Hogsmeade

"If you want your dream to come true, what do you need to do first?"

"Wake up!"

As Ethan answered, the door of the common room opened.

"Where have you been?"

Walking back to the dormitory, Ethan suddenly heard a deep voice behind him, tinged with a hint of resentment.

Suddenly, Ethan felt goosebumps. Who was this?

Just now, I was only concerned about returning to the dormitory and didn't pay attention at all. Besides, no one should be in the common room at this hour!

"Senior sister, please don't scare me!"

Turning around to see who it was, Ethan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Who's scaring you? I'm standing right here, can't you see?"

"Tell me, where did you go in the middle of the night?"

Penelope approached Ethan with her arms folded. This week, she had noticed something off about him. He was waking up late and looked like he wasn't sleeping well.

On the first day, he had said it was because he didn't recognize his bed. Insomnia was out of the question.

In order to find out, she deliberately came to wait for him today, even though it was awkward to sneak around the boys' dormitory at night. Otherwise, she would've gone in to check.

"Night run!"

Ethan looked her in the eye and replied confidently.

"Night run? It's almost three in the morning! You really expect me to believe you went for a run at this hour? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Just admit you went on a date with that little witch. Maybe then I'll cover for you."

Penelope's voice was heated, her chest heaving under her robes.

"It's late, Senior Sister. You should go to bed. Staying up late is the enemy of women."

Ethan was beginning to feel a headache. He had actually gotten caught today.

Except for the first night, Ethan had been sneaking out at around ten and returning by one or two. But today, since he wanted to rest more, he returned late and unexpectedly got caught.

"Stop spouting nonsense and tell me the truth. Why didn't you come back earlier? I am the class leader, after all."

Penelope pointed at the class leader badge on her chest, which was rising and falling with her breaths.

"Meeting at night for what? You're going to practice magic?"

Ethan sighed. He had no choice but to tell the truth. This late-night wandering wasn't for dates, but for practice.

In Hogwarts, among the little witches Ethan knew—aside from Penelope standing before him—it was illegal to pursue anyone else.

"Practicing magic at night?"

Penelope looked at Ethan with suspicion.

At Hogwarts, there wasn't really a specific place to practice magic. Casting spells in the corridors was forbidden, and while the open space outside the castle was allowed, it wasn't necessary. Most spells could be practiced quietly in the dormitory.

"Well, if you're curious, I can take you to the common room at 10 o'clock tonight."

There was no harm in sharing the secret of the Room of Requirement with her, as long as it wasn't public knowledge.

Ethan only used it for practicing magic, and it wasn't exclusively for him.

"Alright, 10 PM it is. I'll be waiting for you here!"

Penelope smiled sweetly at Ethan before heading back towards the passage leading to the girls' dormitory. She needed to catch up on some sleep.

Ethan sighed as he returned to his room. That senior sister sure acts like green tea*!

But then again, nothing wrong with green tea.

Sleep, sleep. I have a meeting with the Weasley twins in the afternoon to go to Hogsmeade.

In the afternoon, around half past two!

In the dark and narrow secret passage, Ethan and his group had been walking for almost an hour. The walls had changed from stone to mud, and water dripped down intermittently.

This was the passage beneath the one-eyed witch, and it led to the basement of Honeydukes.

"We're almost there!"

Fred, who was leading with a light spell, turned to remind Ethan.

Soon after, Fred pushed open a cover above the secret passage, and Ethan and George followed him out. They emerged in a storage room.

After cleaning the dirt off with a spell, Ethan followed the twins to the Honeydukes Candy Store. The twins were regulars here.

The smell of fudge hit them as they entered. It was tempting, but Ethan wasn't in the mood for sweets. The cakes and candies here were way too sugary. The only thing he liked was the ice cream he had last time at Diagon Alley.

In the candy section, Ethan and the twins didn't rush to leave. Fred and George still had shopping to do.

Besides the usual toffees, nougat, Bibi multi-flavor beans, and chocolate frogs, they also bought jelly slugs, cockroach clusters, ice mice, toad-shaped cream mints, sour lollipops that can burn holes in your tongue, and exploding bonbons...

They didn't buy these to eat, but to sell.

Even students in their third year and above could only come to Hogsmeade a few times a year, and only with parental consent and school organization.

Honeydukes' candy was in high demand among young wizards, so there was no problem selling it off.

Of course, they couldn't charge too much.

In their words, they weren't in it for big profits—just some pocket money.

Ethan finally understood why the Weasley twins, who came from a family with almost no pocket money, could still afford to bet on the Quidditch World Cup. It turns out they were quite the entrepreneurs.

After Honeydukes, the group headed to Zonko's Joke Shop. This time, the twins didn't go overboard. They bought five big dungbombs and left.

Four were for personal use. If Slytherin pulled any pranks during the next Quidditch match, two of those dungbombs would be thrown at their long table, and two at the entrance to their common room.

The fifth dungbomb was promised to Peeves, the poltergeist whom Ethan had petrified last time.

Peeves had been petrified for nearly three days before being released. Since Ethan had been under the Disillusionment Charm, Peeves couldn't see him and blamed the twins.

To make amends, Fred and George promised Peeves a dungbomb.

Afterward, Ethan and the twins went to the Three Broomsticks to drink butterbeer. It had little alcohol but tasted good, so Ethan bought some to take back.

The owner of the Three Broomsticks was a charming widow in her forties, which explained why the place was always lively and packed with middle-aged and older wizards.

Lastly, they visited Bruce's Pet Shop. The twins knew the owner here too, and with their introduction, Ethan bought out all the frogs in the shop for live feed, spending fifteen gold galleons.

He didn't know the exact count, but there were thousands of frogs, all of which were placed in the oversized fish tank Ethan had prepared in a box enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm.

The box was not borrowed from Dennis and his friends. Ethan had made it himself later on. It was slightly smaller than his four-person dormitory, but sufficient, as studying was his top priority.

The fish tank was also transfigured and enhanced with a spell to last for about half a month.

As for oil, that was simpler. It was sold at the grocery store and was a special ingredient for potions.

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