"18:25, Marcus Flint has finished eating and is preparing to leave the Great Hall."
"18:27, Marcus Flint has entered the first-floor corridor and is about to pass the first corner—emergency!"
Adelaide, who was hiding in a corner observing secretly, was suddenly hit on the head by a paper airplane.
Adelaide skillfully picked up the paper airplane and unfolded it. It contained an important message from Senior Natasha: Gemma Farley had just left Professor McGonagall's office and was currently heading toward the Great Hall along the second-floor corridor, expected to encounter Marcus Flint within three minutes.
Adelaide frowned. Gemma Farley was Marcus Flint's secret crush. If they really had a chance encounter, Marcus Flint would most likely deviate from his original route to escort Gemma Farley back to the Slytherin Common Room... No, she absolutely couldn't let that happen!
Adelaide made a prompt decision and decided to step in personally to prevent this "accidental encounter."
She quickly set down the self-writing quill in her arms, leaving it behind to continue its work, then grabbed the suitcase beside her and took off like a gust of wind.
Because she was running in such a hurry, Adelaide nearly collided with several other passing students along the way, but she didn't care about any of that. She had only one thought in her mind—she had to intercept Gemma Farley before she walked down the stairs!
After a period of desperate sprinting, Adelaide successfully reached the staircase at the last moment and intercepted Gemma Farley at the corner.
"Senior... Senior Farley, please wait a moment! I have some Potions questions I'd like to ask you."
Adelaide gasped for breath as she spoke stutteringly.
Gemma Farley arched an eyebrow and spoke with a faint smile, "Isn't this the junior Grindelwald? Why is it that instead of seeking help from your own Ravenclaw seniors, you've come to me, a Slytherin upperclassman? We don't seem to be that well-acquainted, do we?"
Hearing this, Adelaide secretly thought things were going poorly. These Slytherin pure-blood snakes were much more alert than the thick-headed lions of Gryffindor... She quickly sorted through the information regarding Gemma Farley in her mind, then looked up, staring straight at Gemma Farley with her large, star-like eyes, and said with full admiration:
"Senior Farley, who in all of Hogwarts doesn't know that you are Professor Snape's most valued prize student? Everyone is saying that you will definitely become the Slytherin girl Prefect next year... So, I felt that asking you Potions questions would surely yield more professional and accurate answers."
This unreserved praise hit Gemma Farley's sweet spot. Her originally somewhat wary expression instantly relaxed, and her smile grew even more radiant.
Considering the other girl's status as the heir to the Grindelwald Family, she guessed that Adelaide had come to build a good relationship with her—which was a standard daily operation within pure-blood circles.
Gemma Farley nodded readily and replied with a smile, "Your mouth is quite sweet! Fine, since that's the case, tell me, what difficult problem have you encountered?"
Adelaide pulled out a piece of parchment she had prepared long ago from her pocket—since she had decided to investigate the entire student body, she had proactively prepared a pile of parchment with questions for various subjects, all of which were relatively difficult or tricky first-year topics.
This way, no matter when or where she needed to stall for time, she could quickly produce the corresponding parchment and be fully prepared.
First-year questions required almost no thought for a fourth-year like Gemma Farley; she spent only five minutes clearly explaining the solution and logic to Adelaide. Before leaving, she even gave Adelaide two Chocolate Frogs as a reward for her sweet words.
Adelaide put the Chocolate Frogs back in her pocket, took a detour to retrieve her self-writing quill and parchment, and then jogged toward the Quidditch Pitch.
"Achoo... Help!"
Just as she left the Castle, she saw Marcus Flint, covered in tears and snot, his body riddled with dense red spots and sneezing incessantly, fleeing toward the hospital wing in a wretched state—it seemed the Weasley Twins had succeeded.
Adelaide's pace didn't falter for a second as she walked with light steps to the agreed-upon location with the Weasley Twins, who were currently laughing and celebrating their successful prank.
Adelaide stepped forward and teased, "Gentlemen, how does the taste of revenge feel?"
George laughed loudly, "Wonderful, of course!"
Fred echoed, "If this fellow hadn't knocked Charlie off his broom during the last Gryffindor versus Slytherin match, how could we have lost! Charlie forgave him, but that doesn't mean we will~"
"That's right, mate, this is a righteous judgment!"
"And we must thank you, the Great Grindelwald the Second, for providing us with the key intelligence!"
Adelaide said with a smile, "No need for thanks between friends; just give me the agreed-upon payment."
George, standing to the side, very generously pulled out a dozen seemingly ordinary milk candies from his pocket.
"Sister, these are our latest invention, 'Puking Pastilles'—their power is quite fierce, so you must be very careful not to eat them by mistake!"
Adelaide nodded to show she understood, then cautiously took out a small bag and sealed the Puking Pastilles inside.
After finishing this, she waved goodbye to the Weasley Twins, "Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure collaborating. I look forward to the next opportunity to work together!"
Returning to the Castle once more, Adelaide didn't dare delay for a moment and hurried to the Observation Room where the Human Observation Group was located.
As soon as she entered the room, she went straight to Jessica, who was busy at her desk, and took out the report she had recorded while tailing Marcus Flint after dinner.
"Marcus Flint successfully passed the pepper allergy test. Combined with this week's daily observation reports, he shouldn't be an impostor," Adelaide reported concisely.
Jessica, who was buried in designing tests, immediately stopped her work upon hearing this, poked her head out from a mountain of documents, and took Marcus Flint's report with a face full of joy.
"With this, all the fourth-year students in Slytherin House have been investigated... Adelaide, thank you for helping me with the field work—as a token of gratitude, please take these Licorice Wands."
As she spoke, Jessica performed a trick and pulled out several beautifully packaged Licorice Wands from under the table, handing them to Adelaide.
Adelaide didn't decline. She took the Licorice Wands and said goodbye to Senior Jessica: "No need to be so polite, Senior, we're all family... I still have homework to write, so I'll head back to the common room first. You should also rest early, Senior."
She walked quickly back to the Ravenclaw Common Room and came to the side of Cho Chang, who was sitting at a table buried in her writing.
Feeling someone sit down beside her, Cho Chang looked up from her pile of books—when she saw it was Adelaide, a gentle smile immediately appeared on her face.
"I've already finished the Astronomy essay. If you need it for reference, remember to change more of the content."
"I'm not that stupid."
Adelaide muttered while pulling out the Licorice Wands and Chocolate Frogs to share with Cho Chang, and she managed to finish all her homework before 11 o'clock.
After a hurried shower, Adelaide walked with weary steps back to the bedroom and dove headfirst into the soft, comfortable covers.
It had been another fulfilling day.
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