Through the Pages of Time: Joey’s Hogwarts Tale

The holidays always ended so suddenly. When Ryan appeared at the Gryffindor common room door with Linda's letter to block Joye, she realized the vacation was officially over.

Ryan sighed, exhausted at the sight of the three troublemakers before him, who resembled snowmen more than students. They kept shoving each other playfully, almost teetering on the edge of recklessness.

"Your common room is in a tower!" he scolded. "Do you even consider what would happen if one of you fell? A broken arm and leg might be fixable with a few potions from Madam Pomfrey, but this kind of game is still ridiculous."

Ryan would never understand Gryffindor's idea of fun. Shaking his head, he finished walking through the corridor, relieved no one had actually fallen.

If it had been my sister, what spell would I have used to soften the fall? he wondered. The last thing he needed was another Howler.

"Oh no!" Joye's voice rang out the moment she spotted Ryan.

Ryan scowled. Is this how my sister greets me after weeks apart?

The Weasley twins, ever the mischief-makers, patted Joye sympathetically on the shoulder before muttering the password to the Fat Lady and slipping inside the common room without hesitation.

"Hey, aren't you two coming in?" the Fat Lady inquired, watching Ryan and Joye linger at the door.

"No, thank you," Ryan responded stiffly, though his politeness remained intact.

The Fat Lady simply shrugged and closed the door behind the twins. However, her curiosity got the better of her, and she leaned over to whisper to the goat girl in the next painting, eager to gossip about the sibling quarrel unfolding before her.

Ryan handed Joye an envelope embossed with laurel leaves and brushed the snow from her hair. His tone was accusatory. "A whole two-week vacation, and you didn't write home once. Are you insane?"

Joye hesitated before lying, "I was busy with homework! We had loads this time!"

"Homework? In the snow?" Ryan countered skeptically.

"Uh... Practicing the Floating Charm in the snow! I did so well today that I almost buried Fred and George under a mountain of snowballs!" she declared proudly.

Ryan stared at her silently.

Joye's confidence wavered. She fidgeted with her unraveling braid before mumbling, "I'm sorry. I'll go write a letter right away."

In truth, she had been completely caught up in mischief. With the Marauder's Map in their possession, she and the twins had uncovered more secret passageways, allowing them to slip unnoticed into the Forbidden Forest. Over the past two weeks, they had ventured there four times, gathering rare magical materials. The twins were now preparing a batch of Exploding Poker cards to sell, thanking the four Marauders—Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail—every day for their incredible map.

Ryan's expression softened slightly. His own holiday had been far from peaceful.

First, his Christmas gift from their father had almost bitten his head off—The Monster Book of Monsters. Only a man like Luther would think it appropriate to gift such a thing to a second-year student!

Then, their mother had spent the entire vacation fretting over Joye's lack of correspondence, bombarding Ryan with questions about her daily activities. We go to the same school, not the same house! he had protested. That only led to their father accusing him of neglecting his sister.

"You must never check on her. Your mother says the Fat Lady's password isn't hard to get. Just eavesdrop on a Gryffindor girl for two seconds!"

Ryan had been mortified. Did they seriously expect him to flirt with someone just to get a password? And besides, from what he knew, Joye was thriving in Gryffindor. Their worries were entirely unnecessary.

"You didn't get into trouble over the holidays, did you?" Ryan asked suspiciously.

Joye plastered on an innocent smile. "Of course not! I was a model student, diligently doing my homework."

Ryan patted her head approvingly. "Good. It's a relief to know I defended you at home for nothing. Mother almost bought a magical ruler ring."

Joye's face paled. Magical ruler rings were the latest craze in the Chinese wizarding world. Parents could inscribe rules onto them, and if a child disobeyed, the enchanted ruler would chase them down for a thorough spanking.

Just then, a passing Gryffindor girl smirked at Joye. "Hey, is it true you sent Filch's cat flying?"

Joye feigned innocence. "Oh, that was Peeves! I told Filch the truth, and he didn't blame me... much."

In reality, Mrs. Norris had been a relentless nuisance, shadowing Joye and the twins constantly. So, they had trapped her in a bag of enchanted snowballs and launched her skyward. Filch had immediately blamed Peeves, who, wisely, did not contradict them. While Filch didn't believe their story for a second, he had no evidence, leaving him locked in a furious battle with Peeves.

The Gryffindor girl caught Joye's silent cue and clamped her mouth shut when she noticed Ryan's darkening expression. She quickly ushered her friends into the common room.

Ryan, still standing there, twitched in annoyance before smacking Joye lightly on the head. "If I believe you again, I'm a complete idiot!"

Joye rubbed her sore scalp as Ryan stormed off. He had made up his mind—he was writing to Linda immediately. Joye clearly needed that magical ruler ring.

Behind the common room door, the Gryffindor girls giggled. "Hey, Joye, is your brother always this grumpy?"

"Oh, he's not so bad," Joye mused. She wasn't worried about a little scolding. What she feared was Ryan assigning her extra homework—her pocket money depended on her finishing it! Their mother had entrusted her allowance to Ryan for safekeeping, making her a financially imprisoned child.

Unfortunately, the rumor that Ryan of Ravenclaw was a tyrant had already begun to spread, unknowingly undoing all the effort he had put into crafting his cool, intellectual image.

Joye's favorite class was Transfiguration, but her favorite professor was Professor Sprout—mainly because Sprout had never deducted points from her.

The twins, on the other hand, loved Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Sprout was also their favorite, as they always managed to pocket something useful from her class without getting caught.

Herbology, however, was a shared passion among the trio. It was the only class where they behaved—just enough to avoid detection while smuggling ingredients into their pockets.

Today's lesson involved tending to Baixian plants. These taro-like roots had radish-like leaves and were known to spit at students.

"Hey, over here." Fred discreetly swept aphids and a few "accidentally" broken leaves into his bag.

Jue, meanwhile, snapped off a tiny piece of Baixian root, getting sprayed in the face in the process. "Ugh, gross," she muttered, tossing it into Fred's bag.

Across from them, Cedric Diggory saw their antics and, rather than snitching, levitated his own captured aphids into their bag.

"Wow, Cedric, you're a saint!" George cooed dramatically. Cedric shuddered.

"By the way, have you heard? Some Slytherin students' parents were arrested recently," George whispered.

Joye and Fred looked up, intrigued.

George grinned. "Jordan's aunt works in the Ministry's Law Enforcement. She got drunk at Christmas and spilled the news. Apparently, a Death Eater named Peter Pettigrew was captured, and he ratted out his old comrades."

Across the table, Cedric dropped his potted Baixian.

Joye frowned. Poor guy must be scared out of his mind. Maybe he should start causing trouble—it builds resilience!