"What did you say... the rooms under the trapdoor are empty?"
The next morning, when Fred and George learned about this from Kyle, their expressions were identical to Cedric's: shock, doubt, disbelief.
Because of the trapdoor incident, they hadn't slept well the entire night. Whenever they closed their eyes, the three-headed dog's ferocious and terrifying appearance would materialize in their minds.
They were consumed with curiosity about what kind of treasure would deserve being guarded by a three-headed dog.
Final exam papers? Or perhaps the Sword of Gryffindor!
The two of them guessed all night long, only managing to get a little sleep just before dawn. Now, Kyle was actually telling them that there were only empty rooms under the trapdoor?
Fred and George couldn't accept this. What happened to the promised adventure... the promised challenges... had Dumbledore simply found a place in the castle to keep a dog?
That was too perfunctory — nobody could be fooled like that.
"Those rooms can't possibly remain empty forever." Kyle patted Fred's shoulder reassuringly, "I think it's probably because school just started and the professors are too busy, so they haven't had time to set things up yet. We can go again later, like around Halloween, or during the Christmas holiday."
"You're right." Fred sighed, "Looks like we won't need to go there for a while, which gives us time to search for the last word of the password."
"I think you should just forget about it." Cedric put down his pumpkin juice and said, "Hogwarts is so huge, you might not be able to find it even by graduation."
"That's not true." George shook his head, "The creators of the Marauder's Map wouldn't hide password clues in meaningless places. The first password clue we found was on the door of Filch's office... a place only those in detention would visit."
"Then there was the one on the trophy room pillar... The four House common rooms..."
"The highest tower in the castle... In short, they're all places with significance or that stand out in some way." George rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "And we can vaguely feel that we're very close to the final answer, just separated by a thin layer of parchment."
"Is that so..." Cedric shrugged, noncommittal.
He actually thought that the clue to the final password might not exist at all, or that this whole thing was just a prank. But these two didn't believe that at all.
Soon, the messengers arrived.
A large flock of owls flew into the Great Hall, and six robust long-eared owls in particular attracted everyone's attention. They carried a long, thin package across the tables, arriving in front of a Slytherin student.
Without hesitation, he opened the package right there, revealing a brand new Nimbus 2000.
"That's right, the new Nimbus 2000 broom, the same model used by professional Quidditch teams!" With many young wizards looking on enviously, he declared loudly with obvious pride on his face, "My father sent it specially to celebrate my joining the Slytherin team this year. Though in my opinion, it's not even necessary. Even without the best broom in the wizarding world, I could still beat everyone else to pieces."
His voice was so loud that nearly half the Great Hall could hear him.
Kyle turned his head to look at him. He didn't recognize him.
"Hey, look at Marcus Flint."
At Fred's prompting, Kyle finally noticed that Marcus looked extremely unhappy — or rather, all the members of the Slytherin Quidditch team looked unhappy.
Perhaps the name Nimbus 2000 reminded them of some unpleasant experience. Everyone had stopped what they were doing and was staring at the boy who had received the package with hostile expressions, not even touching their food.
There was quite a commotion at the Gryffindor table as well.
Neville had received a Remembrall, which could be considered a fairly valuable alchemical item, and quite rare too. The main issue was that in the wizarding world, it was notoriously useless — it only reminded you that you'd forgotten something without showing what it was... which was rather frustrating.
Plus, Remembralls weren't cheap, costing over a hundred Galleons — enough to deter most wizards with mere curiosity.
Kyle had also received a package. It was a small box the size of a palm, wrapped in brown paper.
After delivering the package, the owl dropped a letter as well.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
As per our previous agreement, I've sent you the items you need. I hope they're not too late.
I wish you brilliant achievements in Potions.
(Your Order of Merlin is under review, though it will take some more time)
—Pegasus Sathia.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The head of St. Mungo's had sent potions?
Kyle's eyes lit up.
"What's that?" Fred, seeing his excitement, asked curiously, "What did you buy?"
"No, these are potions someone gave me."
"Potions?"
"Yes." After a moment's hesitation, Kyle said, "I ran into some trouble at St. Mungo's... these potions are compensation from the hospital's director."
Due to the Ministry of Magic's forceful intervention, the Daily Prophet hadn't mentioned the werewolf, only reporting that someone had caused a disturbance at St. Mungo's.
Neither Cedric nor the Weasley brothers, nor even Kanna, knew that he had directly encountered a werewolf during the summer vacation. To avoid worrying them, Kyle hadn't mentioned it himself.
"I see..." Fred, not interested in potions, casually picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet and began reading.
Cedric and Kanna, however, leaned in with interest.
By now, Kyle had unwrapped the brown paper, revealing the wooden box inside. For ease of transport, an Undetectable Extension Charm had been placed on the box. Though only palm-sized on the outside, once opened, the interior space was quite large.
Inside, about fifty or sixty bottles of various sizes were neatly arranged. One section on the side of the box was partitioned off, containing materials needed for brewing potions.
"That's Ashwinder eggshell... and petals from a staghorn flower..." Kanna exclaimed in surprise.
She had seen these items in Professor Snape's office, where they were kept securely sealed on the highest shelves — all extremely precious potion ingredients. Any single one could fetch several hundred Galleons in Diagon Alley.
Kyle merely glanced at the materials before turning his attention back to the potions.
He noticed that the quantity seemed off. There were too many. Beyond what they had previously agreed upon, Pegasus had included some additional items.
For some unknown reason, Kyle even spotted a vial of Veritaserum tucked in the corner of the box.
✭✭✭
T/N: Hey! Liked what you read? Support your friendly neighborhood translator on Patreon! Think of it as buying me a coffee... or ten!
For just $1.50 (that's less than your daily meme budget), get extra chapters! Want more? $2 gets you bonus content, $5 unlocks premium stories, and $10 makes you my hero (and gets you everything I have, including earlier acess to new books)!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1305453