The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 40 Gryffindor in Action

"Caught?" Ada asked while eating. "I don't know how Hogwarts treats thieves."

Fred snatched the cake from Ada's hand and said to her, "Wake up, please..."

"Why would I tell it if I got caught?" George said.

"Someone stole something and was not caught...so what was lost?" Ada asked.

"The problem is that nothing is lost!" the twins said in unison.

Someone stole things in Hogwarts, but didn't take anything. He was discovered but not caught. This operation is a bit confusing. What is the purpose of this wave? Ada finally got rid of Snape's shadow and began to think.

Ada, who was delayed in getting the news, asked, "Who discovered it this time? Could it be Filch again?"

"A Ravenclaw student discovered that his belongings in his dormitory had been moved, but neither his classmates nor his roommates had touched them," said George.

"After that, more Ravenclaw students discovered the same situation," said Fred.

"Ravenclaw?" Ada asked. "Only Ravenclaw?"

"Well, only the Ravenclaw students were talking about it at dinner, and they told Professor Flitwick about it," George confirmed.

"Don't you think this thief is weird? He went through so many of our classmates' things but ended up taking nothing." Fred said with a smile.

Ada had some ideas. She said, "Maybe I didn't find what I wanted!"

"What can you find in Ravenclaw? They don't have anything else except books, right?" Fred joked.

Among the four colleges, Ravenclaw recruits young wizards who are full of wisdom and thirst for knowledge. It is said that there is a private library with rich collection of books. The average number of books owned by Ravenclaw students is the most among the four colleges.

The method of entering the Ravenclaw Common Room is also very simple, just answer the questions asked to the bronze door knocker at the door. The same is true for students from other colleges, you can enter if you answer the questions correctly, no password is required, as long as you are smart enough.

If this "theft" incident was not caused by an insider, it at least proves that the thief must be very smart.

"I really hope that this 'Mr. Thief' can visit Gryffindor." George poured Ada a glass of pumpkin juice. He was afraid that Ada would choke herself to death.

Ida took a sip of the pumpkin juice and said, "I hope that if there is a thief, there won't be a third one in the whole Hogwarts."

"You are wrong. I think there are many people who share the same idea as us."

"Even though Mr. Thief didn't steal anything, we can make him take the blame!"

The twins really have a unique perspective on things, and their ideas are different from others.

"For example, when Gryffindor is visited, we will tell Professor McGonagall that our homework is missing!" Fred and George said together.

Ida rubbed her temples with her fingers and said to the two brothers, "As expected of you, Professor McGonagall really found a treasure."

"Although we know Professor McGonagall won't believe it..."

"But life should still be full of hope. What if..."

After finishing all the food the twins brought back, Ada also took out her homework book. She needed to finish it quickly because the twins were crying out for food.

The next day was Saturday, and the students did what they were supposed to do, without much impact. The thief's deterrent power was obviously not as strong as the murderer who attacked Daniel last time, not to mention that he was a petty thief who "dared not take anything".

Some Gryffindor students even wanted to catch this little thief themselves. Although they wouldn't get a special contribution award, they would at least get a point reward! If Dumbledore was more generous, maybe they could make another attempt at the House Cup.

A large group of Gryffindor students wearing gold and red scarves were scattered throughout the school, setting up a dragnet to monitor the school around the clock and in all directions.

No matter where the students from the other three houses go, they can see Gryffindor students in groups of two. They are omnipresent.

Charlie Weasley and other student managers remained silent about the Gryffindors' behavior and even helped to organize it a little. In everyone's eyes, this little thief was already Gryffindor's prey.

Ada and her friends did not participate in the operation. The seniors did not bring the first and second graders to play with them. They thought that these little brats might not even be able to "see" well, so they should wait until they are older to do such things. By dinner time, Gryffindor's massive roundup had not achieved any results. If the thief was not stupid, he would not have carried out his theft on the weekend, not to mention that there was a large group of Gryffindors hiding nearby.

The atmosphere at the Gryffindor table was a little subdued, in stark contrast to the usual hustle and bustle. The seniors were discussing what to do next and what measures to take to succeed. A small failure could not shake the Gryffindors' determination.

