Fred and George still managed to see the sun the next day.
It was not because the brothers were tough, nor because Eda had gone soft. It was simply because she had returned too late. She could hardly sneak into the boys' dormitory in the middle of the night!
No wonder the twins had looked a little nervous whenever she mentioned Dumbledore while they were staying at Grimmauld Place. So that was why!
Lying in her own bed, Eda became angrier the more she thought about it. At the first hint of dawn, Eda climbed out of bed. She was going to wait for the twins downstairs in the boys' dormitory and let them know exactly how hard a cauldron-sized fist could hit.
But the moment Eda stepped out of the girls' dormitory, the twins sprang up like hunting dogs and immediately began fawning over her.
Judging from the dark circles under their eyes, it was obvious that the brothers had not slept well last night, and perhaps had not slept at all. They also knew that their joke had gone too far.
Eda kept a cold face and did not want to pay any attention to them, but Fred and George followed behind her everywhere.
Whenever she raised her fist, the twins immediately ran away. Whenever she lowered it, the two of them shamelessly came over to curry favor with her again. For the entire day, wherever Eda went, the twins followed, acting as meek and submissive as possible.
They were like stubborn plasters that could not be shaken off.
Even so, Eda still refused to give them a friendly look. One day was nowhere near enough to earn her forgiveness!
...
Once classes officially began, everyone had yet to adjust from their holiday state, but the seventh-years suddenly became busy.
They might not have had many classes, but the pressure from their various teachers was enough to leave everyone gasping for breath. After spending an entire school year slacking off, the seventh-years once again remembered the terror of being dominated by the wizarding examinations.
Everyone threw themselves into their studies. No one paid any attention to the ridiculous Umbridge anymore, nor did they care what she was doing. Everyone had been thoroughly disappointed by Defense Against the Dark Arts and had begun finding their own solutions.
Eda did not take this opportunity to expand Dawn. After careful consideration, she decided to maintain the existing number of members. Having more people would only create more trouble.
Dawn's activity time was also fixed. It would take place during Defense Against the Dark Arts. Only Katie and Linny were sixth-years in the group, but coincidentally, neither of them had a class during that time.
If the members wanted to do more practice, they could discuss and arrange it after confirming the Quidditch training schedules for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
Before long, Friday arrived. The sky was still gloomy and damp, as though a torrential downpour could arrive at any moment.
This kind of weather made Angelina extremely irritable. After becoming captain, she was showing signs of evolving into another Oliver Wood.
For the entire day, Angelina prayed that it would not rain. Eda and Alicia both felt that she was becoming a little obsessed.
It seemed that Merlin had heard Angelina's prayers. No heavy rain fell, allowing the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts to proceed normally.
Around evening, the Gryffindor team members gathered at the Quidditch pitch, except for Harry, who was still serving detention with Umbridge. Eda came too, but she was not there voluntarily. Angelina had forced her to come.
Like Wood, Angelina treated Eda as a backup. If they failed to find a suitable Keeper today, Eda would have to stand in front of the goalposts during the matches in November.
Eda had also tried to resist the arrangements of "fate," but Alicia and Katie, unwilling to suffer alone, defected and became Angelina's accomplices.
The weather was a little cold. Eda pulled her robes tighter around herself. She wanted to return to the common room and warm herself by the fire. She did not want to be frozen into a popsicle on a flying broomstick.
Looking at the group of students participating in the tryouts in front of Angelina, Eda also began silently praying, hoping that at least one of them would be an excellent Keeper.
Among those students, Eda saw Ginny, whose expression was serious and whose eyes were determined. She also saw Ron. Compared with Ginny, Ron looked extremely lacking in confidence, and even the hand holding his Nimbus 2001 was trembling slightly.
Of course, he might simply have been trembling from the cold.
The tryouts soon began. The first position tested was Keeper, which was also the main focus of this round of tryouts.
Six or seven students, including Ron, stood beneath the tall goalposts and began testing in the order Angelina called their names. The test was simply to see who could make the most successful saves, with Alicia and Katie taking the shots.
As the test progressed, Eda's heart grew colder and colder. These people either dived in the wrong direction or simply stood there stupidly without moving. There was not a single reliable one!
Ron was the last to take his turn. He was so nervous that he had reached the point of moving his arms and legs on the wrong sides. Looking at Ron stumbling around like that, Eda's heart sank into despair.
At that moment, Fred and George walked over. Eda had no idea what the brothers said to Ron, but Ronald Weasley suddenly stopped being nervous and completed the tryout test exceptionally well.
"What did you two say to Ron?" Eda asked. Her heart had warmed up again, and she was even a little curious.
"Nothing. We just told him that if he passed the tryouts, we'd give him ten Galleons as pocket money," Fred said. "Poor Ronnie was overjoyed."
