---
"Bury one every twenty feet, cover it with dead leaves and branches, and try to make it look like part of the Forbidden Forest..."
As Adam gave instructions to the others, his eyes darted to the small, round figure that had just rolled out of his open leather case. He leaned down and grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. The little creature squeaked and chattered, gesturing wildly with its tiny paws.
"Isn't that a Niffler? Why does this one look like a Bludger?" Fred asked, recognizing the magical creature immediately.
The fluffy, months-old Niffler was wearing a tiny waistcoat with the same colors as Amy the cat, with a picture of a tiny paw holding a gold coin on the back. A brown explorer's hat was perched crookedly on its round head, its miniature goggles reflecting the soft moonlight. Perhaps because the food was so good at Adam's, the little creature's fur was shiny, and its round shape made it look like a little ball of fluff with tiny paws.
It didn't understand Fred's words but sensed the malice in his tone, pointing a paw at him and squeaking defiantly.
"Settle down," Adam said, scratching its little belly. "You want to explore the Forbidden Forest too?"
The Niffler waved a paw and chattered excitedly.
"Alright... you can explore. But you have to stay near Amy the cat, and remember to come back for dinner every night, got it?" Adam gently placed it on the ground, giving it a serious warning. The Niffler adjusted its explorer's hat, its small eyes gleaming with excitement. It nodded its tiny head and scampered away, disappearing into the Forbidden Forest.
Cedric and a Digging-Weasel were working together to excavate a large hole in the ground. Cedric measured the depth with his shovel, then called out to Adam, "Is this deep enough?"
"That'll do," Adam said, using his Wand-Lighting Charm to take a look. "Stand back!" He used the Levitation Charm to pull a rectangular iron box, nearly five feet long and three feet wide, from his case. It landed with a heavy thud in the hole, making the ground shake.
George, full of curiosity, lifted the lid of the box. A pair of crimson indicator lights instantly flickered on, staring back at him. He yelped and slipped, nearly falling into the massive hole. Luckily, Cedric reached out and grabbed him in time, and together with Adam, they managed to pull him back to safety.
As soon as he was back on his feet, George stared at Adam in disbelief. "Did you steal all the suits of armor from the fourth-floor corridor!?"
"Of course not! These are gifts from Helga Hufflepuff herself," Adam said, rolling his eyes and making a tiny circle with his fingers. "I just... modified them a little."
Cedric, who could now see what was inside the iron box, was horrified. It was a grotesque black suit of armor, holding a great sword. Behind the faceplate was a carved skull, and the crimson indicator lights served as its eyes. A cold sweat broke out on Cedric's back as he remembered the ransacked mud path from a few days ago. He quickly turned to Adam. "You're not going to ruin the common rooms again, are you?"
Adam nodded seriously, shrugging with a regretful look on his face. "Unfortunately, my understanding of alchemy is still a little shallow. I wasted too many materials, so I was only able to make this many."
Just as Cedric was sighing in relief, Adam turned around and pulled eleven more identical iron boxes out of his case. They landed on the ground with a thud, and a gust of air sent a cloud of dead leaves flying.
The smiles on George and Fred's faces froze. They looked down at the shovels in their hands, then at the Digging-Weasel who was furiously digging in the distance.
"What are you standing around for? Get to it!" Adam said, hoisting a shovel onto his shoulder. "Let's try to get back in time for some sleep tonight."
George's face was a picture of misery. "If I ever go out roaming the Forbidden Forest with you again, I'm a Runespoor..."
Fred patted him on the shoulder encouragingly. "Don't worry, a Runespoor can't dig as fast as you."
---
The next evening in the Great Hall, George and Fred walked in and immediately spotted Adam sitting at the Hufflepuff table. They stomped over, sat down next to him, and snatched the fried chicken leg from his hand.
"You didn't tell us that Hufflepuff didn't have classes this morning, and that this afternoon was Professor Binns's History of Magic!" George snarled, his eyes dark with exhaustion as he took a vicious bite of the chicken leg.
"And you have no idea..." Fred sighed, taking a sip of the watermelon juice Adam offered him. "We were late for Transfiguration this morning. Professor McGonagall's face was more terrifying than a dragon."
"She was even talking about giving us detention..." George added with a miserable look.
Cedric, sitting opposite them, immediately exposed their lie. "Are you sure it wasn't about something else?"
"I think I heard that two students were caught in Hogsmeade Village this afternoon, selling a whole sack of Mooncalf dung. Professor Sprout happened to be there buying fertilizer and saw them."
Fred's face fell. He stared at Cedric in disbelief. "How do you know all this? You didn't sneak out too, did you?" He and George started jokingly teasing Cedric. "I knew a guy with eyebrows like yours couldn't be trusted."
"Cho told me," Cedric said, a grin still on his face. "She said she saw Professor McGonagall use the Levitation Charm to carry the two of you back to her office."
Adam cleared his throat and said softly, "Actually, a lot of people saw you. We were in History of Magic class on the second floor. Professor Binns saw everyone looking up and thought we were all interested in Uric the Oddball, so his voice got even louder when he talked about how Uric liked to wear jellyfish hats."
The Weasley twins covered their faces with their hands. "This is all your Niffler's fault!" George moaned. "We followed it all the way to the Mooncalf territory last night. We saw it standing next to a pile of those shiny silver little balls."
"Fred and I thought we'd found a treasure, so we scooped it all up. Who knew that stuff was...!"
Fred sighed and his eye twitched as he looked at the silver cups on the table. "No wonder all the old wizards in Hogsmeade were giving us such strange looks."
"You weren't wrong, really," Adam explained to them. "Mooncalf... well, it's actually a great fertilizer. It can make the soil more fertile and help special herbs grow faster. It's cheaper than dragon dung but works just as well."
Their eyes lit up instantly. "How much can a whole sack sell for? We still have some hidden in our dorm."
"Probably about twenty Silver Sickles," Adam estimated.
The light in their eyes dimmed immediately, and they loudly complained that they shouldn't have gone into the Forbidden Forest last night.
"So, you finally admit that you took that... 'fertilizer' from the Forbidden Forest?"
They froze and slowly turned to face Professor McGonagall, who was standing there with a thunderous look on her face.
"Ten points from Gryffindor! You'll be serving detention in the Trophy Room tonight at eight o'clock!" she said. "I'll be writing a letter to Molly about this. Now get back to the Gryffindor table!"
George and Fred's faces went ashen. They stumbled back to their table, where the members of the Quidditch team were all giving them sympathetic looks.
"Good evening, Professor McGonagall. Would you like a chocolate chip cookie? They're very relaxing, especially with afternoon tea," Adam said, pulling a few small biscuits from his pouch and holding them up to her.
"No, thank you, dear..." Professor McGonagall was taken aback and was about to refuse, but Adam had already handed the biscuits to her.
"This is just a thank you for your help with the orphanage last time. Think of it as a small gift from the children." Adam's voice was sincere as he looked at the deep wrinkles around her eyes.
Her expression softened, and she accepted the gift, then looked back at the Gryffindor table with a deep sigh. "Thank you, little Adam. I actually came here to tell you that Albus is waiting for you in the Headmaster's office. The password is Pumpkin Pie."
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