Fred and George Weasley walked through the nearly deserted street of Godric’s Hollow, looking around suspiciously. The streets were covered in a thin layer of snow, and Christmas lights were hung from one lamppost to the next. Large Father Christmases made of wire and tinsel were hung from the street lamps. On any other day, there would have been many people hustling and bustling around the streets, but it was 11:30 pm on Christmas Eve, and most of the Muggles were at home, celebrating the holiday with their family and friends. The twins had to leave their Christmas feast at home early, however, due to secret Order business.
“Which way now?” asked Fred, scratching his neck.
“I don’t know. I will look at the instructions again,” answered George, as they came to a fork in the middle of the road. He pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and tugged at his collar. “Mum made these sweaters out of really itchy wool this year, didn’t she?”
“Yes,” said Fred, tugging on his F marked sweater to let the fresh, cool air in. “Too bad she’s to proud to let us buy her good quality wool. So, which way, left or right?”
“The note says that Harry is staying at number 13, Manes Drive, which is to the lef- did you hear something?” asked George, letting go of his sweater collar.
“No, what did you hear?” replied Fred, holding out his wand.
“I don’t know, but sounded like the swishing of a cloak. It came from that back alley,” said George.
“Must just be the wind,” said Fred. “It is Decem- ”But then, a sucking sound came from a back alley, and a chilling feeling announced that it wasn’t just the wind… it was a something else.
“ Lumos said George. A light shone from his wand, illuminating the entire alley. It was empty.
“Must have really been the wind,” laughed Fred.
“Yes, guess I am a little too jumpy. Come on, for every moment we waste, Harry might be in more trouble.”
“Yeah, let’s get a- ”But Fred never found out what they were goingbecause both the twins felt something knock into them from behind, and they fell to the floor. Fred opened his eyesand saw that they were being swarmed by dozens of Dementors. The power of so many of them was so great, he felt his heart go cold, and he couldn’t raise his wand to cast the Patronus. He remembered the death of his older brother, Bill, and the horrible feeling he had felt at his funeral. The horrible pain that he had felt was because it had partially been his fault that his brother had died. Even though he knew it was because of the Dementors he was thinking about Bill, he still couldn’t get him out of his mind.
In the meantime, George was having trouble of his own. He had been able to raise his wand to cast the Patronus, but a Dementor had glided toward him and startled him. George fell backwards and his wand went flying.
“These Dementors…” he stuttered. “They are a lot bolder then usual. I lost my wand!” His brother gave no reply. Within seconds, George also felt the same state of coldness. Both of them felt like they were simply slipping into a deep, black hole, as the Dementors closed in on them.
Then, the sucking started. All the Dementors all around them opened there mouths and inhaled. Both the Weasley twins felt lightheaded as their souls were sucked out of them. Then, their worlds went black.
*
Fred and George came back to conciseness at the same time. When they did, they both found themselves looking into the face of Harry Potter. They both felt a little odd, and somehow it was different from the way they had felt before, but Fred assumed that it was from the bad memories he had experienced, and George assumed it was from the near death experience. One question remained in both their minds… what had happened?
“What’s up?” asked Fred.
“I found you guys just in time. Luckily, I was going for a walk. The Dementors almost had sucked out your souls. They were out of your bodies from what I could tell. But it was almost like they where resisting to leave you completely. The Dementors were too occupied by you to see me coming. I cast the Patronusand sent them flying. When they were gone, your souls flew back to your bodies, or at least that’s what appeared to happen. I think they were souls, but I don’t really know. They were kind of like blurry patches of air. What are you guys doing here, anyway?”
“We are here to get you!” responded George. “When you didn’t show up for dinner, Mum nearly had a fit! Why didn’t you come?”
“I said I might come, not that I would definitely. I have been busy here.”
“That’s the other thing. Nobody has seen you in quite awhile. What have you been up to?” asked Fred.
“I can’t really say,” responded Harry. “How are you two feeling?”
“A little lightheaded, but I’m fine. Really, what have you been up to?” insisted George.
“Fine, I will tell you guys, but you have to keep it quite. Actually, I need to run this by someone, but don’t want to interrupt Ron and Hermione, as they have their work cut out for them at home as it is. Listen, I found another Horcrux.”
“What?” said Fred, standing up abruptly. All of a sudden, he fell back down. “Major blood rush. Merlin, I feel all exhausted. Still have a little bit of the Dementor-ish feeling in me.”
“I think I have some chocolate in my pocket,” said George. “Hang on, I could have sworn I had a leftover Chocolate Frog from Charlie. Where did it go?”
