Chapter 43. The Twins' Sincere Recommendation
"Duncan, my copy of The Standard Book of Spells is missing.
Have you seen it?"
Neville asked anxiously, turning circles in the room as if he wanted to ransack every corner.
But that book was like a master of hide-and-seek.
No matter how Neville searched, he could not find the slightest trace of it.
"Weren't you tidying your things when you came back to the dormitory yesterday?
How could it be gone?"
Duncan spoke helplessly.
He felt he had overestimated Neville's memory before.
"Yes, I did tidy up properly, but the book isn't on the desk, and I can't for the life of me remember where I put it..."
Neville pulled a long face, so anxious that beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.
"C-could it be that I forgot to buy it?"
"That does sound like something you might do," Duncan said.
"But when you bought your books, Mrs Longbottom should have been with you.
She would never let you make that sort of low-level mistake.
I'll help you search the room again, and if we still can't find it, you can share a book with me for now."
"Mm..."
Neville nodded and went back to rummaging through chests and drawers.
"I know where it is."
Pro popped out from where he had been curled in Duncan's pocket.
He leapt to the floor and scuttled under Neville's bed on all fours; a moment later, he strained and dragged out a hefty volume.
"Ha, that's my Standard Book of Spells!"
Neville's eyes widened in delight, and he hurried over to stoop and pick up the spellbook.
"Thank you, Pro, you're the best Niffler in the whole wide world!"
"How did you know it was there?"
Duncan asked curiously, pressing his palm to the floor for Pro to climb into his hand.
"Haven't I said it before?
I'll keep an eye on every single thing in the dormitory for you!"
Pro sat very proudly, chin tilted up a touch; it was obvious he was thoroughly enjoying Neville's praise.
"Since the book's found, let's set off," Duncan said.
"If we dally any longer, we might be late."
"Mm-hm."
Neville bobbed his head repeatedly and followed Duncan out of the dormitory.
Pro stayed in the pocket of Duncan's school robes, his two paws hooked over the edge, a pair of eyes peeking out, gazing at Neville with hopeful yearning.
As they were about to leave the corridor outside the dormitory, Pro saw that Neville was still only hurrying along after Duncan.
He grew anxious at once.
"Oi, oi, Duncan," Pro squawked in reminder, "have you two forgotten something very important?"
Duncan thought for a moment, then blinked blankly.
"Mm?
Forgot what?"
"You truly forgot this Niffler's great service!" Pro said furiously.
"I helped Neville find that book.
By rights, shouldn't he give me a bit of payment?
But up till now, he hasn't even given me a single Knut!"
"Oh, sorry, that's on us..."
Duncan said with a smile, relaying Pro's words to Neville.
Neville came to himself as if waking from a dream.
He fumbled messily in his pockets and finally found a silver Sickle, which he respectfully placed in Pro's paws.
After all, if he lost something in future, he would have to trouble Pro to find it again!
Pro happily toyed with the gleaming Sickle, then carefully tucked it into his pocket and stowed it in a safe place.
He felt this coin was somehow more precious and prettier than those he had stolen before.
Leaving the common room, they reached the stairs that led up through the castle.
Neville tilted his head back, a fearful look on his face as he stared upward.
Whoever the genius designer was, Hogwarts' staircases were extraordinarily irregular.
Some were huge and broad; some were narrow and small; they swayed and wobbled.
If that were all, there wouldn't be so many complaints.
The key was that those staircases would suddenly vanish or move.
If your luck was a bit poor, you would end up like the student Neville had his eye on.
The instant he stepped forward, the connecting staircase suddenly misaligned.
With a groan of pain, he was forced into doing the splits in mid-air, and then he plunged straight down.
Fortunately, the designer had retained a shred of humanity.
Just as that student was about to make intimate contact with the ground, it was as if an invisible hand appeared, seized his robes, and lowered him gently.
Neville's chest rose and fell as he let out a long breath.
He had just imagined a very grisly scene of the student being injured.
"Duncan, do you know how to navigate these staircases?"
Neville asked hopefully, terrified of hearing a negation from Duncan's mouth.
"Of course.
They have a pattern.
Just follow me," Duncan said with a smile, stepping onto the stairs.
Neville hesitated, silently geeing himself up again and again, then finally gritted his teeth and matched Duncan's pace.
After walking for a while along the staircases, Duncan spotted Fred and George weaving through the crowd.
They looked exhausted and drowsy, their heads bobbing uncontrollably.
After only a few steps they would yawn sleepily.
Duncan pushed through the crowd and blocked the twins' path.
"What's with you two?
First day of term and you already look like you've been hollowed out."
"Duncan, Neville?"
Fred lifted his eyes, forced himself to perk up, and led Duncan and Neville a short distance to the side, into a corner with fewer people.
"We were sorting our joke products until late last night," George answered Duncan's earlier question.
Fred continued, "And first period this morning was Divination.
Ah, now that's a truly marvellous subject!"
"The classroom is filled with smoke, the light is dim, and the great Professor Trelawney speaks in a low, muttering tone."
"It's absolutely perfect for sleeping!
And you don't even have to worry about losing House points.
If the professor asks you something, just say you were foretelling the future in your dreams."
"Then make up a string of dreadful things that are about to befall you, and the professor will let you off with a smile."
"Honestly, Duncan, there isn't a better class at Hogwarts than that.
Do remember to choose it when the time comes!"
Fred and George spoke in seamless alternation like salesmen invited by Professor Trelawney to hype her course.
"Clear off, you two good-for-nothings."
Duncan waved them away in disgust and lowered his voice.
"I've got proper business."
"Go on," said Fred and George, schooling their grins and managing to look the tiniest bit serious.
"Could you make direction indicators?" Duncan asked.
"What do you mean?"
Fred raised his eyebrows, looking at Duncan in puzzlement.
"Would those be useful to you?"
"Not for me," Duncan shook his head.
"Think about it.
The new students still haven't figured out the staircases' patterns.
If you could make direction indicators, do you reckon they'd buy them?"
The twins' eyes brightened at once, as if sleep had been driven off in an instant.
"Right—why didn't we think of that!"
"Because there's a gap between us," Duncan said, tapping his own temple.
"But you'll have to move quickly.
If you wait until they've all figured out the rules, your product won't sell."
"Mm-hm."
The two nodded in unison.
"Don't worry—we'll get it made even if we don't sleep!"
"Oh, and there's one more thing I need your help with..."
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