Adam stared intently at the crystal ball, fully focused on the images that shimmered on its surface. His eyes were particularly drawn to the backs of a few men's hands, but they were always on high alert. Every one of their movements was deliberately concealed, and they wouldn't even take a sip of the drinks in front of them.
The Hog's Head was already a filthy place, with greasy tabletops, thick air, and alcohol stains and breadcrumbs piled in the corners. It was a place where no one would willingly touch the cups in front of them.
Their intermittent conversations drifted through the air, and Adam patiently picked out their dialogue from the surrounding noise.
"We... must... that dragon..."
Just as they were talking about the dragon, a grimy-looking rat suddenly scurried out of the shadows. It gnawed at the smooth surface of the crystal ball with its teeth, seemed to be disappointed by the hard object, and then disgustedly pushed it away with its claw.
The crystal ball rolled across the scratched wooden counter, finally stopping in front of a goat that was chewing on some grass.
"So this is another use for a crystal ball..." George said, his eyes widening in surprise as he stared at the image. He cautiously reached out to touch the surface of the ball, but it didn't react, remaining still.
Fred turned his head, looking at Adam with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you so invested in this? I thought you'd seen enough dragons with Mr. Scamander."
Adam remained silent, his gaze sweeping slowly over the people in the room, but he still chose not to mention what had happened over the past two days.
In the memory he had seen in the Pensieve, the existence of Hogge was a mysterious fog. He didn't know what had happened afterward, or if Hogge was as skilled in Legilimency as Snape. But the one thing he was certain of was that Hogge was not as simple as he seemed.
Beyond being the latest Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, he also had a complicated connection with these secretive, presumed followers of the Dark Lord. Most importantly, the dark wizards' clothes were identical to the ones worn by the members of the illegal smuggling camp he had risked breaking into months ago.
Extending the clues further to the Gringotts robbery that had shaken the wizarding world a short while ago, the dragon that had mysteriously disappeared from the underground vault was still missing.
And less than twenty-four hours after Hogge first appeared at Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic's Aurors had aggressively come knocking on the door. It was clear that they hadn't been tracking the wrong direction, but had simply mistaken Snape for the suspect.
These clues wove an incredibly complex web around Hogge, and also raised more questions.
Who had brought the ferret into the secret passage? If it was the Aurors' tool to investigate the passage, why was Filch there, and why didn't he tell any of the professors afterward? And who did the people still hiding in the Forbidden Forest belong to? And what about Corinna, who only appeared in the memory—why did she attack Mrs. Cole? She could have simply erased the memory, but instead, she left such a glaring flaw while modifying it.
These complex issues weighed on his mind, and faced with three pairs of eyes staring at him intently, Adam decided to refuse. He shook his head decisively. If Cedric and the others were to let a single word slip, it could bring danger directly to all of them.
George stepped forward and patted his shoulder gently. "You seem to have a lot on your mind," he said kindly.
"But what are friends for?"
Fred squeezed in beside him, and the two of them spoke in perfect synchrony.
"We just bought these Fizzing Whizbees from Honeydukes..."
"We were going to keep them for ourselves..."
"But what are good friends for!"
The twins crowded around Adam, one on each side, stuffing several candies into his hand and looking at him with earnest expressions. As they watched, full of anticipation, Adam slowly tore open a wrapper.
Then he threw it directly into the cage in the corner of the room. The sickly-looking rat, upon seeing the sudden candy, swallowed it without a second thought. In the next instant, a strange change occurred. The rat's tongue instantly swelled up and stuck out long and far, causing it to frantically run into the bars of the cage.
Adam blinked, looking at the dumbfounded Weasley twins.
Fred's expression froze for a few seconds, then he rushed to the cage and cried out. "Scabbers, what's wrong with you?! Don't you dare die on me, Scabbers!"
Cedric looked at the small mountain of candy with lingering fear. "Good thing I didn't touch any of that," he said.
Adam immediately saw through their fake tears. "I seem to remember that rat belongs to Percy, doesn't it?"
Fred had no choice but to stand up, brush off his clothes, and throw his hands up in exasperation. "It's Percy's, yes. We went to great lengths to borrow him from Percy; we were about to test the potency of our new sweets."
"And that's your reason for using me as a test subject?" Adam narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint in them.
The two of them exchanged a glance and quickly apologized profusely to Adam.
Cedric stood beside them, covering his face and trying to hold back his laughter. It was the first time he had ever seen the Weasley twins act like this. Of course, he thought it was thanks to the quill; the table full of items had something to do with the quill.
Adam pushed away their hands, which were trying to give him a shoulder massage. He turned his attention to a small table in the corner of the room, which was piled with many pieces of parchment decorated with the crests of the various Houses. Many of them were torn in half as stubs, and the blue crest of Ravenclaw was the most common.
He raised an eyebrow, pointing at them. "How much have you collected? The Ravenclaw pile looks as thick as a copy of Hogwarts: A History."
At this, George's eyes lit up, and he excitedly patted the stack of parchment. "Almost half of the Ravenclaw students have placed a bet!"
"What if the curse doesn't come true? Can you really pay back that much?" Cedric walked over and did a rough calculation. The final number was almost enough to buy him three new brooms.
George laughed and shook his head. "Fred and I have figured it out. No matter whether the curse comes true or not, we'll still make a small profit in the end."
"Yeah, we finally understand why the older students used to love this kind of prank," Fred said with a grin, adding, "Besides, even if you don't believe in us, don't you believe in the Defence Against the Dark Arts position?"
Cedric nodded thoughtfully and pulled a few Sickles out of his pocket. "I'll bet the curse comes true."
George took the coins with a smile and tossed them into a decorated cloth bag nearby.
Just then, Adam suddenly spoke. "I want to place a bet, too." He took a dozen Galleons from his small money pouch and slapped them down on the desk.
George and Fred's expressions froze, their breathing quickening. They quickly grabbed a quill and asked loudly, "The curse comes true, or...?"
Adam shook his head, pointing to the other side of the ledger. "I think Professor Dumbledore won't show up for the Halloween feast."
Cedric's face went a little pale, and he quickly pulled on Adam's sleeve. He was about to say something, but Adam cut him off with a raised hand.
George was already filling out the parchment at lightning speed, then handed it to Adam. Both twins wore polite smiles.
Outside the Gryffindor common room, Cedric said to Adam in an anxious voice, "Didn't you see my hint just now?! You haven't been at school for the past two days, but a lot of people saw Professor Dumbledore on the second floor last Friday. That bet of yours is a pure waste of Galleons, no question!"
"Let's go back and change your bet now; at least you'll only lose half."
Adam gently patted him on the shoulder, a mischievous smirk on his face.
Meanwhile, in the dormitory high up in the tower, George and Fred high-fived, celebrating with glee.
All three of their voices rang out at the same time, in different places. "He finally fell for it!"
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