Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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Compared to the agitated Slytherin, the atmosphere in Gryffindor was much more cheerful, especially after seeing Rozier storm out of the Great Hall; they laughed even louder.
"George, is this Nimbus 2000?"
After the Slytherin members had all left, a dark-skinned boy with long, bushy hair eagerly approached the twins, urging, "What are we waiting for? Let us see!"
His words were instantly echoed by the others, "Yeah, open it and let us see!"
"Merlin's beard! This must be the best broom ever made; even professional teams probably don't have a Nimbus 2000."
However, despite everyone's urging, Fred and George showed no intention of opening the package.
George glanced at the twins with disdain and said, "Hey, Lee, it's Fred. Don't you recognize us?"
"Sorry, Fred, I can see..."
"No, I'm Fred."
The real Fred hooked his arm around his shoulder and said, "You fell for such a simple trick? Honestly, I'm starting to doubt if you're really our best friend."
Poor Lee Jordan was completely dumbfounded. He stared at the two identical faces beside him, unable to find any difference. They were practically clones.
"Okay, Fred George, I'm sorry." Lee Jordan shook his head, took a deep breath, and said, "Whoever you are, can I just take a look at Nimbus 2000? Just one look. Please."
Normally, Lee Jordan would have pointed at the twins, belittling their ridiculous hobby, and maybe even hurling some slang.
But now, instead of doing that, he apologized directly, adopting a very humble posture.
He had no choice; when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. As a devoted Quidditch enthusiast, the allure of a new, unreleased broom was immense; he couldn't sleep a wink if he didn't get a glimpse of it.
"What Nimbus 2000?" Fred glanced at him. "I don't understand what you're talking about. Our brooms are the old-fashioned CleanSweep."
"I know you want to keep it a secret..." Lee Jordan looked around. "But the Slytherins are all gone, and we're surrounded by our own people. A quick look won't hurt..."
Fred and George remained silent.
"Why don't we go back to the common room?" someone suggested. "It'll be safer there."
"You can't do this..." a Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw wizard objected. "We want to see it too!"
But no one cared about their opinions.
The Gryffindors swarmed the twins, rushing out of the Great Hall.
However, when they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, they discovered Fred and George were nowhere to be found.
"They must have run away when they went upstairs just now."
Lee Jordan was extremely aggrieved: "It's outrageous, they even guard against their own people!"
By noon, the atmosphere at the Slytherin table was still heavy.
They had searched Hogwarts all morning, but they couldn't find a trace of Fred and George. It was as if the two of them had vanished into thin air.
In addition, those who sent letters home had also received nothing. Some short-tempered parents even scolded them in their replies, telling them to focus more on their studies and stop thinking about those unrealistic things.
Rosier was one of them.
"Nimbus 2000? I have Nimbus 2100, do you want it!"
He crumpled the reply in his hand into a ball, and just as he was about to throw it away, he suddenly remembered something, pulled his hand back, and angrily questioned, "Still no news?"
The people around him looked at each other, and no one said a word.
"Useless!"
Just as Rosier was about to flip the plate, a Slytherin player rushed over.
"Captain, I found out,"
Marcus Flint grinned, revealing a row of large teeth. "When I passed the Quidditch pitch, I saw the Gryffindor team there. They must be trying to secretly test their brooms while we're having dinner in the Great Hall."
Rosier looked up.
Sure enough, none of the Gryffindor team members were in the Great Hall.
"Captain, should we go check it out?" Marcus asked tentatively.
"Let's go!"
Rosier didn't hesitate, leading the group towards the Quidditch pitch.
Just as Marcus had said, the Gryffindor team was indeed there, but they weren't training or testing their brooms; they were…fighting?
To be precise, it was the Weasley twins fighting, while the others were trying to break them up.
Seeing this, Marcus exclaimed with delight, "There's internal conflict within Gryffindor?"
The match was in the afternoon, and this internal discord among their opponents was fantastic news for Slytherin.
Rosier also noticed that the package delivered by the owl that morning was placed near their passageway, unattended.
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A minute later, the Slytherins left the Quidditch pitch, huddling together to completely block the person in the middle.
They didn't return to the Great Hall for dinner or the common room; instead, they found an empty classroom and went inside.
After closing the door, they dispersed, revealing the person in the middle…and the long, thin package he was carrying.
"Captain, is it okay to hide it here?" Marcus asked somewhat uneasily. "I think we should just put it in the common room…"
Before he could finish, Rosier kicked him.
He wasn't trying to steal the broom; he just wanted to hide it before the competition so the Gryffindors couldn't use it.
What would it look like to put it in the common room? What if someone let it slip?
Slytherins stealing brooms?
If that got out, Professor Snape would be the first to punish him.
Rosier looked around and saw that all the tables were covered in a thick layer of dust, clearly indicating they hadn't been used for a long time.
"Here it is. Remember to hide it well," Rosier said.
But no one moved. Everyone stood still, staring at the person who had taken the package.
After a long silence, someone suddenly suggested, "Why don't we open it and see? What if it's not a broom inside? We'll have wasted our time."
The others nodded in agreement.
"No, we can't open it,"
Rosier decisively refused, snatching the package and setting it aside.
He knew the Gryffindors; if the news was false, the package definitely contained something bad.
So it was best to leave it untouched.
"Heh heh heh, clever little brat."
A small, milky-white figure suddenly appeared outside the window.
"Get out of the way, Peeves!" Rosier said sternly.
"You rude brat, you'll be punished!"
Peeves angrily smashed the glass and threw in a balloon filled with liquid.
The balloon missed everyone, landing precisely on the package.
Whether from the water or something else, the package began to inflate violently.
"I knew it… damn Peeves!"
Rosier turned to leave, but the door was jammed and couldn't be opened from the inside.
He drew his wand, "Boom…"
"Boom…"
With a loud bang, the package finally exploded, and a strong stench instantly filled the entire classroom.
[End of the chapter]