Chapter 134 – The Ghost Party
"A party? How could we possibly miss that?"
The moment the idea was mentioned, the Weasley twins immediately agreed.
"We'll pop down to Hogsmeade and get some good stuff," they whispered conspiratorially.
Only then did Russell remember—they knew countless secret passages leading outside the castle and could slip in and out freely.
I should borrow that map from them someday, he thought. Just for fun.
---
"A party?" Hermione frowned. "Tonight? But that would break school rules. I…"
"Then that's a shame," Russell shrugged.
Inviting Hermione had been Wednesday's idea. He had delivered the invitation—that was enough. Whether she came or not was up to her.
---
"A party?" The Bloody Baron's hoarse voice rasped unpleasantly as he stared at the Ravenclaw boy before him. "I never attend such things."
He shook his head and refused.
Russell had expected that. In his original plan, if the Baron agreed to come, he wouldn't invite the Grey Lady. For Wednesday, the Baron's blood-soaked, intimidating presence would have been far more entertaining.
Still, aside from the Bloody Baron, the Fat Friar of Hufflepuff and Nearly Headless Nick of Gryffindor both accepted readily. Even the Grey Lady, after a moment of contemplation, gave a small nod.
This was Russell's surprise for Wednesday.
---
As for the venue, Russell had first considered the Room of Requirement—but quickly dismissed the idea.
The lost diadem of Ravenclaw was hidden there. If the Grey Lady discovered it…
And given her nature, that possibility felt uncomfortably high.
So where else could they gather without being discovered?
There was only one option left:
The Hogwarts kitchens.
It wasn't a bad choice—he only hoped the house-elves wouldn't be too frightened by the ghosts.
---
A little after ten that night, they gathered before the portrait of the pear outside the kitchens.
To Russell's surprise, Hermione had come.
She had waited in the Gryffindor common room, and when she saw the Weasley twins sneaking out with armfuls of contraband-looking supplies, she followed them.
"Oh no… I've broken school rules again!" Hermione exclaimed when she saw everyone assembled. She began pacing anxiously.
"Hermione, why are you so obsessed with rules?" Fred said, already exasperated.
"Look at Russell. He's top of the year and has a Merlin Order to his name—and he still breaks rules. As long as you don't disturb anyone, bending them once in a while isn't a big deal."
He spoke with deliberate persuasion.
"Ahem—sorry to interrupt," Russell coughed lightly. "If all goes well… it's two Orders."
"Two?!"
Cedric reacted the most dramatically. He didn't even have one—and Russell had already secured another?
Cedric wasn't jealous.
He was just… envious.
So envious he could practically drool.
Russell quickly motioned for everyone to move inside before they got too loud. If Filch showed up, the party would end before it began.
---
"The second Order—how did you get it? When did this happen?"
The moment they stepped inside, Cedric demanded answers. No one quite understood why he was so obsessed.
Russell then calmly explained everything about Peter Pettigrew.
"That explains why Ron's been so out of it lately," the Weasley twins said. Instead of feeling frightened, they burst into laughter at Ron's expense.
"You haven't told Percy yet, have you? Let us do it," George said eagerly. "I can't wait to see his face when he hears."
"And Charlie," Fred added. "Imagine finding out the rat you picked up was actually a grown man. Wonder how he'd take that."
---
"Order of Merlin, Second Class..."
Hermione stared blankly into space, repeating the phrase as if her brain had temporarily shut down from the shock.
"You didn't tell me…" Wednesday said quietly.
"Oh—right. Sorry," Russell laughed awkwardly. He really had forgotten to mention it to her.
"Look at this instead," he said quickly, changing the subject.
He pulled out a transparent case lined with soft black padding. Inside, a small rat lay comfortably curled up.
"What's that? A replacement pet for Ron? I don't think he'd accept it," Fred joked.
"No," Russell said with a wicked grin. "This is Peter Pettigrew's wife."
Hermione's face went pale.
Among them, she was the only one who had overheard Russell on the train joking about breeding Scabbers.
