Chapter 24: Purchasing Agent

"That's right," Weide said, "it's Harry Potter."

"—The Death Indicator!" Hermione shouted at the same time.

The two of them stared at each other.

"—Harry Potter?" Hermione said in surprise.

"...I told you it was a joke," Weide said helplessly.

They exchanged glances once more.

Hermione frowned.

Gradually, she began to understand.

"No wonder..." she said softly, "Percy—the Gryffindor prefect, a fifth-year Weasley—he said that whenever students weren't allowed to go somewhere before, Professor Dumbledore would explain the reason. But this time, he just said not to enter the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor without saying why."

"If he outright said there's a three-headed dog there, even the Weasley twins wouldn't go looking for trouble, let alone a first-year like Potter," Weide wasn't surprised. "Vague warnings are meant to attract curious Gryffindors—Dumbledore probably left some kind of challenge there."

He recalled how Harry Potter played a real-life adventure game in his first year. He and his friends each used their own wits and abilities to solve a challenge, and Harry defeated the final boss, Voldemort, with 'the magic of love.'

The seven Harry Potter books grew thicker and darker with each installment, but the first one was still full of childlike wonder, with even the schemes seeming innocent and cute, with Voldemort conveniently offering Harry Potter experience points.

"How could he do that!" Hermione's fear quickly turned into anger. "Someone could get killed! Isn't that a problem, or does he simply not care about Harry Potter's life?!"

"Did you get hurt by the three-headed dog when you unexpectedly ran in there?" Weide countered.

"No, we didn't. But that's because at first, it—ah—"

Hermione had a sudden realization, feeling as if the mist had cleared to reveal the truth.

"I guess—this is just a guess—maybe Dumbledore set some kind of limitation on the three-headed dog to prevent it from attacking students who wander in by mistake, just to scare them. But if someone tries to do something further, the three-headed dog probably won't sit idly by," Weide mused.

"I saw it standing on a trapdoor," Hermione said. "It must be guarding something."

"If things are as we suspect," Weide concluded, "Harry Potter must know what it's guarding."

...

The situation seemed to have slowed down, possibly because Hermione was angry with Harry and Ron and wasn't talking to them much, so she hadn't gotten any new information.

During a recent practice session, he accidentally discovered that he could see the guiding lines for the correct casting method not only when instructing others but also when facing a mirror. This significantly sped up his spell practice, allowing Weide to set aside some time to specifically practice potions. There were always many common materials placed on a shelf in the back of the Potions classroom, available for free student practice. However, because of Professor Snape, most students avoided the underground classroom outside of class, even Slytherins.

Weide practiced potions during his free time, and Snape turned a blind eye, occasionally using a sarcastic tone to point out his mistakes. On the whole, as long as one wasn't overly sensitive, they could learn a lot from him.

At times like these, Weide was thankful to be a Ravenclaw—had he been a Gryffindor lion, he might have been kicked out the first day he stepped into the Potions classroom on his own.

One afternoon, Weide successfully brewed a batch of wound-cleaning potion and received a 'barely usable' evaluation from Professor Snape, who told him to take it to Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary—Quidditch matches were approaching, and the infirmary would become busier during this time.

Returning from the infirmary to the Umbrella House, Weide found everyone was quite excited, all gathered around Theo. Even Hermione had put down her book and was planning, "I want three feet of parchment, five bottles of ink. I've heard that there's a shorthand quill that's quite useful, if so, I'd like to buy two."

Theo was jotting it down briskly, while Michael loudly exclaimed, "Oh, come on, Hermione. I know you love studying, but how dull if life is only about studying! You should get yourself something fun! Honeydukes' sweets are amazing! I recommend the Blow-You-Away Bubblegum, which can fill the entire room with bubbles the color of bluebells. It's almost every girl's favorite. Fizzing Whizbees are also a hot item, and there's butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks, barely anyone can resist having a glass."

"Um—" Hermione hesitated for a while, then said, "Then get me a galleon's worth of candies! No strange stuff like Cockroach Clusters!"

Although she couldn't conveniently take the sweets back to the dormitory—that would surely lead to questions from other girls, and probably some envious gossip—she could leave the sweets at the Umbrella House to share with the SSC gang.

"What are you talking about?" Weide walked over, curiously asking.

"You're finally here, Weide! We've been waiting for you!" Neville said excitedly. "This week is the first Hogsmeade weekend; students third year and above can visit Hogsmeade village."

"I know!" Weide said. "But what's that got to do with us first-years?"

Weide had, of course, heard of Hogsmeade village, the only all-wizard village in Britain, said to be very unique and interesting, and it was right next to Hogwarts, reachable on foot.

But Hogwarts rules stated only third-year and above students could visit there on certain Saturdays, and they needed parental permission. So Weide and his friends would have to wait at least two more years to visit Hogsmeade.

"Normally, nothing to do with us," Michael said excitedly, "but Theo said a third-year Hufflepuff student offered to buy some things for younger students, and even made a list of Hogsmeade goods. Theo and Ryan said they could add our requests to the list."

Weide took the list and, looking it over, curiously asked, "Who's so kind? Aren't they afraid of the hassle—or are they hoping to make a profit?"

Ryan shook his head and said, "No, Cedric isn't doing it for money."

Weide was taken aback, "What's his name?"

"Cedric," Ryan said. "Cedric Diggory, the first in his third year; almost all the Hufflepuffs like him."