on her bed with a bright smile, her hair changing from yellow to orange and back to yellow, being both happy and excited for her birthday.

     "Come on, Mar! Look how nice the weather is!" Jenna pointed cheerfully behind the dorm's window as she jumped down from the bed.

     It was true. After a long cloudy and cold winter, today the weather had taken a turn for the better, and the sun was shining upon the Hogwarts grounds.

      "I don't care about the stupid weather. I want to sleep!" Marlene grumbled from under the blankets, but her moodiness didn't take away from Jenna's excitement in the slightest.

    The truth was, the Potter twins' birthday had always been a big deal back at home. That's just how they were raised. The fact that Euphemia and Fleamont weren't able to have a baby of their our for years had made them disappointed, but it was as though a miracle had happened when they learnt that Euphemia was pregnant twelve years ago; and not with one, but two babies.

      With all that said, it was no surprise that they spoiled their children from the moment they were born, buying them everything they wished, giving them all their attention, and sparing no bit of love and affection. Which is why some would say that the twins had grown to be too proud and stubborn for their age, but their parents loved them all the same.

     Throughout all those eleven years, Euphemia and Fleamont had made sure to make their kids' birthdays the most special day of the year, spoiling them with gifts and big celebrations beyond words could express. 27th of March had certainly become James and Jenna's favorite day of the whole year, thanks to their parents.

     Jenna knew that she shouldn't expect her birthday this year to be as special as it always had been back home, but she was still excited to celebrate it among her friends at school.

     She'd already showered and had gotten into her Hogwarts robes, skipping around the room giddily. Lily and Alice shared a glance, giggling at her sight. Marlene had simply gone back to sleep.

     "We actually had a little gift for you, Jen," said Lily as she and Alice got out of bed. "From the three of us."

     "Really?" Jenna's smile widened, her heart fluttering and her hair turning orange again with excitement.

     With that, Alice went toward her trunk and took out a large wrapped box, handing it to Jenna.

     Not able to contain her excitement anymore, Jenna sat down on the dorm's floor with the gift. She quickly started opening up the preset, revealing a big package of Zonko Joke Shop's best items inside it.

     "MERLIN'S BEARD!" Jenna squealed happily before jumping to her feet and bringing Alice and Lily into a bone-crushing hug.

     "I think she liked it," Alice said in a dreamy voice, giggling after Jenna pulled away.

"Thank you guys so much!" she squealed happily. Jenna then went toward Marlene's bed and pulled the blanket off her head.

     "Oi!" Marlene sat up and got ready to yell at her, but she was silenced when Jenna gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek.

     "Thanks!" Jenna said happily.

      Marlene blushed, but she pushed Jenna back playfully. "Get off me, you idiot," she said with a little laugh.

     After all the girls got ready for the day and changed into their Hogwarts robes, they grabbed their backpacks and made their way down toward the Great Hall for breakfast.

     "I'm going to eat until I explode as my birthday celebration," said Jenna with a little grin as they passed through the entrance hall.

      "Now that's a celebration I can get on board with," said Marlene, and they all laughed.

     "Anyway, how did you guys get the Zonko's package?" Jenna questioned. "First years aren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade."

     "Oh, we used one of the school's owls to send an order to Zonko's shop," she explained. "We sent the money with the owl along with a note of what we wanted, and they sent the owl back with the gift basket."

    Jenna smiled in gratitude. "Well, I absolutely loved —"

     "Oi, J.P!" They all looked up as they entered the Great Hall, seeing James walking toward them, his smirk seeming more arrogant than usual. As it seemed, the boys had woken up earlier and had come down to the Great Hall long before.

     "Guess what day it is," said James, grinning smugly.

     "Is he trying to be funny or he's just that dumb?" Marlene whispered to Lily.

     Having heard her, James turned his face on her sharply with a glare, but decided to ignore her remark and looked back at Jenna.

     "I guess saying a happy birthday is in order," said Jenna, smiling at her twin.

     "Happy birthday to you too, J.P," said James, his smirk turning into a warm smile as he brought his sister into a quick hug. He pulled away quickly to say, "Mum and Dad sent our presents with owls, by the way!"

    "Oooh! When!? Where!?" Jenna asked, feeling the excitement surge from within her once again.

     "Just now," he said happily, pointing at the Gryffindor table, where two boxes laid. One of them had already been opened, but Jenna's was still wrapped up beautifully.

     Jenna rushed toward the box and unwrapped it quickly as James returned to sit with his three friends. Their parents had sent her magical shoes that could glow in the dark so brightly that it could actually light up a whole room. The girls wowed over the shoes, as Jenna tried them on and put her other pair of shoes which she was wearing before in her bag.

     After breakfast, the four Gryffindor girls decided to leave the castle and take a walk through the grounds to enjoy the sunny day. Although it was still extremely cold, so they had to keep on their cloaks and scarves. Jenna's hair was still a mixture of orange and yellow, and she wasn't expecting it to change anytime soon.

     But just then, right before they were about to leave the entrance hall, someone called behind them, "Hey, birthday girl!"

     Turning around, they all took aback when they saw that it was Avery who had called, striding toward them with Mulciber by his side.