“That’s strange…” said Fred, reaching into his own pocket and pulling out a Chocolate Frog. “I don’t remember putting that there.”
“It’s OK, it probably fell out of my pocket and ended up in yours. What do you think I am, stupid? Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Harry, continue with the story,” said George.
Fred pulled out the frog, stuffed it in his mouth, and then stared intently at Harry.
“Well, I found it at my parents’ graves. It was a cup, and it was just lying there on their tombstones, along with some other things people had left. There was a picture “ a still one, of course “ from the Muggles. And a teddy bear in a plastic bag. I guess Voldemort figured out that nobody would look there, and that nobody would dare move something on a tombstone. I guess he had one of his Death Eaters put the cup there after Voldamort died. Anyway, it is unmovable, so it is always attached to the grave, and I can’t take it off. Now, should I keep trying to take it off? I have been doing a lot of research on different spells to use. Maybe the two of you could come up with something?” Harry continued.
“Well, if Voldemort cast the spell, I am honored that you think we could break it, but it would be hard work,” said Fred. “There must be another way.”
“Well, there is. I could just destroy the cup where it is now, but… it is sitting on my parents’ joint gravestone, and is pretty much attached to it permanently. Which would mean…” Harry struggled to find the right words.
“Which would mean you would have to destroy your parents’ gravestone as well,” finished George. “Can’t you just aim at the cup?”
“I can’t risk that the soul has not left the cup and entered the stone.”
“I see your problem. Don’t worry, we will see about separating it. Lead the way, Harry,” said George.
“Thank you so much. Follow me then,” said Harry.
“You know, Harry, it really is a good thing we came along. Otherwise, who knows how long you might have been here for!” laughed Fred.
“Oh, be quiet, George. I would have gotten it eventually; I just thought you guys might have an ideaor an invention that might work.”
“Yeah, I guess… wait a minute, did you just call me George?”
“Yeah, I could tell from the large G on your sweater. Now, come on, guys, let’s go.”
“But wait, I am not George, I am Fred,” said Fred.
“Well, then switch back your sweaters. Let’s go!” said Harry, looking sleep- deprived and slightly frustrated that the twins were still sitting on the ground, looking confused.
“The frog, the sweaters, the strange out-of-place feelings I am having “ it all makes sense. The only thing I could think of would be that we somehow switched bodies. But how, and for how long?” said George.
“Wait. What if, when the Dementors sucked out our souls, they went back to the wrong bodies? What if my soul returned to your body, and your soul returned to mine?” said Fred.
“Then we would have a big problem, but there is nothing we can do about it right now. I say we help Harry now, and solve the problem later,” said George.
“Agreed!” responded Fred. With that, the two twins stood up and followed Harry down the street.
The trip took ten minutes. The walked through the deserted streets of Godric’s Hollow until they got to the outskirts of town. Here, Harry led them down a dirt road until they came to a set of large brass gates. A sign above them read ‘Godric’s Hollow Cemetery’. The brass gate was locked shut. Harry looked both ways, took out his wand and unlocked the gate. He then pushed it open. The twins followed him inside. Harry then shut the gateand beckoned them to follow him.
They walked down a stone path, with large tombstones on either side of them. Eventually, they turned and went down one of the aisles. They headed straight for a little while until they came to a joint gravestone. It was made of granite, and was covered in things friends had left behind. Like Harry had said, there was a picture in a frame on top of it. The picture was one the twins had seen before; it was the one of the Potters’ wedding day. But it had been developed differently, and it did not move. There was also a stuffed bear in a plastic bag that had no doubt belonged to one of Harry’s parents when they were little. A nice vase was set up with fresh flowers (no doubt put there by the cemetery) and, standing on the same base as the tombstone, was a golden cup with a small badger on it. The stone read:
Lily Potter~~~~~*~~~~~James Potter
1960-1981~~~~*~~~~1959-1981
Born into separate worlds.
Fought and died for the same future
Loyal Friends, Loving parents
“So, this is it?” asked George, pointing to the cup.
“Yes,” said Harry. “Try and move it. You will seethat it is stuck. I have tried some simple spells, but I don’t know anything more complicated off the top of my head. I located a magical library not far from here, but it is closed until after New Year’s. It took me long enough to find this Horcrux.”
“Mind if I try something?” asked Fred.
“Not at all,” said Harry.
Fred approached the grave, being extra careful to come at it from the side and not step right in front of it. He walked up to the cup and gave it a pull. “Yep, it is stuck on pretty well.”
