Pansy and Draco
It was the Halloween feast. Draco glared, stabbing his fork viciously into a potato, his eyes fixed on a certain someone laughing and chatting happily at the Gryffindor table. He imagined the potato was Ginny Weasley's head, releasing all his pent-up fury. Only after thoroughly mashing the blasted potato did Draco feel a little better.
The Head of House told me to handle it myself... was she hinting that I should hex that little weasel? Draco thought, chewing his mashed potatoes and recalling Snape's words from last night.
Pansy had already noticed Draco's distraction throughout the entire Halloween feast. "Draco? Draco?" Pansy called a few times, but Draco still didn't react. Pansy finally followed his gaze, but the Great Hall was packed, and she couldn't tell who he was looking at.
With a woman's intuition, Pansy was certain Draco was thinking about some girl. Pansy internally cursed the "hussy" for her brazenness, all the while trying to capture Draco's attention.
"Draco, look at the green dress I'm wearing today! It's French gen—" Pansy's words were cut short by Draco's impatient interruption.
"I know, it's French, you told me already this morning."
Pansy pouted sadly, sitting in her chair in a huff, occasionally making little noises, hoping Draco would comfort her. But Draco was too lost in his thoughts to notice, and even Blaise, who usually loved to stir the pot, remained silent. Only Daphne noticed the tension, quietly taking Pansy's hand under the table and offering soft words of comfort.
Ginny and Hermione
The day after Halloween, Hermione woke up early as usual. Lavender mumbled something and turned over, a sight Hermione was quite used to. After admiring her newly shrunken teeth in the mirror for a while, Hermione finally left the dormitory, satisfied.
Though the sky hadn't fully brightened yet, the common room already had a good number of students. Ever since Professor McGonagall had assigned prefects the responsibility of ensuring the safety of younger students, Percy had eagerly volunteered to lead the studious young wizards to the library every morning. Hermione walked into the common room and greeted Percy, who was sitting on a sofa.
"Good morning, Head Boy Weasley."
Percy, head bowed over a book, replied without looking up, "Good morning, Miss Granger. Have a seat and wait a moment; not everyone is here yet."
But Hermione had other plans today. "Head Boy Weasley, I won't be going to the library today," Hermione said, a little apologetically.
Percy looked up, surprised. "Miss Granger, maintaining good study habits is crucial for self-improvement, you—"
"I've already made plans with Harry," Hermione quickly interjected.
Seeing this, Percy didn't press further and quietly returned to his book. Hermione found a sofa near the fireplace and sat down, pulling out her completed homework to review. Soon another witch came down from the dormitory. After counting heads, Percy led them all to the library.
The fire in the fireplace burned brightly, and Hermione, sitting by the warm hearth, gradually drifted off to sleep. A little while later, a red-haired witch emerged from a corner not far away. Ginny pouted, eyeing the sleeping Hermione for a moment, but eventually found a blanket and gently covered her.
Harry and the Weasley Twins
Meanwhile, Harry walked into the Weasley twins' dormitory. The twins were sitting on their beds, excitedly counting Galleons. Seeing Harry enter, they immediately greeted him.
"Harry, thanks to you, I have this many Galleons for the first time ever!" George said enthusiastically.
"That's we have, simultaneously," Fred grumbled.
"Keep it down, someone's still trying to sleep," Lee Jordan mumbled from his bed.
Harry gestured towards the door, indicating he wanted them to step outside to talk. In the hallway, Harry relayed Hermione's proposal.
"You said what?!" George exclaimed in disbelief, while Fred stared at Harry, equally stunned.
Harry nodded at them, confirming they hadn't misheard.
"Just... wait a second, let me process this," George said, rubbing his forehead.
Harry didn't understand why George was reacting so strongly; it was just a few Galleons, after all.
"Harry, you wouldn't believe it, but George used two bottles of shampoo when he got back yesterday," Fred explained from the side. Harry suddenly understood.
"I never would have thought you'd care so much about that, George. You were quite open when you were playing Madam Louise yesterday, weren't you?" Harry teased.
"Enough! Don't mention yesterday again. Being touched by Lockhart was disgusting enough, but now, Harry, you want to take away my only comfort!" George said, sounding genuinely pained.
