Tomorrow's lesson had changed.
The location would not be their familiar classroom.
Instead, it would be somewhere entirely new, a place none of them had ever heard of-the "Forest of Delusions."
Fred and George squeezed out of the crowd, clutching the guide, and jumped onto a table.
They cleared their throats and began reading aloud in an exaggeratedly theatrical, lilting cadence.
"Rule one: before entering the Forest of Delusions, all students must remove their shoes and bow deeply to the Mindscape Mirror at the entrance?"
After reading it, Fred widened his eyes dramatically.
"Merlin's beard! Does Professor Holmes want us all to get athlete's foot?"
The entire common room erupted in laughter.
George picked up where he had left off:
"Rule two: if you see more than two different versions of yourself in the Mindscape Mirror, you must sit quietly on the Calming Stone beside it until the images in the mirror become one."
"Oh, this is terrible."
Fred looked at George with a troubled expression.
"I'm afraid a hundred handsome versions of me will appear the moment I look in the mirror. Which one am I supposed to listen to then?"
"Rule three: when leaving, you must take a different route from the one you entered by, even if that means taking the long way around."
"Rule four: the number of shadows in the courtyard may not match the actual number of people. Extra shadows are normal. Do not panic."
"Rule five: sometimes, you may hear someone calling your name. If the voice comes from the center of the grounds, you may respond; if it comes from the edges, you must ignore it!"
The laughter gradually subsided.
A strange silence, mingled with curiosity and unease, began spreading through the common room.
These rules sounded less like a lesson and