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Chapter 456: Omen
Chapter 456: Omen
Albert woke up early on the weekend.
There was no helping it.
At six in the morning, just as the sky was brightening, Wood knocked on the dormitory door and roused Fred and George, who were still asleep, dragging them off to the Quidditch pitch for early morning practice.
The other unlucky souls in the dormitory were, of course, awakened as well, and as Lee Jordan complained, Albert prepared to close his eyes for a quick nap, only to find that he couldn't fall back asleep.
During breakfast, Albert yawned and casually flipped through the latest issue of the Prophet.
He skimmed through an article by Rita Skeeter, and his initial drowsiness suddenly vanished. The article was mostly mocking the incompetence of the Ministry of Magic, but Albert was able to glean the main points: the Ministry was searching for a wizard named Jake, who had smuggled dragon eggs into Britain without permission, and was currently missing.
A mention of dragon eggs in the newspaper?
This was probably an omen—many things didn't happen without a reason.
It seemed highly likely that Quirrell had already obtained that dragon egg.
To avoid arousing Hagrid's suspicion, Quirrell wouldn't directly hand over the egg to him. He would have to wait for Hagrid to go drinking at the Hog's Head and then seize the opportunity to disguise himself as a peddler, treat Hagrid to drinks, and get him drunk.
"Anything interesting in the newspaper?" Lee Jordan asked, yawning as well.
"That Rita Skeeter sure knows how to grab people's attention," Albert said with a laugh as he closed the Prophet.
"Rita Skeeter loves to blabber on about nothing," Fred grumbled, dragging his exhausted body into the Great Hall. He was utterly drained, famished, and could practically eat anything put in front of him.
"But you can't deny that everyone loves to hear her blabber," George said, sitting down next to Albert and complaining loudly about Wood's obsession with training.
"Oh, by the way, we'll be working on our homework later. Do you guys want to join us?" Albert asked, looking at Fred and George. "I remember you two haven't finished your homework for this week, have you?"
"We're planning to head to the library later to find some information," Fred mumbled, turning his head slightly to the side. He was more inclined to find someone to copy from later.
Albert gathered all the Gryffindors from his year and, on weekends, they would work together to finish their unfinished homework. They could discuss any parts they didn't understand.
In essence, it was a study group.
Fred and George quickly stuffed their mouths with large amounts of food and then sneaked away when no one was looking.
Lee Jordan shouted that he would never lend his homework to Fred and George, and began to focus on his own assignment. Everyone else had already finished, and Fred and George were supposed to be doing theirs as well. Unfortunately, those two rascals had run off.
Seamus was practicing the Cheering Charm with Angelina. Professor Flitwick had hinted more than once that the Cheering Charm would be on the end-of-term exam, so it was a spell that everyone was reviewing.
"I think Seamus has a good chance of winning again this time," Lee Jordan said, looking up. "Although this year's Wizarding Chess tournament is much better than last year's, there still aren't many people who are really good at it. Of the eight who made it to the quarterfinals yesterday, there aren't many standouts... alright, alright, I get it, I'll shut up now."
Under the watchful eyes of the group, Lee Jordan obediently closed his mouth.
"That Miss Isabelle is quite something," Seamus said, glancing at Hermione, who was writing her essay with her head down. He murmured softly, "She's not arrogant at all. Isabelle has put a lot of pressure on me. Even though she's not someone who usually plays Wizard's Chess, she easily made it to the quarterfinals."
Is that what a real genius looks like?
"Is the prize for winning still 10 galleons?" Angelina asked, a little dejected. She had been eliminated in yesterday's round of 16.
"Yep, still 10 galleons."
The brief discussion died down once again.
"I think you made it to the quarterfinals, didn't you?" Ron suddenly looked up from his homework, which he was rushing to finish at a nearby table.
For some reason, Harry felt that Ron's tone was a bit sour.
"What do you plan to do with the money if you win?" Ron asked. It was as if he had already assumed that Hermione would win a Wizard's Chess tournament.
"I have to win the championship first to get the 10 galleons," Hermione reminded him, after reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood.
"Yeah, the championship. I wonder what's the point of him shelling out money for this tournament."
Ron gazed at Albert, who was writing his essay not far away, and muttered softly, "Why not spend the galleons on something nice?"
Ron then thought of Fred and George, those two rascals whose pockets always seemed to jingle with coins.
"Here they come again," Ron muttered to himself, and sure enough, Fred and George rushed into the Great Hall and hurried over. As they placed a book in front of Albert, they babbled, "We found it, look at this, we found it!"
Noticing the stares they were attracting, Fred smiled awkwardly and said, "Sorry, hope I didn't disturb you."
Albert glanced at his nearly ruined parchment, scowling at Fred, before turning his attention to the book in front of him.
"Mottled toad?"
"Look at this..." George excitedly pointed to a passage in the book, "People bitten by mottled toads exhibit symptoms of dry heaves."
As George read this, Albert understood why the twins were so excited; they were planning to use mottled toads to create vomiting sweets, weren't they? Albert continued reading softly, "In more severe cases, sparks may emanate from the victim's posterior."
Undoubtedly, if used properly, this could create a very amusing prank item, and sparks from one's posterior would surely be a hit among students.
"Looks like this is a treasure trove of a toad," Lee Jordan leaned in, scanning the entire content of the book before mumbling incoherently.
"It's a mottled toad," Fred happily corrected.
However, Lee Jordan was right; the mottled toad did have a multitude of uses. The growths on their backs, when pickled and consumed, could enhance one's resistance to hexes, but overconsumption would result in unsightly purple ear hair.
Wizards typically used mottled toad juice in potion-making, and even direct application had the effect of treating cuts and scrapes while reducing pain.
"We're considering where to get one; they're not cheap to buy," George frowned.
"You can try asking Montague Fletcher; perhaps he can help you get some," Albert suggested, "And you don't need a whole mottled toad; just get him to supply you with the raw materials from the toad."
"You make a good point; maybe we can try that," Fred considered, feeling that it made sense. They had already researched the information, and breeders of mottled toads only harvested the anemone-like growths from their backs, which was the most valuable part of this magical creature.
As for the toad's teeth, which they might need, perhaps Montague could help them obtain some at a reasonable price.
"What are they up to?" Shan'na asked curiously, watching the twins' departing backs, "Don't they have homework to do?"
"Don't worry about them," Albert shook his head, "Those two will come around to doing their homework soon enough, unless they want to be confined to the school grounds."
Sure enough, after Fred and George had finished writing their letters, they joined the group to work on their homework. Their fundamentals were solid, and although they had been distracted this semester, with Albert's help, their academic performance wasn't too lacking.
As for Montague Fletcher, he quoted a price of three galleons for one mottled toad and five galleons for two.
Upon receiving the letter, that scoundrel had sneaked off to the seaside and spent quite some time catching two mottled toads, intending to resell them to the Weasley twins.
Fred and George refused to pay the price for the toads and instead sent a letter to Montague expressing their desire only for the toad's teeth and growths.
Upon reading their letter, Montague nearly twisted his nose in anger and refused to sell the mottled toad's teeth to the twins.
Soon after, Montague somehow managed to get his hands on a bunch of mottled toad teeth and attempted to sell them to the Weasley twins at the exorbitant price of two Sickles each.
After some haggling, Montague reluctantly agreed to the deal, grumbling and threatening in his letter that he would never do business with them again.
Albert and the others scoffed at Montague's empty threats.
Ron passed seven of his O.W.Ls, more than Fred and George combined. In the end, the twins truly did give up on their studies.
(End of Chapter)
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