Much to Fred’s dismay, it was not the metaphorical dark and stormy night he had been hoping for.
In fact, the night was a calm one. The moon shone round and full, the stars twinkled cheerily, and a warm breeze played with his ginger hair. There weren’t even any clouds in the sky. Other than the ripples that the boats transporting the first years made, the lake was glassy.
Idly, Fred dipped his hand into the cool water and watched how his fingers left trails in the very reflective lake. Those little trails were some of the largest ripples in the water, discounting the boat that the enormous Hagrid was sailing in. Fred sighed loudly - there was nothing else to do.
He, Fred Weasley, was incredibly bored.
Coming to Hogwarts had been his biggest dream ever since Bill had gotten his letter. Fred had always imagined the excitement that awaited him and George once they, too, reached that magically wonderful age of eleven. There would be epic duels, sparks flying everywhere, and magic in every corner.
Along with George, Fred had dreamt up fantasies about what Hogwarts would be like and what they would do there. They’d even ‘borrowed’ the wands of family members to see if they were already capable of doing magic. Locked in their bedroom and filled with hope, they’d wave the wand around, desperately praying for something to happen. The first time that George had managed to get purple sparks to shoot out of their mother’s wand had been the best day of their life, despite the fact that the sparks had set George’s pillow on fire. Fred had been hoping that his trip to Hogwarts would supersede even that day. And, alas, so far, he had been very wrong.
The day had begun in the usual panic to get the numerous Weasley children up and out the door on time. There had been the usual flurry of searching for missing socks and quills and the panic over misplaced spell books. Fred had spent the morning with George, meticulously going through their shared room to ensure that they had not left anything behind. Filled with anticipation, he and George had dragged their trunks down the steps and out to what looked like a squashed Muggle soda can, but in reality was a car, that their father had borrowed from a friend at the Ministry.
Feeling nervous and excited, he and George had sat, fidgeting, in the back seat, while their mother had rattled through a checklist of all of the supplies that they should have packed. He had nodded in all of the appropriate places and George had even punctuated his nods with affirmative grunts. It was too difficult to speak “ they had been that excited.
During the ride to the station he had sat, squashed between Ron, who was coming to see them off, and George, who was fidgeting uncontrollably. The station was, of course, busier than the Burrow had been in the mad rush to get to the station on time. The entire family had gone through the barrier between platforms nine and ten in pairs. Naturally, Fred had been with George. However, they had very nearly been separated as Fred had been staring at his surroundings, trying to fix them in his memory. The day that he, Fred Weasley, went to Hogwarts.
That had a beautiful ring to it.
Fred and George Weasley, students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Fred and George Weasley, the boys who are attending the renowned institution of Hogwarts.
Fred and George Weasley, captains of the first years
Fred Weasley, along with his brother George, masters of the Hogwarts students.
Perhaps he should sign his letters that way…
Out of the corner of his eye, Fred noticed a small plume of smoke blossoming in the sky. The Hogwarts Express must have been leaving the station to return to London. Even Fred’s hopes about the train had been crushed earlier. He and George had long fantasized about the sheer amount of magic on the train. Some of these fantasies had included a sort of meal service in which one only had to think of the food, and it would appear.
But that dream, and all those like it, had been pulverized. Under their mother’s supervision, Percy had led Fred and George to the compartment in which he intended to sit.
“Now, boys,” Mrs. Weasley said in her strictest voice. “I expect the two of you to be on your best behavior. Is that clear?”
Fred and George nodded quickly, with the full intention of exploring the train the moment she got off.
“Now, Percy, dear, would you mind keeping an eye on your brothers? Just for the train ride?”
The twins watched in horror as Percy replied that it wouldn’t be a problem at all. The only catch would be that Fred and George would have to stay in his compartment as he was going to be reading a ‘fascinating book’. George rolled his eyes as his mother beamed at her much-too-snotty son.
Fred watched as his twin very quickly rearranged his face to one of politeness as their mother turned around to face them again. This time, though, she was misty-eyed and one of her hands was searching her voluminous handbag for a handkerchief. In a slightly thicker voice, she continued, “Please behave yourselves for the trip to Hogwarts, boys. Don’t start your first year off on the wrong foot.” Turning back to look at Percy, she said, “And you’ll write me the moment you get there about how everything went?”
Hearing a vague confirmation from Percy, who was already absorbed in his book, Mrs. Weasley wiped her eyes quickly with the back of her hand and sniffed, “All grown up, already! It seems only just yesterday….”
She never quite got to finish her thought, as the train whistle sounded, announcing that the train would be departing. Percy, who had suddenly become animated again, stood up and began to guide his mother to the door, saying, “Don’t worry, Mum. I’ll keep a close eye on them and I’ll write you the moment we get to Hogwarts.”
A feeling of panic swept through Fred’s midsection. Percy could spoil all of their plans for excitement by ‘keeping on eye on them’.
Quite suddenly, Fred found himself squashed next to George in his mother’s embrace.
