Future Nostalgia / Harry Potter Fanfic

The Aftermath of the Goblet of Fire

As the next day was Saturday, most students would normally have a breakfasted late. Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Estella, however, were not alone in rising much earlier than they usually did on weekends. When they went down into the entrance hall, they saw about twenty people milling around it, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the center of the hall on the stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around in every direction.

"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly.

"All the Drumstang lot," she replied. "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."

Someone left behind a cell. Turning, she saw Fred, George, Sienna, and Lee Jordan hurrying down the staircase, all three of them, but Sienna, looking extremely excited.

"Done it," Fred said in a triumphant whisper to Harry, Ron, Estella, and Hermione. "Just taken it."

"What?" asked Ron.

"The Aging Potion, dung brains," said Fred.

"One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older."

Estella looked to Sienna as she heard a scoff.

"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.

"It's not going to work, you know," said Hermione warningly. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."

"Yup, I've told them that," Sienna said exasperatedly.

Fred, George, and Lee ignored her.

"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. "C'mon, then, I'll go first."

Estella watched knowingly as Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket. He walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, took a great breath and stepped over the line.

Estella watched as George let out a yell of triumph and left after Fred, but the next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both the twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they'd been thrown by an invisible shotputter. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.

The entrance hall rang with laughter. Even Fred and George join in, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other's beards. Sienna laughed the hardest. It was infectious.

"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything as fine as yours."

Fred and George set off for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee and Sienna, both of whom were howling with laughter.

People were cheering out in the entrance hall. They swiveled around in their seats and saw Angelina Johnson coming into the Hall, grinning in an embarrassed sort of way. Angelica came over to them, sat down, and said, "Well, I've done it! Just put my name in!"

"You're kidding!" said Ron, looking impressed.

"Are you seventeen, then?" asked Harry. Yet another reason why he wasn't in Ravenclaw.