.Look.at.today!..groaned.Ron...History.of.Magic,.double.Potions,.
Divination.and.double.Defence.Against.the.Dark.Arts….Binns,.Snape,.Trelawney.and.that.Umbridge.woman.all.in.one.day!.I.wish.Fred.and.George.d.hurry.up.and.get.those.Skiving.Snackboxes.sorted…..
.Do.mine.ears.deceive.me?..said.Fred,.arriving.with.George.and.squeezing.on.to.the.bench.beside.Harry...Hogwarts.prefects.surely.don.t.wish.to.skive.off.lessons?..
.Look.what.we.ve.got.today,..said.Ron.grumpily,.shoving.his.timetable.under.Fred.s.nose..That.s.the.worst.Monday.I.ve.ever.seen...
.Fair.point,.little.bro,..said.Fred,.scanning.the.column...You.can.have.a.bit.of.Nosebleed.Nougat.cheap.if.you.like...
.Why.s.it.cheap?..said.Ron.suspiciously..
.Because.you.ll.keep.bleeding.till.you.shrivel.up,.we.haven.t.got.an.antidote.yet,.
.said.George,.helping.himself.to.a.kipper..
.Cheers,..said.Ron.moodily,.pocketing.his.timetable,..but.I.think.I.ll.take.the.lessons...
.And.speaking.of.your.Skiving.Snackboxes,..said.Hermione,.eyeing.Fred.and.George.beadily,..you.can.t.advertise.for.testers.on.the.Gryffindor.noticeboard...
.Says.who?..said.George,.looking.astonished..
.Says.me,..said.Hermione...And.Ron...
.Leave.me.out.of.it,..said.Ron.hastily..
Hermione.glared.at.him..Fred.and.George.sniggered..
.You.ll.be.singing.a.different.tune.soon.enough,.Hermione,..said.Fred,.thickly.buttering.a.crumpet...You.re.starting.your.fifth.year,.you.ll.be.begging.us.for.a.Snackbox.before.long...
.And.why.would.starting.fifth.year.mean.I.want.a.Skiving.Snackbox?..asked.Hermione..
.Fifth.year.s.OWL.year,..said.George..
.So?..
.So.you.ve.got.your.exams.coming.up,.haven.t.you?.They.ll.be.keeping.your.noses.so.hard.to.that.grindstone.they.ll.be.rubbed.raw,..said.Fred.with.satisfaction..
.Half.our.year.had.minor.breakdowns.coming.up.to.OWLs,..said.George.happily.
.Tears.and.tantrums….Patricia.Stimpson.kept.coming.over.faint…..
.Kenneth.Towler.came.out.in.boils,.d.you.remember?..said.Fred.reminiscently..
That.s..cause.you.put.Bulbadox.powder.in.his.pyjamas,..said.George..
.Oh.yeah,..said.Fred,.grinning...I.d.forgotten….hard.to.keep.track.sometimes,.isn.t.it?..
.Anyway,.it.s.a.nightmare.of.a.year,.the.fifth,..said.George...If.you.care.about.exam.results,.anyway..Fred.and.I.managed.to.keep.our.peckers.up.somehow...
.Yeah….you.got,.what.was.it,.three.OWLs.each?..said.Ron..
.Yep,..said.Fred.unconcernedly...But.we.feel.our.futures.lie.outside.the.world.of.academic.achievement...
.We.seriously.debated.whether.we.were.going.to.bother.coming.back.for.our.seventh.year,..said.George.brightly,..now.that.we.ve.got‐..
He.broke.off.at.a.warning.look.from.Harry,.who.knew.George.had.been.about.to.mention.the.Triwizard.winnings.he.had.given.them..
.‐.now.that.we.ve.got.our.OWLs,..George.said.hastily...I.mean,.do.we.really.need.NEWTs?.But.we.didn.t.think.Mum.could.take.us.leaving.school.early,.not.on.top.of.Percy.turning.out.to.be.the.world.s.biggest.prat...
.We.re.not.going.to.waste.our.last.year.here,.though,..said.Fred,.looking.afiectionately.around.at.the.Great.Hall...We.re.going.to.use.it.to.do.a.bit.of.market.research,.find.out.exactly.what.the.average.Hogwarts.student.requires.from.a.joke.shop,.carefully.evaluate.the.results.of.our.research,.then.produce.products.to.fit.the.demand...