---
"You've been staring at that map for nearly twenty minutes. Any ideas yet?"
Cedric asked, finishing up the last cauldron and coming to stand beside Adam.
"I'm just trying to figure out why Snape would be brewing Veritaserum," Adam said, turning to look at the Diricawl feather on the desk. "Even though this potion forces a person to tell the truth, it's not foolproof."
"If the person being questioned has already taken the antidote, the Veritaserum has no effect at all," he continued. "And if they've had the right mental discipline training, the potion's power is even weaker. I've had a witch who was good with hair charms write to me about it—apparently, most Aurors undergo similar training."
Cedric frowned, pacing the office and glancing at the pile of powder in the mortar.
"Are you sure you haven't made a mistake? Maybe that's powdered pufferfish eyes, not beetle eyes?" he suggested. "They look pretty similar when ground up, and we just studied Swelling Solution last week, which uses pufferfish eyes. Lots of people got them mixed up."
"Huh?" Adam looked up with an innocent, bewildered expression. "What's Swelling Solution?"
Cedric's eyes widened. He stared at Adam in disbelief.
"You memorized the recipe for Veritaserum, but you don't know what Swelling Solution is? Or Hair-Raising Potion?"
Adam shook his head emphatically, and Cedric's confusion deepened.
"Those are second-year potions. So what in the world have you been studying in the library?"
"Polyjuice Potion, Forgetfulness Potion, Confusing Concoction, Madness Potion, Throat-Grip Solution..."
As Adam rattled off the list of dark potions, Cedric shuddered, wiping a bead of cold sweat from his brow.
"Alright, alright, don't say another word. And definitely don't tell me where in the Restricted Section you found those books..."
Adam shrugged helplessly. He picked up a few drops of the potion from the bottom of the cauldron and said with a solemn expression, "It's an odorless, colorless standard liquid, and it uses a Diricawl feather. It can only be Veritaserum."
"But what I can't figure out is this: it takes at least a month to brew this potion. Did Snape plan to give us detention an entire month ago?"
Cedric clapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the clock on the wall.
"If you can't figure it out, just let it go. It's not like he's going to use us to experiment with it. But you have to admit, a potion brewed by a master like him must be pretty expensive."
"Last time I was in Diagon Alley with my dad, I saw them selling this stuff on a side street. A few drops of Veritaserum was going for twenty Galleons, and people were lining up to buy it."
"Fair enough," Adam said. He poured the few drops of the potion into a small glass vial, then turned to walk toward the office door.
Cedric's face froze. He reached out and grabbed Adam's shoulder.
"You're just going to leave?"
"Well, what else? A Disillusionment Charm just lets the caster blend into the surroundings like a chameleon; it doesn't make you truly invisible. We had the sound of the firecrackers to cover us on the way here, but it'll be a lot harder to leave when Snape gets back. I can't cover the sound of my footsteps yet."
"I'm heading back to bed. Good luck," Adam said with a lazy yawn, and his figure instantly vanished.
Just as Cedric was tidying up the cleaning rags and getting ready to leave, Adam's voice suddenly came from the doorway.
"Oh, by the way, I actually noticed earlier that Snape was pointing to the pile of cauldrons in the corner. You've been cleaning the wrong ones, you know."
"Why didn't you say something sooner?!" Cedric's voice rose in panic. He turned to look at the other pile of cauldrons, caked in years of old potion stains, and felt his heart sink.
"You never asked," Adam's voice drifted away. "I'll buy a broom tomorrow. We'll call the application forms even."
"Oh, and the automatic cleaning kit George and Fred bought is hidden under the second-to-last desk in the potions classroom next door. You can still get it now if you're quick."
Before the last word had faded, Adam's voice was gone completely.
Cedric's eyes widened. He looked around suspiciously, making sure Adam was really gone, then let out a long sigh of relief.
But soon, his spirits lifted. The Hufflepuff Quidditch team was in a tough spot, and most of the older players were busy studying for their final exams. All the new players were still getting used to playing together. If they could get one more excellent Chaser on the team now...
At the very least, maybe the house team wouldn't finish in last place this year.
With that thought, he rubbed his cheeks, which ached from smiling, and the motion of washing the cauldrons became much lighter.
---
"It's snowing outside!"
On the fifth weekend after their detention, Aiden woke Adam up early, patting the end of his bed and pointing excitedly to the window, which was already covered in a thick layer of snow.
"What's so weird about snow?" Adam mumbled sleepily, letting out a yawn.
He pulled the covers up to his chin and retreated toward the wall, only a small bit of his fluffy hair visible, clearly not fully awake yet.
"This is the first snow we've seen since we got to Hogwarts!" Aiden pressed his face against the cold glass, his breath creating a blurry fog. "And don't you think this year's snow is incredibly late?"
He turned and grabbed a quill from his desk, muttering to himself.
"I need to write a letter to my grandmother right away and tell her about this..."
The dorm room fell silent again, with only the scratching sound of the quill on parchment and Adam's soft, even breathing.
Aiden, in the middle of writing, suddenly frowned. He turned to Adam, a worried expression on his face.
"You're not catching a cold, are you? Why do I think I hear you coughing?"
Adam, roused again, rubbed his eyes and looked at him blankly.
"Maybe we should go to the Hospital Wing later," Aiden said, setting his small hot-water bottle on the desk. "Look, you're still coughing right now..."
His expression froze. He stared at Adam's dazed face, swallowed hard, and asked in a trembling voice, "If that's not you coughing, then what did I just hear?"
Adam scratched his head, glanced at the small trunk in the corner, and a realization dawned on him.
He threw off his heavy winter blankets, jumped out of bed, and rushed to the snow-covered window, yanking it open.
Two small, furry figures tumbled out of the snow, a cat and a Niffler, huddled together and shivering.
Adam's eyelid twitched. He quickly scooped them off the floor, wrapped them in a blanket, and tucked them into his still-warm bed. He conjured an orange light from the tip of his wand, and the room instantly became much warmer.
"Are they..." Aiden stared in surprise at the two creatures snuggled under the covers. "Were they locked out all night?"
The cat, Amy, let out a sneeze and a weak meow.
Adam sighed in relief, rubbing their paws with a towel. He turned to Aiden to explain.
"They say they're fine. They ran off to a small study on the third floor last night and the fireplace was burning all night..."
His expression shifted, and he turned to the cat, asking with a strained voice, "You didn't happen to go to Professor McGonagall's office, did you? And how did you escape?"
Amy the cat meowed in confusion, indicating that they hadn't seen anyone else there.
The little Niffler, meanwhile, had taken off its tiny explorer's hat and was rummaging through the pouch on its belly. It pulled out dozens of shiny coins and began chattering excitedly at Adam.
Adam's expression grew more serious as he listened to its chirps.
The little Niffler always had a habit of bringing things back from its adventures to trade with Adam for other shiny objects. He had no idea where the creature had learned to do that.
Adam pulled three clear, red stones from his small pouch, their cores glowing with a soft light. "Describe the camp you saw again, and I'll give you one more."
The Niffler's eyes instantly sparkled. It put its paws on its hips and began to describe what it had seen.
"Are you sure you saw those people suddenly vanish and then reappear a moment later with their clothes changed to what people wear in the summer?" Adam said, scooping up a handful of dirt and transfiguring it into another red gemstone. He asked the question with a look of deep uncertainty.
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