Prefect Duties: Five Weasleys

To be honest, Scott didn't really want to get involved with the first-years.

He was neither a professor nor a prefect, so dealing with conflicts between students wasn't his responsibility.

It was just that... since no one else was awake yet, he couldn't exactly leave the first-year here to fend for himself.

"Fine."

Scott walked over to the sofa opposite the first-year and sat down.

"So, first-year, what's your name?"

"Jacob." The boy sniffled. "Jacob Kent."

Scott nodded. "Alright, Jacob. I'm Scott Trollope, a fourth-year."

"Hello, Mr. Trollope," Jacob said in a small voice.

Scott had no interest in the reasons behind the conflicts between first-years, so he asked directly, "Jacob, why didn't you go to a prefect for help? You should know at least two of them. By tradition, the fifth-year male and female prefects are responsible for leading the first-years to Ravenclaw Tower after the feast last night."

Jacob let out another loud sniffle and said vaguely, "It was Miss Taylor and Mr. Cooper... but they both hate me... I didn't dare go to them..."

"Hate you?"

Scott realized the situation might be more troublesome than he had thought. He looked into Jacob's eyes and asked, "Can you tell me what actually happened? What did you do? Why is it that neither your fellow first-years nor those two prefects... well, are friendly toward you?"

"I didn't! It really wasn't me! They just don't believe me!" Jacob suddenly raised his voice and shrieked.

"Stop!!"

Scott, getting a headache from the noise, quickly barked at him to stop.

Perhaps seeing that Scott looked displeased, Jacob immediately lowered his head and apologized in a panic: "I'm sorry, Mr. Trollope, but... it really wasn't me..."

"So what exactly happened..."

Just as Scott was about to ask what was going on, he caught a glimpse of Penelope coming down the stairs from the girls' dormitory out of the corner of his eye, so he quickly cut himself off and stood up to walk over to her.

"Good morning, Penelope."

"Oh, good morning, Scott." Penelope looked a bit surprised. "Is something the matter?"

"Over there." Scott pointed to Jacob, who was still curled up on the sofa. "Jacob Kent, a first-year. He was kicked out of his dormitory by his roommates and spent the night in the common room. I think this is a matter for a prefect to handle."

He couldn't wait to offload this situation.

"Oh, Scott," Penelope said with a smile. "Perhaps you could just provide some help to this poor boy yourself; I know you could handle it quite well."

"No, I'm not a prefect, this isn't my duty," Scott refused immediately.

"Alright then." Penelope shrugged slightly. "Standing by and watching, that's very Ravenclaw, but..."

She gave a teasing smile.

"Maybe next year... Professor Flitwick has always liked you; he might choose you to be the new male prefect."

"We'll talk about next year when it gets here."

Scott also shrugged, then walked with Penelope over to Jacob.

Jacob had already stood up from the sofa and was looking at the two of them with some trepidation.

Scott said in as gentle a tone as he could manage, "Alright, Jacob. This is Penelope Clearwater, a sixth-year and also a Ravenclaw prefect. Don't worry, she will help you."

"Miss Clearwater." Jacob glanced at Penelope and quickly lowered his head.

"Hello, Jacob." Penelope gave a reassuring smile. "Come on, take me to your dormitory."

"But..."

Jacob was still quite anxious, and he looked at Scott with pleading eyes.

Unfortunately, Scott had no intention of continuing to be involved, so he just comforted the boy: "Go on, Jacob. Penelope is a prefect; her word carries more weight than mine."

Penelope stood to the side, maintaining her smile, thoughtfully not calling Scott out on his words.

Hearing Scott say this, Jacob could only droop his head and lead Penelope to the boys' dormitory.

He couldn't help but look back several times on the way, but Scott had already sat down on the sofa by the window and opened his copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, paying no mind to his gaze.

Twenty minutes later, Scott closed his book, but Penelope still hadn't come out of the boys' dormitory.

It seems this matter really is a bit troublesome?

Scott just muttered to himself, still having no intention of getting involved. He tucked his textbook and notebook under his arm and walked out of the common room.

Descending the tower via the long spiral staircase, Scott saw Percy Weasley pacing at the base of Ravenclaw Tower.

"Good morning, Weasley," Scott took the initiative to greet him. "Waiting for Penelope?"

"Yes, good morning, Trollope."

Percy Weasley immediately stopped his pacing and stood a bit straighter. However, his face was a bit flushed, and the freckles on his face were even more prominent.

Scott immediately understood the reason why Penelope had woken up so early, but he didn't feel sorry for delaying their date.

After all, that really was a prefect's duty, wasn't it?

However...

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait, Weasley."

He could easily help Penelope explain the reason for her delay.

"Something unfortunate came up..." He didn't want to tell a Gryffindor about Ravenclaw matters, so he spoke vaguely, "Anyway... it's something that requires a prefect like Penelope to handle, and she's quite busy right now."

"Oh, that's quite alright, prefects must fulfill their duties, of course." Percy Weasley clearly accepted this well, "Thank you for telling me, Trollope."

Bidding farewell to Percy Weasley, Scott left Ravenclaw Tower and crossed the long, elevated stone bridge toward the Great Hall on the other side of the cliff.

It was nearing breakfast time, and students were leaving their respective common rooms one after another; Hogwarts Castle was gradually waking up in the morning light.

"Good morning, Scott."

In the entrance hall of the Great Hall, two overlapping voices suddenly greeted Scott.

"Good morning, Weasleys."

Facing the red-headed Weasley twins, Scott smiled more naturally than he had when facing their older brother, Percy Weasley.

"Oh, Merlin's smelly socks!"

"We've known each other for three years!"

"Scott actually called us 'Weasleys'!"

"Perhaps he doesn't know that our mom and dad gave us names too!"

Fred and George draped their arms over Scott's shoulders from left and right, accusing him one sentence at a time.

"I bet, George, that he called him 'Weasley' just now when he was talking to Percy." Fred held up the single-lens telescope in his other hand.

"It's obvious, Fred, Mr. Trollope classifies us and Percy in the same category in his social circle!" George said with feigned indignation.

The two of them shouted into Scott's ears simultaneously: "This is simply an insult to us!!"

"Alright, I'm sorry." Scott surrendered quickly, "Forgive me, Fred, George, I've run into three Weasleys in a short amount of time."

"How unfortunate, Mr. Trollope," said George.

Fred winked, "Our little sister is starting school this year, too."

George raised an eyebrow, "Plus our little brother, the dunderhead."

The two concluded in unison, "There are five Weasleys in Gryffindor now."

Scott couldn't help but chuckle, "Then I'm truly fortunate that I'm not in Gryffindor."

"That's truly heartbreaking, to think Professor McGonagall's favorite student would say such a thing." Fred let out a loud "sob."

George also wiped away "tears," "Merlin, and Professor McGonagall likes him so much, too."