“It’s alright, Mum. We’ll see you at Christmas,” George was saying in a rather strained voice.
Mrs. Weasley nodded and smiled one last time before Percy escorted her back to the platform. Fred and George, meanwhile, exchanged a nervous look.
What was Percy going to do?
The answer became painfully obvious upon Percy’s return. Percy fully intended for them to sit in silence while he read his book. There was to be no talking because it would disrupt his concentration. And, Percy had continued, there wasn’t much to see on the train. Only fools wandered around the corridors, looking for something to do. Sensible people stayed in their compartments.
In that case, Fred wished that he and George could be fools. How boring to simply stay in the compartment, reading a piece of literature. What about the excitement on the train? With so many witches and wizards, there had to be something going on. If only their mother hadn’t so expressly told Percy to watch over them, maybe then they could have had some fun.
But, alas, they’d been stuck with Percy, Prince of the Doldrums, in the isolation compartment. What a lousy way to start off the year! Fred had wanted to plan the year with George, but not in front of Percy. Percy was the epitome of a goodie-two-shoes “ he would try his damnedest to put a stop to their mischief. Which was why, Fred thought impatiently, he and George really needed to think of a secret hideout at Hogwarts so that they could make at least some plans in secret.
“Hey, Fred! Fred!” George’s excited voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Yeah?” he muttered distractedly, not taking his eyes off of his fingers.
“Come on, Fred. Look! It’s the castle!”
Fred raised his eyes from the much too tranquil lake to what George was frantically gesturing to.
It was a beautiful sight.
There were dozens of towers jutting out of what looked like the side of a mountain. Almost as if there was an army of men holding glowing swords aloft. There was magic simply pouring out of the place, rather like the Burrow; although, this was a much classier and far more elegant building. It didn’t even come close to matching the description that Charlie had shared several years ago. It even surpassed Bill’s loving account of the sheer awe that he had experienced as a first year.
It was, quite frankly, the most magical thing that Fred had ever laid his eyes on.
The sight of the castle was so stunning that Fred didn’t even notice when the boats stopped at a small pier that jutted out into the lake. In fact, George had to jab his shoulder and tug on his hand before Fred was able to pry his gaze away.
As the new first years trooped up the steps to the castle, Fred continued to stare, awestruck. But this time, instead of trying to take in the entire castle at once, he focused on the smaller parts. The stairs they took had been worn smooth, probably from decades of students who trudged up and down them, making their way into and out of the castle. They were an intense gray and, when Fred surreptitiously bent down and rubbed the palm of his hand against the stones, he was surprised to discover that they had a grainy, almost sandy texture.
“Hey George!” Fred whispered, “Did Bill ever tell us how the steps felt?”
George looked a bit confused, but shook his head.
“Here, feel them.” Fred gestured towards the ground and watched as George bent down and rubbed the stone steps.
“You know, Fred, we ought to write this down. I’ll bet we’d be the first people to record how the steps felt on the first day of school. We really ought to do it for posterity, you know.”
Fred’s eyes lit up. “Brilliant, George, have you got a quill?”
George hesitated a moment before answering. “It’s with my…stuff”
They both quickly realized that, in their excitement of touching the steps, they had been left behind. Both hurried up the stairs quickly and felt fortunate to discover that the group of first years was waiting in a small antechamber, listening to someone who could only be Professor McGonagall. Bill had told them that the Transfiguration Professor was the strictest in the school. Percy, on the other hand, had described, almost lovingly, how she punished all school offenders fairly. So as not to earn her wrath within the first five minutes, Fred and George stood quietly at the back of the group, pretending to listen.
While Professor McGonagall was talking to them in the hallway, Fred’s gaze went to the ornate candelabrum standing near the door. It had a circular base with one graceful spire reaching towards the ceiling. From the top of this spire, there were many iron arms stretching out, holding elegant, white tapers. There was a generous sprinkling of dust within the many curves of the ironwork and it was shrouded by a light drapery of cobwebs. Despite being hidden in the shadows and beneath these layers of time’s trimmings, its twelve candles still emitted a warm glow. Perhaps they had been enchanted that way, to brighten the otherwise dark hall.
As Fred walked past it, he realized that it was nearly twice his height. He leaned over to George and whispered, “Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could climb those?”
George had a smirk on his face when he replied, “It would be better if we could enchant them to move around and drop things on other people, though.”
Fred let out a long, low whistle at George’s clever idea. “How much magic do you reckon it would take to move one of those?”
George shrugged. “I don’t know. But Hagrid could just pick it up for us.”
Indeed, Fred thought, Hagrid was big enough to pick of one of those candelabra and easily walk around with it. In fact, Hagrid was big enough to require his own boat when the first years crossed the lake.
When Hagrid had first seen Fred and George on the platform, he had taken one look at their red hair, freckles, and identical mischievous grins before pronouncing that they had to be ‘those rascals’ that Charlie was always talking about. Rather pleased that their reputation had preceded their arrival, George had asked if Hagrid knew anything else about them.