Harry thought about it. George had certainly sacrificed a lot, and those 500 Galleons were indeed well-deserved. However, Harry couldn't refuse Hermione's request either. So, Harry tentatively asked, "Are those Galleons really that important to you? Are you having some kind of difficulty?"
Hearing Harry say this, George quickly shot Fred a look, then covered his face and started to cry. Fred understood and stepped forward, saying, "Harry, you just don't know how much George and I need this money..."
Harry slapped Fred's hand off his shoulder, saying dismissively, "You just use it for your experiments, don't you? Don't you two have any pocket money?"
George wailed even louder at that.
"You're right, Harry," Fred said, sounding resigned. "George and I only get 10 Knuts for pocket money. Our family has seven children, after all."
"I remember reading that the Weasleys are a prominent pure-blood family in the British wizarding world. How can they be so hard up?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"The Weasley name certainly has some standing in the wizarding world, but our branch is just a small part of the larger Weasley family; we don't represent the whole," Fred explained.
George crouched on the floor, saying, "Ye-yes! The Potter family only has you left, so you wouldn't lack for money. But the Weasley family is huge! When we split up, Dad chose his position as Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office at the Ministry, and he didn't take a single Galleon."
"Your dad's a Ministry official; he can't be that poor, can he?" Harry said, sounding skeptical.
Fred chuckled awkwardly. "How do I put it? The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office is terribly boring."
"Oh, I see, like the Cod Management Office in Northern Ireland. It's an internal reassignment, then," Harry said, suddenly enlightened.
"Not exactly a reassignment, I suppose. Bill, our eldest brother, said that after the war, Dad could have gone to the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, in charge of the Obliviation Command. But in the end, Dad refused because he preferred his current job," Fred said, scratching his head.
Sounds like those two departments' functions might clash...
Harry shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think about the Ministry of Magic. Harry leaned closer to George and saw actual tear streaks. Harry sighed, resigned. "Give those 500 Galleons to that witch, and I'll make it up to you."
"No way! Setting up Lockhart was a plan we came up with together, I can't take your money," Fred refused without hesitation.
"Then what are you going to do? In any case, I'm taking these 500 Galleons," Harry said, frowning.
Hearing this, Fred chuckled, rubbing his hands together quickly. "Harry, try this U-No-Poo candy! It's a prank product George and I developed," Fred said eagerly.
Harry glanced out the window and saw that it was already light. "Stop beating around the bush; just tell me."
"Ahem, ahem, if you're willing to invest in us... don't be so quick to refuse! Just try our first product; it definitely won't disappoint you!" Fred said, practically buzzing.
"You're serious? I thought you were just messing around," Harry said, surprised.
At this, George also quickly jumped up from the floor, not a trace of sadness visible on his face. "Fred and I have our second product coming out soon! It's modelled after your golden skull. While it might not be as effective, it—"
Harry raised a hand, stopping George's next words. "Let me think about it," Harry said.
George and Fred exchanged glances, knowing this was one of their few chances.
Plop! Plop!
The Weasley twins dropped to their knees. George and Fred each grabbed one of Harry's legs and started shaking them vigorously.
"Oh, great Saviour! Please save your loyal followers!"
"Yes, yes! If you're willing to invest, we'll be your most loyal minions at Hogwarts!"
Fred squeezed out a few tears, then kicked George's leg, signaling him to do the same. George squeezed his eyes hard, but not a single tear came out; his previous fake crying had completely dried them up.
"Alright, I promise," Harry said.
"Please, we really are so..."
Fred was still crying, but George had already caught on. "Really? Harry, you're not just messing with us, are you?" George asked excitedly.
"Really. This amount of Galleons is nothing to me."
Seeing Harry nod, George cheered, throwing himself onto Fred. "Fred, did you hear that? We've got start-up capital! A full five hundred Galleons!" George yelled at a still-bewildered Fred.
Harry reminded the excited George, "Hold on! Not 500 Galleons. I'll invest 100 Galleons first to see how it goes."
"100 Galleons is enough!" George said happily.
By this point, Fred had also caught on and excitedly shouted, "This is all thanks to your cross-dressing, George!"
Harry watched the Weasley twins suddenly wrestling each other and began to suspect this investment might go down the drain.
Oh well, money's just money. As long as Hermione stops bringing up last night's shenanigans. Harry thought magnanimously.