Ada looked at the twins whose eyes were as red as rabbits and asked, "What happened to you two? Did you cry so hard?"

"We have been looking at the Marauder's Map for a whole day." George sat next to Ada weakly, "I feel like my eyes are going blind!"

"If we discover something, it will be worth it even if we are blind. But now the two of us are blind in vain." Fred didn't look much better.

Ada didn't know why the two brothers were so active all of a sudden. She asked, "Didn't you hope that Mr. Thief would steal your homework books yesterday? Why are you trying so hard to catch him today?"

"Of course it's for extra points, what else could it be?"

"It's rare to find such an interesting way to get extra points, so of course I have to try it."

They don't have to answer questions honestly in class or act nicely, they just need to catch the little thief. This kind of thing is naturally very attractive to the twins. They not only like pranks, but also interesting things.

"There are a lot of students in the lounge on weekends. Who would choose this time to steal things and get beaten?" Ada said earnestly, "So just give up. Besides, there are so many people on the map. Can you keep an eye on them all?"

The twins stared at the map for a long time, probably without blinking. If they stared at each lounge, it would be even more tiring. There were so many names crowded in the small common room, and it would be very troublesome to distinguish them.

"Do you think Dumbledore will compensate us for our eyes?" the twins said together.

"You should go find Madam Pomfrey," Ada said, and added silently in her heart, "Don't worry, you won't go blind. I used to sit in front of the computer for a whole day, and I didn't go blind. You are just a step behind me."

As Ada was enjoying her dinner, a Slytherin student appeared behind her.

"Drizzt."

When Ada turned around, she saw the Slytherin senior standing behind her. The senior handed the note to Ada and said, "This is from our dean."

After saying that, the Slytherin walked away. Ada looked at the note in her hand, which read: 7:30 pm, underground classroom.

The "summoning" that she had been worrying about for a whole day finally came. Just now when she was having dinner, Ada thought Snape had forgotten about her. It seemed that she thought Snape was too kind...

The twins wanted to give Ada a sympathetic look, but the emotion conveyed by the twins' red eyes was not sympathy at all, but more like jealousy of why Ada was able to "receive Snape's favor."

Ada continued to eat her dinner with a tasteless look. In fact, she was very happy to have the extra opportunity to practice potions, but when Snape stood opposite her, the happiness turned into a torment.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Ada had been processing raw materials in the basement for thirty minutes, and had been stealing skills for thirty minutes. But it can't be called stealing skills, as this is not the way to judge a scholar's affairs.

Since entering the classroom, Snape has been very frugal with words and has not said a word to Ada. All his instructions were issued through gestures and eyes, as if speaking a word to Ada was a blasphemy to him.

In this way, the two people who disliked each other lived in peace in the underground classroom. There were only two sounds in the whole classroom - the sound of Ada processing materials and the sound of Snape making potions.

As her proficiency improved, Ada became more and more adept at handling raw materials, which allowed her to focus more on Snape. Being able to observe a potion master making potions in such close proximity was something many potion apprentices dreamed of. Although Ada could not fully understand some of Snape's methods, she also benefited a lot.

When curfew was approaching, Snape asked Ada to stop. Ada, who was packing up her tools, suddenly had an urge to commit suicide. She asked Snape a question: "Professor, do you know about the theft in Ravenclaw?"

Looking at Ada's question, Snape crossed his arms and continued to be frugal with his words. He said, "I know."

"What do you think?" Ada carefully considered her words, trying not to annoy the old bat.

Snape said, "What's that to you? You can go now."

Ada looked at Snape, who kept his mouth shut. She was not disappointed at all. It was normal that she could not ask anything. After packing up, Ada turned around and left the classroom. When she reached the door, Snape called her.

"Miss Drizzt, if you don't want to face me every day from now on, just go back to the common room and don't go anywhere." Snape said the longest sentence of the night, "I really don't want to see you, so you'd better not let me catch you in the corridor or the bathroom on the second floor."

(End of this chapter)