"You're absolutely vicious, Russell. I love it," George cheered.
The twins laughed—but beneath it, there was lingering unease. Realizing that a murderous Death Eater had been living in their home all those years sent a chill down their spines.
What if Scabbers had attacked them in their sleep?
The mere thought was horrifying.
"You're slandering me," Russell protested indignantly. "I'm contributing to magical society."
"Oh please," Cho rolled her eyes. "You're just indulging your own twisted curiosity."
"Cho, I'm wounded. And you too, Cedric? Not even defending me?" Russell glared theatrically.
"This rat is related to my third Merlin Order, you know."
After feeding the rat a bit of food, he carefully put it away.
"Third?"
Everyone stared at him now—even Hermione snapped out of her trance.
"Do you all know what an Animagus is?" Russell asked.
They did. Everyone present excelled academically.
"Then do you know whether an Animagus in animal form has reproductive isolation from normal animals?"
The boys blinked blankly.
Cho sighed. "They don't know what that means. Reproductive isolation basically means whether two beings can produce offspring together."
The Weasley twins stared at Russell in awe.
"That's insane," Fred muttered.
"We thought we were bold. Turns out you're on another level."
"Even if you publish results," Cedric said thoughtfully while munching fried banana slices, "you'll face serious opposition. Trust me—some traditionalists are extremely conservative about… this sort of thing."
"That's fine," Russell shrugged. "If that happens, I'll just sell Pettigrew's little rat offspring publicly. I'm sure plenty of people would be interested."
Given how many people had suffered because of Death Eaters, he doubted there would be any shortage of customers.
As for pricing?
One Knut per rat.
There were things worth profiting from—and things that weren't. Russell knew the difference.
"Genius," Fred declared. "Russell, you're a business prodigy. We really struck gold partnering with you."
"Partnering?" Hermione blinked. "You mean the Darkmoon Circus?"
She had certainly heard of it—the wildly popular shop among students lately. Nearly everyone owned one of their signature anti-odor masks.
Hermione had initially refused to buy one. She believed in respecting professors. She had believed Professor Quirrell's talk about vampires and inferi.
So she had suffered through lessons holding her breath, occasionally casting cleaning charms to clear the air.
Eventually, though, she realized something was off.
Quirrell never demonstrated practical magic. He only read from textbooks like a substitute teacher coasting by.
Not someone worthy of blind respect.
So she bought a mask too.
---
"Why didn't you tell me, Cedric? I could have helped," Cho said, frowning.
"That's Russell's fault," Cedric said immediately, shifting blame. "He told me there's something called 'bride price'—about ten thousand Galleons. I have to work hard."
Russell's smile froze.
He hadn't expected Cedric to take that joke seriously.
Under Cho's deadly glare, Russell quickly raised his cup.
"To Wednesday, for officially joining the team!"
He drained it in one go.
The cup contained butterbeer—despite the name, it was completely non-alcoholic. In the wizarding world, it held roughly the same cultural status as Coca-Cola did among Muggles.
The twins had smuggled back butterbeer and various sweets from Hogsmeade. Russell particularly loved Fizzing Whizzbees—sweet enough to make even him, someone who disliked sugary food, crave more.
"Oh! And this!"
Russell suddenly remembered the enormous jar of Cockroach Clusters he had "borrowed" from Dumbledore earlier.
He rummaged through his pocket and placed the jar on the table.
Hermione shrieked.
"Why are there cockroaches in a jar?!"
"Cockroach Clusters?" Fred asked hesitantly.
Russell nodded.
Fred grimaced. "Why would you eat that? That's disgusting."
"You're all so shallow," Russell sighed mournfully. "Judging by appearances alone."
"You're not even allowed to go to Hogsmeade yet. Where did you get that many?" Cho narrowed her eyes. "Cedric, did you buy them for him?"
"Absolutely not!" Cedric shook his head vigorously. "I wouldn't even look at that thing."
In truth, he didn't hate cockroaches that much.
But judging by Cho's obvious disgust—
He knew better than to admit otherwise.