"We also told him that Wood was very popular with the girls when he was Keeper," George said with a wicked grin. "Because girls really liked the heroic way Wood looked when he blocked the Quaffle."
Eda was speechless. She said, "Are you sure the girls liked Wood because of his Quidditch skills, rather than that handsome face of his?"
The strict hard-ass captain had excellent Quidditch skills. He had now joined a professional club and begun his professional career.
But honestly, Eda did not really remember much about Wood's performances on the pitch. What she remembered were all the occasions when he had been injured and carried off the field...
The sky grew darker and darker, and the pitch became colder and colder. Angelina finally finished the tryouts, selecting only two people. One was Ron, who would serve as Keeper, and the other was Ginny, who would be a substitute.
Angelina was very satisfied with Ginny because Ginny could not only play Chaser, but could also fill in as Seeker. She was an all-around player.
By the time it was completely dark, the group, who were nearly frozen stiff, finally returned to the warm castle and briefly celebrated Ron and Ginny's selection in the common room.
The celebration had barely begun when Fred and George started doing business. The twins handed out some sweets to several fourth- and fifth-year students.
After eating the sweets, the students looked as though they had been struck on the head by an invisible sledgehammer.
One after another, they collapsed in their seats. Some slid straight onto the floor with a thump, while others simply slumped against the armrests of their chairs, their tongues hanging out.
Most of the people watching burst out laughing, and some even applauded as they laughed.
The twins thanked everyone for their support, then fed the unconscious students the antidote. They quickly regained consciousness.
"What everyone just witnessed was an experiment with our Fainting Fancies. The dosage still needs to be adjusted, so we're not selling them for now," Fred announced loudly.
George continued, "But don't worry. We have Puking Pastilles and Nosebleed Nougats for sale. Weasleys' Instant Skiving Snacks, giving you an easy way to enjoy your own school days!"
Hearing George's words, the students who had just been disappointed immediately became excited. They eagerly lined up and enthusiastically made their purchases. Before long, they had completely sold out an entire box of Instant Skiving Snacks.
The twins walked back over to Eda and sat down in the armchairs, counting the coins in their hands. With just that one little box, Fred and George had already earned back the ten Galleons they had promised Ron.
Just as Fred and George were raising their glasses to celebrate, Hermione strode over.
"You can't do this!" Hermione said with a stern expression. "You shouldn't be experimenting on your fellow students, and you shouldn't be selling these things to them either! I've already talked to you about this."
As she spoke, Hermione put down the knitting she had been holding, seemingly thinking that doing so would make her look more authoritative.
"This won't cause any problems, Hermione," Fred said. "Besides, we paid them. There are no outstanding wages."
"That doesn't make it okay!" Hermione said sternly. "What if something happens to them and they develop a serious illness?" Hermione actually meant well, but her social skills had gone offline that evening, so her tone came across rather harshly.
George patiently explained, "We won't let them get sick. We've already tested these sweets on ourselves. We just wanted to see whether everyone's reactions would be the same..."
"If you don't stop doing this, I'm going to..." Hermione continued relentlessly.
"Give us detention?" Fred said. Hermione's tone was starting to annoy him.
George was the same. He smiled and said, "Or make us write lines?"
"No, I'll write to Mrs. Weasley!" Hermione said. "If you keep doing this!"
Fred and George looked completely terrified. Clearly, in their eyes, Hermione had just used a very sinister move. There was always something that could keep something else in check. Eda was afraid of Professor McGonagall, while the twins were afraid of Mrs. Weasley.
"You can't do that!" Fred had lost all his previous confidence. "Eda hasn't said anything, and she's the Head Girl!"
George's tone softened as well. He said, "That's right, Hermione. Even the Head Girl hasn't said anything, so please show us some mercy. Besides, the notice you tore up was written by Eda."
Hermione immediately turned angrily toward Eda, even more furious than she had been with the twins. Miss Beaver was extremely dissatisfied with Eda's dereliction of duty.
"Uh... I only wrote the last two sentences..."
Eda was also startled by Hermione's sudden burst of authority, so she confessed without being asked. She continued, "They gave me a share of the profits..."
President Twist's confession only made Prefect Granger even angrier, because her role model had collapsed. Although that role model had always stood somewhat crookedly, it had still been a role model, hadn't it?
Just then, Ron suddenly sprang up from his seat and rushed toward the entrance of the common room. Ronald Weasley shouted loudly, "Harry, I made the team! I'm the Keeper... Uh... mate, why is your hand bleeding?"
Those words caught Hermione's attention. She immediately ran toward Harry, leaving Eda and the twins behind.
Eda and Fred and George exchanged glances, all breathing a sigh of relief. When Hermione got serious, she was truly difficult to deal with.
"Let's give Ronnie some pocket money every month..." Fred said quietly.
"Sure. Our little brother is actually useful for something..." George agreed.
"You two sold me out!" Eda's voice rang out.
____
(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
Patreon: Dragonel