The magic beans by the Black Lake broke through the soil, their tender green sprouts stretching tenaciously upward as if narrating the miracle and unyielding nature of life. At the same time, Adelaide successfully joined the Human Observation Group, gaining access to a free intelligence system.
Everything was progressing very smoothly; the preliminary preparation work was currently only missing the final piece of the puzzle—the Marauder's Map.
Time flew by, and it was soon the second weekend after the start of term. This seemingly ordinary day was a long-awaited moment for the Weasley Twins.
After a period of careful planning and waiting, they finally found the perfect opportunity and successfully sneaked into Filch's office.
Unfortunately, although the two of them searched everywhere in the office, checking almost every corner, they still failed to find the magical map Adelaide had described.
At first, the disappointed Weasley Twins suspected that all of this was just a carefully designed prank by Adelaide to play a trick on them. However, a chance encounter led them to overhear Filch asking Professor McGonagall to set more trap jinxes in his office, saying he didn't want his office to be burgled two years in a row.
"We must never repeat last year's mistake! That wretched little thief last year not only left my office in a complete mess but also had the audacity to steal several confiscated contraband items from the drawer. Although that thief didn't take anything from the office a few days ago, they still turned it upside down. I simply can't stand it anymore!"
The Weasley Twins stared at each other with wide eyes, their hearts filled with surprise and confusion.
The sneaky little thieves from a few days ago were the two of them, but who was the thief in the burglary incident a year ago?
Last year, they hadn't even heard a whisper about Filch's office being burgled!
When this shocking news came from the Weasley Twins' mouths, Adelaide, who had been full of anticipation and confidence, instantly turned as pale as paper, and her mood became extremely heavy.
Filch's office had actually been burgled as early as last year, and that crucial Marauder's Map had long since vanished without a trace!
This sudden turn of events was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Adelaide because it meant that her carefully prepared plan had been declared a failure before it had even officially started.
Without the guidance of the Marauder's Map, she couldn't even determine if someone was secretly monitoring her, let alone go about capturing the Death Eater undercover.
An even more thorny issue was that if this theft indeed happened last year, then she would have to temporarily exclude the MacFusty siblings, whom she had always listed as primary suspects, from suspicion.
Judging by the timeline, it was unlikely they were connected to last year's case—but it was precisely this seemingly reasonable exclusion that made things increasingly mysterious.
According to intelligence from the Human Observation Group, that pair of siblings had been secretly watching her every move since the start of term. They couldn't truly be interested in her beauty, could they?
Left with no other choice, Adelaide had to place her final hopes on the powerful observation skills of the three seniors in the Human Observation Group, hoping they could replace the Marauder's Map and help her find the Death Eater hidden in Hogwarts.
The activity room of the Human Observation Group was located in a classroom filled with parchment scrolls on the seventh floor of the south side of Hogwarts Castle. They gathered here every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at six in the evening to share tea and gossip.
"What? You're saying there's a Death Eater hidden in our school who has been taking Polyjuice Potion for a long time?"
Adelaide, standing to the side, appeared somewhat ill at ease. She replied softly with an affected air, "Oh, Senior Natasha! You must never tell anyone else about this! I'm not entirely sure myself... I just happened to overhear a casual conversation between Professor McGonagall and Professor Amandine. Besides, this theory about a Death Eater is just a private speculation made by Headmaster Dumbledore."
Hearing this earth-shattering gossip, the petite Jessica suddenly became extraordinarily excited. Unable to restrain her inner agitation, she began pacing back and forth in the slightly narrow and crowded activity room, muttering to herself:
"Merlin's beard! This absolutely qualifies as world-shaking news!"
Seeing that all three seniors showed a strong interest in the matter, Adelaide's brain worked rapidly, and she continued, "I think regardless of whether there's truly a Death Eater lurking in our school, this is a very good subject. We can help the Professors solve their problems from the shadows..."
As Adelaide spoke, she observed the seniors' expressions out of the corner of her eye—success or failure depended on this!
Penelope gently rubbed her chin and responded thoughtfully, "Although using Polyjuice Potion can make a person's appearance identical to someone else's, their behavior and lifestyle habits are extremely difficult to change. We can certainly start our investigation from there; perhaps we really will discover some clues... Even if we fail to find the hidden Death Eater in the end, it can be treated as a comprehensive update to the school's student information database. We won't lose out!"
Under Adelaide's clever guidance, this small Human Observation Group actually began to function, taking over the duties of the Marauder's Map.
They decided to investigate one by one starting from the seventh-year students. Hufflepuff House, with the largest number of students, was naturally handed to Penelope. Natasha was assigned to Gryffindor, the house she was on good terms with. As for Jessica, who came from a pure-blood background, she took on the heavy responsibility of investigating both Slytherin House and Ravenclaw House—neither house had many students, so she could handle it alone.
Adelaide, who had just joined the group and lacked experience, was responsible for organizing the data collected by the seniors and finding ways to get more information about the Death Eater from Professor Amandine.
Due to their high focus on gossip and the heated discussion atmosphere within the group, time seemed to fly by unconsciously.
When they suddenly realized, they were startled to find that very little time was left before the school's curfew.
The four of them hurriedly packed their things and rushed toward the Ravenclaw common room.
Lately, Adelaide had been busy with various affairs: working hard on planting the magic beans, dealing with heavy academic pressure, keeping an eye on the Weasley Twins' movements, and attending the Human Observation Group's gossip sessions.
The long period of high-intensity, back-to-back activities finally left the strong girl exhausted. When she dragged her heavy steps onto her bed, she didn't even reply to Cho Chang's goodnight, falling into a deep sleep almost instantly.
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