With her innate charm, Adelaide quickly became friends with Cho Chang. She took out the macarons and French pastries given to her by Amandine from her suitcase to share with Cho Chang. In return, Cho Chang brought out Cantonese dim sum like Sticky Rice Chicken, Shrimp Dumplings, and Water Chestnut Cake, successfully capturing Adelaide's stomach.
Just as the two were eating and discussing the Tutshill Tornadoes' performance in the league last week, the compartment door was pushed open once again.
Two fluffy little red heads poked through the crack in the door. These two little heads looked almost exactly the same; they were clearly a pair of twin brothers.
As soon as the red-haired twins saw Adelaide sitting in the compartment, incredibly excited smiles immediately bloomed on their faces, as if they had seen something very interesting.
"Oh, Merlin's beard—"
One of the boys cried out in excitement.
"Charlie, Percy—"
The other boy was equally unable to hide his inner joy, shouting while waving his hands and feet.
"We found her—"
"She looks exactly like the photo—"
Cho Chang's eyes widened, and she looked with some alarm at the two people in front of her who were performing in such a synchronized and exaggerated manner—she was a bit frightened.
Cho Chang tightly gripped the macaron she had only taken one bite of, her body constantly shrinking back as if she wanted to find a place to hide.
Seeing this, Adelaide, who was sitting opposite her, sighed helplessly. She stood up, moved to the seat next to Cho Chang, and shielded Cho Chang completely behind her.
"Who are you?"
Although Adelaide actually knew the identity of the twins long ago, she still asked out of politeness and formality.
Hearing this question, the twins first glanced at each other, then, as if sharing a telepathic connection, simultaneously caught a glint of theatrical cunning in each other's eyes.
They unhurriedly straightened their slightly messy clothes, and an expression of utmost respect instantly appeared on their faces. They bowed deeply to Adelaide and began to recite in a dramatic, operatic tone:
"Respected Grindelwald the Second—"
One of them said with a drawn-out voice.
"George, from the Weasley family—"
The other followed immediately.
"And Fred—"
The first one added again.
""Offer you our highest respects!""
After finishing in unison, they didn't forget to bend down and bow once more to show their sincerity.
Adelaide's lip twitched; she was almost unable to keep a straight face. What exactly were these two jokers here for?
Before Adelaide could even speak, a large, fan-like hand quickly reached through the crack in the door. The palm traced an arc in the air before landing mercilessly on the heads of the two jokers, producing two crisp and loud "smack, smack" sounds.
""Ouch!""
A sturdy young man leaned into the small compartment. This boy had slightly messy fire-red hair and dark skin, looking like someone who loved outdoor sports.
"I am so sorry!"
The red-haired youth nodded in apology to Adelaide with a face full of smiles, while struggling to squeeze his sturdy frame into the compartment, finally managing to get most of his body inside.
"I'm Charlie Weasley, Arthur Weasley's son, and the older brother of these two little idiots. Our parents heard you were coming to Hogwarts this year and specifically told us to look after you."
As he spoke, he pointed his finger at the twins who were standing to the side, clutching their heads and grimacing.
"Little idiots? Merlin's underpants—"
"We're the smartest kids in the family!"
Despite their heads stinging, the Weasley brothers couldn't help but retort.
"Smartest? In last semester's final exams, the two of you combined didn't get as many O's as Percy—forget it, please just ignore these two, and be careful not to let them lead you astray. If you need anything, you can find me in Gryffindor. I'm in my seventh year at Gryffindor House, and I'm also the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"
Charlie puffed out his chest with quite some pride, then added: "Oh right, let me introduce you, this is Percy Weasley, also my younger brother. He's in his fourth year at Gryffindor, has excellent grades, and could be considered a Prefect-in-waiting. If I'm not around, you can ask him for help too."
Charlie pulled another red-haired head in from outside the door. Percy originally wanted to get angry at Charlie for roughly pulling his glasses askew, but when he heard the words "Prefect-in-waiting," his expression instantly did a 180-degree turn, and he lifted his head proudly.
Adelaide nodded politely. She was quite familiar with their car-obsessed father, Arthur Weasley.
She had often heard Edward complain that Arthur wanted him to help modify a Muggle car he'd found, based on an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, and even wanted to add invisibility and flight modes to the car.
The Weasley family had wanted to invite Adelaide over as a guest before, but for some reason Dumbledore hadn't agreed, so Adelaide had never gone.
However, Adelaide had a very good impression of the Weasley family; they were all very sincere and enthusiastic, and there was certainly no harm in being on good terms with them.
Adelaide and Charlie chatted briefly for a few moments, and Charlie, being very perceptive, dragged his three younger brothers out of the compartment, returning the small space to Adelaide and Cho Chang.
Adelaide turned her head, her gaze falling on Cho Chang behind her.
By now, Cho Chang had regained her composure, though she hadn't presumed to interrupt the conversation between Charlie and Adelaide out of politeness.
"Adelaide, do you know them? That family certainly has a lot of children!"
Cho Chang asked softly, a hint of curiosity showing in her beautiful eyes.
Hearing this, Adelaide couldn't help but mutter in her heart: 'You've only seen four of them; in fact, there are three more children in their family who aren't at Hogwarts yet...' "I suppose you could say I know them. Their father and my, uh, uncle, are colleagues."
"Those twins called you Grindelwald the Second just now... Are you a relative of Gellert Grindelwald?!"
Cho Chang, who had only just processed it, cried out in surprise.
Cho Chang came from a wizarding family in China and had moved with her parents from far-away Hong Kong to London, Britain, when she was four years old.
Because of this, when Cho Chang first heard that Adelaide's surname was Grindelwald, she didn't show much surprise or fear. For her, coming from Asia, that first-generation Dark Lord who once ravaged the European continent hadn't left much of a shadow or sense of awe in her heart.
It wasn't until the Weasley Twins' reminder that she remembered what the surname Grindelwald represented.
---------------------------------
Hope you enjoy this fanfiction if you do and would like to read the next 30 chapters in advance, pls do check out my Patreon.
patreon.com/TLScarlet
Also don't forget to give me a Power Stone if you do like this fiction. Your support really motivates me to continue doing my best in translating, Thanks!!