Hearing Wentworth's words, Snape did not hesitate this time. Instead, he spoke directly:
"Name your terms, Wentworth."
Seeing this, Wentworth smiled in satisfaction. From the moment he had met Snape tonight, he had been preparing for this very moment.
With a grin, Wentworth said, "Soon, on Halloween, someone will release a troll into Hogwarts."
At this, Snape furrowed his brows. However, Wentworth continued speaking as if he hadn't noticed:
"When that time comes, I hope that you, Professor Snape, can…"
Meanwhile, as Wentworth was making his deal with Snape, on the sixth floor of Hogwarts Castle, inside the Prefects' Bathroom, Cassandra, Cedric, and Kirk were deep in discussion.
"No! The name 'Lionheart Society' is absolutely unacceptable! Wentworth was merely giving us an example at the time! Have you all forgotten that the lion is the symbol of Gryffindor? Do you really want our organization to be filled only with Gryffindors in the future?"
Cassandra spoke with firm determination.
Hearing her words, Cedric and Kirk recalled Gryffindor's ways and sighed in unison, shaking their heads.
However, Cedric interjected, "Cassandra, we've already gone through dozens of names. If we keep this up, the sun will be rising soon!"
Kirk, looking utterly exhausted, added, "Yeah, Cassandra. Since we're forming a secret organization at Hogwarts, the name doesn't really matter. Who in their right mind goes around talking about their secret group all the time?"
"I say we just pick one randomly. Since Gellert's group was called the 'Pureblood Party,' why don't we call ourselves the 'Secret Party' or 'Secret Order'?"
Upon hearing this, Cassandra snapped back, "How can you be so careless? A name represents the identity of our organization! You—wait, what did you just say? 'Secret Order'? That… actually has a certain ring to it…"
Seeing Cassandra deep in thought, Kirk quickly jumped in, "I said 'Hidden'—never mind. 'Secret Order' it is."
[Note: "密" (mì) means secret or hidden. Thus, when spoken it can mean either be one of them.]
Cedric nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think 'Secret Order' sounds pretty good!"
After a long moment of contemplation, Cassandra finally nodded and declared, "Very well! We shall be called the Secret Order! I hope that in the future, the Secret Order will surpass the Pureblood Party!"
Cedric and Kirk exchanged glances, each reading the same thought in the other's eyes:
Cassandra—truly a Slytherin through and through.
Cedric then stood up hastily and said, "Since we've settled on a name, let's call it a night. It's already quite late…"
However, before he could finish, Cassandra cut him off.
"That's right, it's late, so we need to pick up the pace! Since this is a secret organization, we can't use our real names among members. I believe we should each adopt a codename!"
At Cassandra's words, Cedric and Kirk let out simultaneous groans. Cedric, looking utterly defeated, slumped back into his seat and muttered, "This damned sense of ritual…"
Kirk, on the other hand, reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of playing cards that he had grabbed before leaving his dormitory. He suggested, "At the rate we're going, to save time, we might as well think while playing cards. Otherwise, I might just fall asleep right here."
Cedric immediately nodded in agreement. "Yes! Good idea. Here, I'll shuffle!"
Just as Kirk was about to hand Cedric the deck, Cassandra snatched it from his hands.
"Hey, Cassandra, we were just joking—" Kirk began, thinking she was upset. But he quickly realized that wasn't the case. Instead, she was examining the cards intently, lost in thought.
After a while, Cassandra finally spoke. "Is this the deck Wentworth brought to Hogwarts?"
Cedric and Kirk exchanged glances before Kirk nodded slowly. "Yeah, I actually teased Wentworth about it before. I told him that playing cards couldn't possibly be more fun than Wizard's Chess. But as it turns out… I was wrong."
The moment Kirk finished speaking, Cassandra's eyes lit up.
"I've got it!" she exclaimed.
She placed the deck face down on the table and declared, "Each of us will choose a card from this deck to be our codename! And in the future, every member who joins the Secret Order will do the same!"
"I'll even commission a special deck of cards. That way, even if new members don't know each other beforehand, they'll recognize fellow Secret Order members just by their cards!"
Cedric and Kirk fell silent. Growing impatient, Cassandra urged, "Well? What do you think? Say something!"
Kirk let out a deep sigh before finally saying, "Cassandra, are all Slytherins just naturally suited for this kind of thing?"
Cedric nodded in agreement. "Cassandra, I have to admit, this idea is brilliant."
Hearing their responses, Cassandra beamed with satisfaction before urging them on. "Alright then! Who wants to go first? Choose your card!"
Kirk reached out immediately. "I'll go first! I'll just take one at random. Let's see who I get!"
With that, he pulled the top card from the deck and tossed it onto the table. It was the King of Spades.
Kirk seemed pleased with the result. "Nice, a high card! This one's mine."
Cassandra nodded approvingly. "Very well. From now on, the King of Spades will be your identity in the Secret Order! Your turn, Cedric."
Cedric followed suit, picking the top card and laying it gently on the table. It was the King of Clubs. Then, Cassandra did the same and revealed the King of Hearts.
Kirk frowned. "That's odd… why are they all Kings?"
Cedric thought for a moment before realizing, "I don't think we ever shuffled the deck, did we? These must be the same 'bomb' cards you threw down earlier. They're probably all Kings from different suits."
At Cedric's words, Kirk nodded in understanding. However, none of them seemed inclined to pick new cards—they were quite satisfied with their selections.
At that moment, Cedric posed an important question: "What about Wentworth? Shouldn't he have a card too?"
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