"Yes, they would," said Ron simply, turning to face Charlie and Harry. "I say you two just go down to the lake tomorrow, right, stick your head in, yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked, and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, I reckon."
Charlie simply crumpled up a piece of paper that he had torn from his notebook and chucked it in the ginger's direction.
"Idiot," he muttered, causing Ron to giggle after finding his own joke hilarious.
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"There's a way of doing it!" Hermione said crossly one Ron's direction. "There just has to be!"
She seemed to be taking the library's lack of useful information on the subject as a personal insult; it had never failed her before.
"This is hopeless," Harry sighed, putting his head down in defeat, "we're definitely going to lose."
"There's got to be a charm or something," Charlie huffed. "Don't give up just yet."
"Oh, this is no use," Hermione said, snapping shut Weird Wizarding Dilemmas. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"
"I wouldn't mind," said Fred Weasley's voice. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"
Charlie, Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up. Fred and George had just emerged from behind some bookshelves.
"What're you two doing here?" Ron asked.
"Looking for you," said George. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. You too, Hermione."
"Why?" said Hermione, looking surprised.
Fred shrugged, "Dunno... she was looking a bit grim, though."
"We're supposed to take you down to her office," George said simply, urging the two of them forward. "Lets go!"
"We'll meet you two back in the common room," Hermione told Harry and Charlie as she got up to go with Ron — both of them looked very anxious. "Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?"
Then, she shifted her gaze to Charlie specifically and gave a him a reassuring smile, "It's not over yet, we'll figure this out."
Charlie smiled as if her words had encouraged him.
"Right," he said softly, and with that, Hermione and Ron had left with Fred and George.
By eight o'clock, Madame Pince had extinguished all the lamps and came to remove Harry and Charlie from the library. Staggering under the weight of as many books as they could carry, the two of them returned to the Gryffindor common room, pulled a table into a corner, and continued to search.
There was nothing in Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks...