George followed his brother, and he too gave a nod of acceptance. “We may be able to do something, but we will have to experiment a little. We won’t do anything to the actual grave, at least not without asking you first.”
“So what do you have in mind?” asked Harry.
“Well, I was thinking of “”Fred never finished his sentencebecause, all of a sudden, there was a burst of flames and Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix, appeared right next to them.
“Fawkes, what are you doing here?” asked George.
“I have had him searching for Nagini. She has been spending more time hunting lately. Guys, I have to go with Fawkes for now. The cup isn’t going anywhere, but Nagini might. I promise I will come back as soon as I can. I give you permission to do whatever you can to get the cup off the tombstone, or to get the Horcrux out of the cup. I really have to go. I will be back as soon as I can. Bye!” With that, he grabbed Fawkes’ tail. The bird screeched and exploded, leaving a feather behind, but taking Harry with him.
“So, what do you reckon we do?” asked Fred.
“I say we talk this out. Now, say that the cup and the stone are one object… do you think that means the soul is now in the stone as well?”
“I guess so. I don’t see what would keep it in the cup!” answered George.
“Well, let’s say we separate them. Would the soul separate into two pieces?”
“I don’t think so. From what Harry told us, it has to have been part of a person when they killed someone. Yes, it was part of Voldemort’s soul when he killed someone, but it has already split in half for that. I don’t think that it would split like a normal physical object. It would stay in its true home, in the cup!”
“So what we need to do is separate the cup from the stone then. The soul would not have completely left the cup, because if the cup and stone were one object, it would be in both. It seems like the only thing to do. And I have the perfect invention to do it with!” said Fred.
“The Amazing Weasley Particle Divider?” asked George. The twins worked together on most of their projects, but they worked on some things separately. Fred had been developing a painless way to separate limbs from people without harming them, and then reattach them as a joke.
“Look in my pocket!” said Fred excitedly.
George reached into Fred’s pocket and pulled out a wad of silver thin string. “What is this?” he asked.
“That, my brother, if the Amazing Weasley Particle Divider!” said Fred.
“And how does it work?” asked George.
“Well, this I learnt from Dad, actually. Everything in the world is made out of particles, as you know. And those particles are charged with different magnetic powers, but usually not very strongly. Well, the way this works is that it automatically creates a magnetic force of equal polarity to the particles it touches, yet one thousand times stronger. All the particles on one side of the string are pushed one way, and the particles on the other side are pushed the other way. I haven’t yet come up with a way to seal off both limb and torso so that there is no blood loss, but the separation process works well.”
“OK,” said George. “But Harry said it is immune to spells.”
“Yes, spells. But this uses something that Voldemort knows very little about, as it is a Muggle study… science. Dad was explaining it to me. So, this Horcrux may be immune to magic, and it may be un seperable, but there is nothing stopping the particles from being pulled apart.”
“Genius!” said George.
“Thanks!” said Fred. He held out his hand, and his brother passed him the string. Being careful not to put pressure on the string, George pointed his wand at it and said, “Untanglyo.” The string untangled itself. He then grasped the two specially coated ends and bent down to the cup’s level. He put the string right at the point where the cup was connected to the stone, and pushed on it with the string. Like a hot wire through butter, the string went right through, and the cup clattered to the ground.
“That was easy… almost too easy!” said Fred.
“Well, I guess there is only one more thing to do,” said George, bending down to pick up the cup.
“NO!” cried Fred, but it was too late. George picked up the cup, and all of a sudden, he started to shake and squirm. Then, he fell to the ground, and the cup dropped beside him. He started to twitch and fidget, and Fred knelt beside him.
“Why are you always so quick? George, what’s wrong? George, can you hear me?”
George stopped movingand stared ahead. Fred bent down and started to cry over his own lifeless body.
“ Fred, are you there? ” said a nearby voice.
“Who said that?” said Fred.
“ It is me, George,” said George.
“Where are you?”
“ In the cup, ” whispered George.
“What?”
“ Just trust me. Touch the cup! ”
“If you say so!” said Fred. He leant down and touched the cup.
He heard a small suction sound in his ears, and the next thing he knew, he felt light and airy. He looked around and realized he was floating in a room made of pure gold. Floating next to him was a strange shape. It was like blurry air, but as he watched it, he realized it looked more and more like his brother. At first, he just caught a glimpse of his brother’s face, then a hand. But now, it was as if the air was his brother. Looking down, he realized the same thing had happened to him.
“What happened?” asked Fred.
