The Weasley Twin (Harry Potter Love Story)

[9] Nimbus Two-Thousands

Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry, Ron, and I were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.

Indeed, by the next morning Harry, Ron, and I thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and we were quite keen to have another one. After all, we're only human.

In the meantime, Harry filled Ron and me in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and we spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection. Had to be some type of powerful magical item.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," Ron said.

"Or both," Harry agreed.

"Something that attracts dangerous people," I added.

But as all we knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it
was about two inches long, we didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.

Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus to them. She still talked to me and, recently, we have gotten a lot closer. I was happy to have a friend that was a girl. It can get tiring having six brothers and a friend that's a boy. I was content now except...

All Harry, Ron, and me really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to our great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.

As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by two long, thin packages carried by six large screech owls each. I was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in these large parcels, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped them right in front of Harry and me.

They had hardly fluttered out of the way when two other owls dropped a letter on top of each parcel. Harry ripped open his letter while I did the same with mine. Good thing too, because it said:

DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.

It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you and Mr. Potter tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session.

Professor McGonagall

I had difficulty hiding my glee as Harry and I handed both notes to Ron to read. Then Harry and I gave excited looks at each other.

"Nimbus Two Thousands!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."

We left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomsticks in private before our first class, but halfway across the entrance hall we found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.

"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "And I bet you've also got one. You'll be in for it this time, Potter, Weasley, first years aren't allowed them."