Chapter 389: ALFG's Trick
Chapter 389: ALFG's Trick
It took Harry some time to calm Ron down; he understood his friend's feelings all too well. In the past, Harry had also been poor, with barely a penny to his name, and his uncle Vernon had been loath to spend a single extra knut on him.
Later, Harry had inherited a large sum of money from his parents, but he had little concept of money himself and had few opportunities to spend it. Most of the galleons he had withdrawn from Gringotts on their last visit remained in his pocket, aside from what he had spent on necessary purchases.
"I wonder where they got all those galleons," Ron muttered, too smart to think that Albert had paid out of pocket.
"I have an idea," Harry recalled. "Remember the flyer on the bulletin board?"
"What flyer?" Ron asked.
"The one that said, 'Communication Cards—Bridging the Distance Between Us All,'" Harry said. "I remember seeing Fred and George putting up those flyers, and Percy warned them about it. The contacts were Fred, George, and Lee Jordan."
"You mean they made all those galleons selling those so-called communication cards!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock as he struggled to believe what Fred and George could have possibly sold.
"Mr. Anderson probably had them sell things for him and then paid them," Harry explained, as he knew a thing or two about how the world worked, having lived in the Muggle world himself.
After all, what Albert was doing was quite common in the Muggle world.
"But why didn't he sell them himself?" Ron couldn't comprehend why anyone would do that. If it were him, he would have...
"I'm not sure," Harry said, as he didn't know much about this Anderson fellow either, except that he was supposed to be a brilliant genius and quite wealthy. "...Probably...didn't want to waste his time, I guess!"
Harry didn't see any problem with Anderson's approach. He might have done the same in his place, had he thought of it.
"Why isn't it me making all that money?"
Ron's next thought couldn't help but be a little envious, even though he understood the reason.
Harry pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket. It was a treasure map, with an elaborate flourish of words: "To our successors, congratulations on discovering our hidden treasure. Go forth and seek, for we have left all our riches there. – ALFG."
"ALFG?" Harry whispered the letters, turning to Ron beside him. "This guy must have a wicked sense of humor."
Ron examined the treasure map carefully, his brow furrowed. "Where did you get this?"
"I found it in a book I borrowed from the school library when I was doing my homework last time," Harry said, not intending to hide this.
He had discovered that several pieces of parchment had been stuck together, and upon closer inspection, he had found this treasure map hidden within.
"Maybe they're just playing with us," Ron said, frowning as he looked at the aged parchment. "During the summer holidays, Fred and George bragged about finding Gryffindor's secret treasure with a piece of parchment."
As he spoke, Ron's eyes held a hint of disdain. It was obvious to anyone that this was impossible, not to mention Fred and George had also boasted about defeating trolls and giant spiders, claiming they had braved countless trials to find Gryffindor's hidden wealth.
Such tales were clearly fictitious.
However, when connected with the ancient treasure map in Harry's hands, the whole thing seemed rather peculiar.
Could it be true?
Ron's not-so-active brain finally concluded: "Rubbish."
"Let's go together," Harry suggested, wanting to distract Ron from his earlier frustration and feeling intrigued by the idea of a treasure hunt.
"Okay," Ron agreed. If Harry wanted to go on a treasure hunt, he would tag along.
"But what does this mean?" Harry pointed to the markings on the other side of the treasure map, which resembled a map.
"I don't know," Ron said, feeling irritated as he looked at the map. "It might be a map of some part of the castle."
"What do ghosts and toilets have to do with each other?" Harry asked, confused by the simple portraits accompanying the map.
"And...is that supposed to be a pumpkin?" Ron guessed. "Ghosts and pumpkins, could it be referring to Halloween?"
"I don't think so," Harry said, even more perplexed. "But what about the toilet then? Is it a toilet in the bathroom?"
"Is that a map of the castle?"
"It should be... a map of the castle's second floor!" Ron said after examining it carefully.