“I think the cup sucked up our souls. I think we are in the cup right now! Or atleast, our souls are. It must be some sort of anti-theft device.”
“So, we are in the cup?”
“I guess so,” said George, motioning to the golden walls around them.
“Why did you call me in here then?” asked Fred angrily.
“Look over there!” laughed George. In the middle of the room was a small hole.
“Let’s go in for a better look,” replied Fred.
Gliding like Dementors, the twins made there way to the hole. When they got there, a trickle of mist started to come from it. As the mist rose, it formed a shape. The mist began to take on the shape of a human. The process took five minutes, and when it was done, the human said, “Who are you?”
“I-I am Fred Weasley. And this is my brother, George,” Fred said sternly.
“Well, I take it you are here for the soul then?” asked the misty man.
“I guess we are!” said George confidently.
“Well then, I have one test for you. The person that I give the soul to must be ambitious.
I have a test here.”
“What are you going to do? Give us a task to prove how ambitious we are?” asked George.
“Not exactly. I see that your souls are right in front of me. I can test for whatever qualities I want.” With that, the man held out his hand. His arm lengthened and split into two parts. Each part went into the souls of one of the twins. “Ah, very ambitious I see. Left school early to follow your dreams. Very successful at a very young age. I can see you are both very ambitious. Very well, you may have the soul.” The man's arms came out of the twinsand returned to normal state.
“Can I ask you a question before you go?” asked Fred.
“Certainly,” replied the man.
“How would we go about destroying the soul?”
“Ah, very ambitious of you to ask that question. Well, there is a very complex spell, and it normally requires a sacrifice. But I can destroy the entire soul-housing compartment in this cup from down below if you choose. After all, you are the two new keepers of the cup. However, you should leave it first, because if you don’t, that would destroy you as well.”
“Can I ask you one more thing?” asked Fred.
“Sure,” said the man.
“What are you?”
“Well, I used to be a man long ago. And I had a horrible master that I stole something from. So, he made me bring this here after he died, and spend a lifetime in this cup. I was once known as RAB, but I am now a near shade.”
“So, if you are a soul, won’t you die also?” asked George.
“I have been dead for a long time,” said RAB with a smile.
“OK, if you are sure…” said Fred doubtfully.
“I am sure. Now go. I will trigger the destruction in five minutes.”
“OK, but one more thing. How do we get out?” asked Fred.
RAB laughed. “Simply fly up out of the cup, and into your bodies.
“OK. Thank you. Your sacrifice will be remembered, and any bad deeds that you did for the Dark Lord will be forgiven,” pledged George.
“Thank you. Goodbye, keepers of the cup!” said RAB and he went back down his hole.
“Let’s go!” said Fred. He grabbed his brother’s arm and together, they both flew upwards. Up, up, up they went, until they flew right out of the cup. When they were outside, they felt their souls expanding. Luckily, both of them now had some experience in controlling their soul movements, so George’s soul flew back into the body with the G on its sweater, and Fred’s soul flew back into the body with the F on its sweater. Because, they both realized now, that’s who they were. Interchangeable. And yet George had been brave enough to touch the cup, and Fred had been smart enough to have designed the Amazing Weasley Particle Divider. They might be similar, but both of the Weasley twins were different people.
When they returned to their own bodies, they felt like they were just waking up, and everything that had happened after George had touched the cup had been a dream.
“You OK?” asked Fred.
“Yeah, I am fine. Are you OK?” asked George.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Did you…”
“Yeah, I was there in the cup. What time is it?”
Fred looked at his watch. His brother always forgot to where a watch, but he remembered. “ Four o’clock,” said Fred.
They both looked at the floor where the cup was. It was still intact, and it looked like nothing had happened to it. “If nothing happens by five past four, we will know something has happened and the cup is not going t detonate. Or, it may just be something we cant see, but it has already detonated. Lets just wait and find out. In the meantime, don’t touch it,” instructed George.
“Took the words right out of my mouth,” said Fred.
“How long do you reckon its been?” asked George.
“I don’t know. It probably took us two minutes to get out.”
Both the twin continued to look at the cup. The seconds ticked by. Tick, tick, tick. Then, the cup started to shake. The twins couldn’t believe the next thing that happened. The cup burst into white flames. It burned for twenty seconds, and then a huge crack appeared down the side of it. There was a low hiss, and then silence.
“I think we did it…” said Fred.
“I think you are right,” said George.
In the east, the sun was rising. Christmas day was beginning. Fred bent down and picked up the cup. “If we hurry, we can make it back in time for breakfast.” he said.