Harry and Hermione
"Clap! Clap!"
Hermione vaguely heard some kind of sound. She slowly opened her eyes. It was Harry, crouched in front of her, snapping his fingers.
Hermione lazily stretched, and the blanket draped over her fell to the floor. Harry bent down to pick it up. Hermione yawned, "Thanks for the blanket, Harry."
"Isn't this your blanket?" Harry asked, confused.
Just then, Ginny appeared from some corner. Ginny wordlessly picked up the blanket and turned to leave, leaving Hermione and Harry looking at each other. Hermione realized what had happened and called out to Ginny's retreating figure, "Thanks for the blanket!"
Ginny didn't look back; instead, she dashed back to the dormitory in one breath.
"I never would have thought Hermione had fangirls now," Harry said, teasing Hermione. Hermione just gave Harry a look, not wanting to say anything more.
"Did you get the stuff? Why are you alone?" Hermione asked.
Harry pulled out the heavily charmed money pouch from his pocket, opening it to show Hermione. "George said he didn't want to see the Galleons slip through his fingers, so they didn't come," Harry explained.
"That's understandable, given that the witch was innocent—wait, Harry, you didn't threaten George, did you?"
Harry emphatically stated that the money was given voluntarily by George. Seeing Hermione's still-suspicious gaze, Harry said, feeling a bit guilty, "I promised to invest in their research."
Hermione took the U-No-Poo candy from Harry's hand and found nothing amiss. So she nodded, moving past the topic.
Hedwig, perched nearby, was starting to look impatient. Hermione quickly pulled out a pre-written letter from her pocket.
"You even wrote a letter?" Harry said, surprised.
Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry. "Of course I wrote a letter! At the very least, I need to tell that witch that these Galleons are perfectly legitimate."
Hedwig flew out the window with the money pouch and the letter, gradually disappearing from their sight. Harry noticed the sleepiness on Hermione's face.
"Why don't you go back to the dormitory and get some more sleep? There's still some time before breakfast."
"No, I don't have anything to do today, so I can go see Humphrey." Hermione felt it was all the fireplace's fault; the flames burning within it were simply too warm.
Harry was puzzled. Hermione usually woke up early; why was she so sleepy today?
"Harry, don't you think the fire in the fireplace is exceptionally warm today?" Hermione asked, unable to stop another yawn.
Harry immediately looked curiously at the fireplace; he thought the flames looked no different than usual. Suddenly, Harry thought he noticed some kind of creature in the flames.
Hermione heard a hiss, and then the warm feeling instantly vanished.
"What did you do?"
"There was an Ashwinder in the fireplace, that's why you felt the fire was so warm today." Hermione then noticed a snake, completely engulfed in flames, slithering out of the fireplace.
"It looks like it's sick," Hermione said hesitantly after observing it for a moment.
"Ashwinders are created when magical fires are left to burn unchecked for too long. They have a very short lifespan, only about an hour. They lay their eggs and then die quickly," Harry explained. Harry took out his wand, cast an insulating charm on his hands, then reached into the fireplace and rummaged around. A moment later, Harry pulled out a few glowing red eggs from the fireplace.
Harry carefully put away the Ashwinder eggs, saying to Hermione, "Perfect, I'll find some friends for Humphrey. He told me last time he was bored to death in the suitcase."
Lockhart
In the first Defence Against the Dark Arts class after Halloween, Lockhart, with his plastered-on smile, announced the Duelling Club to the students.
"...In short, Headmaster Dumbledore enthusiastically invited me to be in charge of the Duelling Club, and as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, I naturally accepted—"
George unceremoniously interrupted Lockhart's upcoming self-praise, loudly asking, "Professor, is anyone else helping you? I certainly don't want to spend more time rehearsing plays after classes!"
Fred and Lee Jordan immediately burst into laughter. Lockhart's fake smile almost slipped, but he glanced at Fred and decided to ignore them.
"Filius Flitwick, your Charms Professor, has kindly offered to assist me! Together, we shall teach everyone defensive spells!"
The classroom instantly erupted, with students excitedly discussing the news. Lockhart watched the scene, letting out a sigh of relief.
Surely Dumbledore can't find fault with me now.
Lockhart registered the names of those who signed up, silently praying that everyone would join.
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