"Grandma Tina, this is way too much..."
Adam had a pained expression on his face as he stood next to the familiar dining table, clutching several large bags of biscuits and a separate sack of cakes.
Tina, still gently tucking more biscuits into his small pouch, said softly, "It's alright, dear. You can share them with the other students."
Adam wanted to argue on behalf of Allan, but then he remembered the last time he'd given Allan a bag of biscuits. He hadn't seen the boy in the Great Hall for days, until one afternoon when Madam Pince chased him out of the library for "nibbling biscuits" inside. After some questioning, Adam learned that Allan had been so engrossed in his books that he had survived for days on nothing but that one bag of biscuits. Cedric, upon hearing the story, had remarked that Adam and Allan should really trade scarves.
Tina then looked over at Sherri, who was curled up in a chair by the dining table, staring blankly at the distant sea of flowers outside the window. The sunlight shone on her, making her small face seem to flicker, like a little kitten in a box looking out at the world. Tina recalled Sherri's quiet weeping in the corner last night. The girl was so mature it was heartbreaking. The only relative who had cared for her for two years had been revealed overnight to be a dark witch with a questionable identity. Even the circumstances of their first accidental meeting suddenly seemed deeply disturbing.
Tina sighed softly and turned to walk out to the garden.
Adam gently poked Sherri's chubby cheek and whispered, "Still thinking about Corrina?"
Sherri shook her head, pushing her plate over to Adam. "Auntie was really kind to me, you know. I could feel the affection she kept hidden in her heart."
"If she truly wanted to hurt me, she had countless chances over the last two years, but she never did."
Adam was silent for a moment, then looked at the clear sky outside the window. "Fancy a walk?" he asked quietly.
"No, I don't think so. I'd rather just sit for a while." Sherri propped her chin on her hand, looking at the wizard chess board in the corner. "Play a game with me?"
"Adam? Where have you been the last couple of days?"
Cedric poked his head into the dormitory, holding his broomstick. He tossed a pouch of Galleons onto the table, making Amy the cat, who had been sunbathing nearby, jump up in a huff. The cat stalked over to his feet, meowed angrily, and started scratching at his trousers.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't know you were sunbathing there!" Cedric apologized several times before Amy the cat gave him a disdainful look and gracefully padded over to the windowsill for a nap.
Cedric watched, amazed. "Your cat is so clever. But there's something strange about her eyes... I feel like she can see right through me."
Adam yawned and pocketed the bag of Galleons. He had spent the last two days with Sherri, either reading or playing wizard chess. Tina had occasionally convinced them to take a walk in the flower-filled hills nearby.
"Aren't you supposed to be busy with Quidditch practice? How did you have time to sell quills?"
Cedric finally tore his gaze away from Amy and said excitedly, "You won't believe it! While you were gone, loads of people came to buy quills. Especially from Ravenclaw. Cho complained that she didn't have enough time to read her books, so I had to help her out."
Adam eyed Cedric's upturned mouth. His tone changed slightly. "Were you really just there to sell quills?"
Cedric pretended not to understand and pressed on. "Aren't you a little bit curious why everyone is buying them?"
Adam just stared at him. The two had a silent standoff.
"Alright, alright," Cedric finally conceded. "It's got something to do with the rumors going around the school."
He put his broomstick down and sat next to Adam, lowering his voice. "George said he saw Professor Kettleburn at the Hog's Head on Saturday night."
"He was sitting at a table, talking about dragons with a few other wizards." Cedric paused, picking up a biscuit from the table and taking a few bites. "When the story got around to the other Houses, everyone started guessing that Professor Kettleburn might be bringing a dragon into class."
"So they've all been rushing to the library, thinking that Professor Kettleburn might ask them to write an essay on dragons, just like he did last time."
Adam was stunned. He slammed the bag of Galleons down on the table, scattering coins everywhere. "Are you sure?"
Cedric was taken aback by Adam's reaction, but he thought hard and nodded earnestly. "That's exactly what George told me."
Adam stood up and hurried toward the common room.
"Wait for me! Are you going to find George and Fred?" Cedric quickly gathered the pouch of money from the table, grabbed his broom, and followed Adam.
The two made their way through the castle and soon arrived at the Gryffindor Tower. A giant portrait of the Fat Lady, holding a glass of pumpkin juice, looked at them in confusion. "I don't believe I've ever seen you two before," she said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, madam. Lion's Heart!" Adam greeted her politely and gave the Gryffindor password.
The Fat Lady smiled and nodded happily. "Such a well-mannered young man! Since you know the password, you may enter."
The large portrait swung forward, revealing a circular hole in the wall. The Fat Lady quietly added to Adam, "Next time, don't bring a Hufflepuff scarf..."
Adam ran into the common room, a circular room filled with comfortable red armchairs. A few first-year Gryffindors were sitting by the fireplace, excitedly playing wizard chess. One of the students looked back, smiled, and greeted Adam, then turned back to the game.
A few seconds later, he realized something was off. He asked the others, bewildered, "Did I just see Adam?"
The others looked around the empty common room. Besides them, all the other students had gone out. "Don't be silly," one said. "Adam's a Hufflepuff student. Why would he be here..."
"Wait! You cheated again! Wasn't that bishop here just a second ago?"
Adam and Cedric hurried up the spiral staircase to the top of the tower and quickly found the dormitory shared by George and Fred. When Adam pushed the door open, the two were sitting at a desk, examining a few strange-looking gadgets. Next to them was a pile of brightly colored sweets in what looked like very normal wrappers. The more normal they looked, the more unusual they seemed on the Weasley twins' desk.
Cedric cautiously backed away, but a cushion sitting by the bed sensed someone approaching. It suddenly sprang up and bit him, making him yelp in pain.
"Puhahaha..."
Fred, who had been trying to hold back his laughter, finally let it out and helped Cedric get the biting cushion off. George looked up at the commotion and saw Adam, his face lighting up. "You guys came! Adam, come look! I tweaked the gadget you helped us with last time. It's much more discreet now."
He put two plain-looking books on the desk. Adam didn't even look at them, just tossed a sweet at them. The book immediately began to crackle and pop, shooting out small sparks. Adam raised his wand to close the book, and it instantly returned to normal. He turned to George, his tone serious. "Did you really hear Professor Kettleburn talking about dragons?"
The excited look on George's face faded, and he nodded in confusion. Fred chimed in from behind him. "It's true. We had just come out of Zonko's when we saw Professor Kettleburn and a group of men in high-crowned wizard hats walk into the Hog's Head."
He and George exchanged a look, and Fred picked up a gadget from the desk that looked like two ordinary crystal balls. "We'd just bought this from Zonko's. The owner said he brought it back from Africa. You can hear sound from the other crystal ball even if you're far away. He said the local tribes use them for divination." He shrugged, gesturing for George to stand by the door holding one of the crystal balls. George whispered something inside, and his voice came through clearly from the one in Fred's hand.
"We wanted to test it out, so we threw it behind Professor Kettleburn's seat," Fred explained. "It was almost stolen by a goat, though..."
Adam leaned in close to the crystal ball. After seeing the magical runes inside, he tapped it with his wand. A jumble of chaotic images immediately appeared. He reached out and touched the surface of the crystal ball.
In an instant, George and Fred's faces appeared, and then the crystal ball rolled and came to rest somewhere. Professor Kettleburn appeared again, surrounded by several people.
When Adam saw what those people were wearing, his pupils narrowed.