“Only tha’ you raise a holy hell on ‘olidays,” he rumbled. He had then gone back to his task of gathering the first years, while Fred and George gave each other a discreet high-five.
Now Professor McGonagall was leading them into the Great Hall. Fred’s eyes focused on the brilliantly enchanted ceiling. It looked exactly like the sky outside: glittering stars suspended in blackness. A smile crept onto Fred’s face as he imagined playing connect-the-dots with the stars. Once he’d found an appropriate spell, he and George could sneak into the Great Hall and draw amusing pictures in the sky. It would be the ultimate place to write messages. Fred let out an involuntary giggle at the thought of writing ’Percy is a pin head’ in the stars, earning himself a stern glare from Professor McGonagall.
Careful not to attract the Professor’s attention again, Fred leaned over and whispered his idea to George, who nodded enthusiastically. It would be the ultimate revenge for keeping them in his compartment on the train instead of allowing them to explore. They’d just have to wait for him to write that letter to Mum saying that Fred and George had been perfect angels and then payback would commence.
Belatedly, Fred realized that the Sorting was half over. He couldn’t believe that he had missed part of the ceremony. A boy by the name of Lee Jordan had just been Sorted into Gryffindor. Gryffindor. The House in which nearly every Weasley had been. Fred fervently hoped that both he and George ended up in Gryffindor.
With this hope, though, came a feeling of panic. What if he and George weren’t in Gryffindor? What if one of them was in a different House?
Revulsion swept through Fred’s body. He couldn’t imagine how he could ever be separated from George. They had always done everything together. They’d teased Ron together, plotted against Percy together, and kept a watchful eye on their baby sister together. Of course they would be in the same House and that House had to be Gryffindor. It just had to be. They had done so much together; they were inseparable.
As Professor McGonagall called out another name, Fred turned to look at his twin.
George was standing just slightly to Fred’s left, wearing an expression of wonder as he gazed around the magical Hall. It reflected Fred’s previous feeling of awe so perfectly, that Fred felt an enormous grin spread across his face. Of course he and George would be put in the same House. They were twins!
Weasley, Fred!
Fred jumped at the sound of his name being called. As if in a trance, he walked slowly up, away from George, to the wooden stool where the frayed Sorting Hat rested. He sat down, facing the sea of faces. Fred didn’t even have a chance to focus on any of them before the hat dropped over his eyes.
“Well,” said a rather pompous voice in his ear. “It’s another Weasley.”
Wondering curiously whether the hat could see whatever was in his head, Fred thought, “Yes, I’m Fred Weasley.”
“No need to tell me.” The hat sounded affronted. “I know.”
There was a brief pause before the hat spoke again.
“Hmmm….fiercely loyal, I see. And brains, definitely brains. You might do well in Ravenclaw…What’s this I see? A streak of deviousness. But all in good fun, yes. Mischievousness, I see. Better be…GRYFFINDOR!”
The hat shouted this last pronouncement for the rest of the Hall to hear. The table that was bedecked in red and gold cheered loudly as Fred made his way across the room with an enormous grin on his face. He had made it into Gryffindor! The House into which all of his brothers, even Percy, had been Sorted. The best House in the school. As he took a seat near the far end of the table, he heard George’s name called by Professor McGonagall and a cold lump settled in his throat.
What if George doesn’t make it?
Fred bit his lip and tried to banish such a traitorous thought from his mind. George wasn’t all that different from himself. Surely the hat would recognize that….
Although George spent less than a minute with the Sorting Hat, to Fred, it felt like hours that passed agonizingly slow. Fred watched with trepidation as the rip on the brim opened and shouted…
GRYFFINDOR!
Fred let out a breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding and cheered with the rest of his House as George walked to the table. He chose the seat right next to Fred and sat down to watch the last boy be sorted into Hufflepuff.
Warm breath tickled Fred’s ear and accompanied a sharp jab to his shoulder. “Hey, Fred!”
“What?” Fred turned to face his twin.
“We made it.”
They had indeed made it. They were both in Gryffindor “ they were going to be together for the next seven years, scheming the whole time. George was wearing a rather conniving look on his face. Fred put on an identical, slightly evil grin, and raised one eyebrow. “What’s our plan?”
The enthusiasm was evident in George’s voice as he whispered, “First, we have to find a hideout and then we have to find a spell to use on the ceiling.”
Fred’s heart leapt wildly. George was echoing his previous thoughts. The Sorting Hat had been absolutely correct “ he and George belonged together.
Fred nodded. Seven years at Hogwarts with George promised to be thrilling, indeed.
One Soul, Two Bodies by Indigoenigma
Chapter Notes: The title was taken from a very famous quote from Aristotle, “A true friend is one soul in two bodies.” I found it to be particularly fitting for Fred and George.
Also, a huge round of applause for my fantastic beta, lucilla_pauie/Joanna! Thank you so much for your extraordinarily helpful feedback.
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