"If this is a map of the second floor, then why is there a washroom here?" Harry asked, confused.
"Well, I don't think there is one... Wait, isn't there a broken washroom somewhere around here?" Ron's eyes lit up as he felt he was onto something.
"But what do the ghosts and pumpkins mean?"
"Hagrid's pumpkin patch, perhaps?"
Harry often visited Hagrid and recalled the large pumpkin patch next to his hut, specially prepared for Halloween.
"Then, what about the ghost?"
Harry felt his brain was not enough to decipher the clues, as he was not good at riddles. Nonetheless, he decided to go to the second floor to try his luck, hoping to encounter a ghost or something.
However, the two of them wandered around the second floor of the castle and did not encounter any ghosts.
In the end, they decided to go to the broken washroom to see if they could find any clues.
"Don't go in."
Just as Harry reached for the brass handle to push open the door, Ron stopped him.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, confused.
"This is the girls' washroom." Ron pointed to the sign and frowned. Moreover, he heard footsteps approaching.
"What are you two up to?"
Hermione stopped Ron and Harry, who were about to enter the broken girls' washroom, and gave them a very strange look.
"We're treasure hunting." Harry felt a bit embarrassed and quickly stepped back, explaining to Hermione why he wanted to enter the girls' washroom. He didn't want to be misunderstood.
"Don't think you can get away with it by making up an excuse. If you dare to do this, I'll go tell Professor McGonagall." Hermione looked at them with disdain: "Last semester, there was a student in our house who did this, and he almost got expelled."
Harry and Ron opened their mouths, not knowing what to say.
"I hope I won't see you packing your bags and leaving next time?"
After saying that, Hermione turned and left.
"Really?" Harry asked stupidly.
"How would I know? Now what?" Ron looked anxiously at Harry. If he were to be expelled because of this, his mother would definitely give him a hard time.
"I'll go in myself!" Harry gritted his teeth and said, "You stay here and warn me if someone comes."
"Never mind, I'll come with you!" Ron didn't want to stay outside, either; what if someone misunderstood?
As soon as the two of them pushed open the door to the girls' washroom, they encountered Moaning Myrtle crying.
"I think the ghost they mentioned should be her." Ron pointed at the ghost girl in front of them and said to Harry.
"I know I'm dead, you don't have to keep reminding me." Moaning Myrtle glared at the two students who had intruded on her territory.
"Do you know where the treasure is?" Harry asked bluntly; he really didn't want to stay there any longer than necessary.
"Oh, yes, I do. Someone once told me that if anyone comes here looking for something, I should tell them 'fifteen.'" Moaning Myrtle suddenly giggled.
"What does that mean?" Ron asked, perplexed.
"I don't know." Myrtle replied happily.
"Who told you to say that?" Harry asked curiously, knowing that the message was likely conveyed by the creator of the treasure map.
"A handsome young man." Myrtle giggled, "He told me not to tell anyone else his name."
After saying that, the ghost floated away.
"What do you think 'fifteen' means?"
"We'd better get out of here." Ron said anxiously, "Let's not let anyone see us coming out of the girls' washroom."
Harry also felt that Ron's words made sense, and just as they left the girls' washroom, they heard footsteps approaching again.
The two of them were nervous, but when they looked up, they saw that it was someone they knew.
"Harry, Ron, what are you two doing here?" George looked up at the room they had just come out of and raised an eyebrow.
"What are you doing in the girls' washroom?" Fred asked in surprise.
"No, we..."
"All right, I know, you two get out of here quickly, and don't let anyone else see you." Albert interrupted, "I remember last year, Marcus McLaggen tried to sneak into the girls' washroom, but he was caught by the girls, and his reputation was ruined. No girl wanted to date him after that." Lee Jordan gave them a look that said they should learn from this.
"This... we weren't..."
The two of them were so embarrassed that their faces turned red, and they didn't know what to say.
(End of Chapter)
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