My partner at Hogwarts is Tom

Chapter 102 Battles and Plans

The common room was bustling with activity, and the stove was burning brightly.

The twins, Fred and George, were undoubtedly the focus of the evening.

They stood on either side of the "battle zone" in the center of the lounge, which had been tacitly cleared out by everyone, and were commanding their magical animal companions in a fierce battle with great enthusiasm.

As some of the first students to receive the Pokédex from Professor Viktor and successfully summon their own animal partners, they have already developed a level of understanding and affection with their partners that far surpasses that of ordinary partners.

At this moment, this tacit understanding is transforming into a highly entertaining duel.

Fred's companion, "Kebora," hovered in mid-air, its blurry form composed of gray mist moving nimbly through the air.

It sways, as if it had no physical form.

When faced with an attack, it sometimes disperses like drifting clouds, and sometimes it instantly coalesces.

"Left dodge, Keborah! Cover with Black Mist!" Fred shouted, waving his arm.

A thick plume of black smoke immediately erupted from Kebora's misty body, quickly enveloping half of the battle area and obscuring visibility.

Occasionally, through the smoke, one could see a few glittering, colorful glass beads, seemingly pulled from nowhere, being silently tossed out, tracing eerie arcs.

"Hey! Fred, you've been secretly hiding the raw materials for dung balls again!" George shouted from across the way, his eyes fixed on the smoke.

"All's fair in love and war, my dear brother!" Fred grinned. "Doesn't your Sniff always sneak my socks too?"

George's companion, the Niffler named "Galleon," is displaying astonishing agility at this moment.

Its body was agile, darting left and right, skillfully avoiding the unidentified objects flying out of the black mist.

Meanwhile, its tiny paws were frantically rummaging through a small pocket on its belly that seemed to connect to another dimension.

"Counterattack, Galleon! With the 'Surprise Package'!"

At George's command, Galleon's little paws dug even more excitedly.

Small daggers, prank tickling feathers, rubber spiders that suddenly expand, mini screaming tops, and even a few suspiciously colored balls that looked like expired bubblegum—all sorts of props came crashing down on the black mist like a flood.

Although these props are not particularly lethal, their sheer number and the way they are positioned are astounding. They also include some gadgets that make strange noises and flash suddenly, making them excellent at creating interference.

Keborah in the black mist was not to be outdone. The mist churned, sometimes condensing into a shield to deflect flying debris, and sometimes dispersing into wisps, launching a few "smoke bombs" from unexpected angles, causing the young wizards watching to laugh and cover their noses.

"That was amazing!"

"Kabora's mist-like dodge was so cool!"

"Is the Golden Galleon's pocket connected to the joke shop's warehouse? It's endless!"

The lounge was filled with excited cheers, exclamations, and laughter.

The twins' duel not only showcased their superb teamwork with their animal partners, but also perfectly combined Gryffindor's unique adventurous spirit and mischievous talent, resembling a unique magical circus.

Just as the atmosphere reached its climax, a noise came from the entrance of the portrait cave.

Percy Weasley, with a stern face and meticulously adjusting his cuffs, crawled in through the hole.

Having completed his night patrol as class monitor, he found himself with a bright red, glossy cat perched on his shoulder—Ella.

Ella bore a striking resemblance to her master, both standing tall with their backs straight and heads held high, their amber eyes sharply scanning the noisy lounge with a reserved scrutiny.

When Percy came in, Ron, who had been huddled in the corner armchair, barely watching the twins' match, immediately turned his head away as if he had been burned, his back to his brother, demonstrating the unbreakable Cold War barrier between them.

Hermione, sitting next to Ron, looked at the brothers with concern and whispered to Ron, "Ron, haven't you two made up yet? It's been several days."

"Unless he apologizes to me first and admits in front of everyone that he was talking nonsense and abusing his power that night."

Ron stiffened his neck and spoke in a muffled voice, but enough for Percy, who was not far away, to faintly hear, "Otherwise, forget it."

Harry sat on the other side and sighed helplessly.

He understood Ron's grievances, but being caught between his brothers made it difficult for him to offer too much advice.

Moreover, to some extent, Ron was taking the blame for the three of them, which made him feel a little guilty.

"Hey! Percy!" A senior Gryffindor boy noticed Ella standing proudly on Percy's shoulder and called out loudly.

"I heard that this afternoon in Professor Victor's Advanced Practical Training class, you single-handedly snatched ten points from those Slytherin students? And you got away unscathed?"

This topic immediately attracted a lot of attention, and even the twins' battle slowed down temporarily. Kebora and King Galleon also curiously floated to their master's side and looked at Percy.

Percy puffed out his chest with a dignified air, letting the gleaming prefect's badge on his chest reflect a dazzling light in the firelight.

Ella, perched on his shoulder, seemed to sense her master's pride, and proudly raised her head, puffed out her fluffy little chest, and let out a small, boastful meow.

"Yes," Percy replied in a deliberately calm tone, but with a slight upward inflection at the end.

"Professor Victor tried a new team-based teaching model today, simulating a battle for a magical beacon within a limited resource area." Admittedly, Professor Scamander is indeed very clever when it comes to innovative teaching methods.

"You even fought off a fifth-year Slytherin and protected the beacon!" another girl added, her eyes filled with admiration.

Percy's lips curled upwards involuntarily, and he raised his hand, casually scratching Ella's chin.

Ella immediately squinted her eyes comfortably, purred loudly, and wagged her tail tip happily.

"That's mainly thanks to the great teamwork between Ella and me."

Percy said it "modestly," but anyone could hear the smugness in his voice.

"Ella was excellent at disrupting and feinting, which created opportunities for me."

Wow!

"Percy truly lives up to his reputation as a top student with twelve O.W.L. certificates!"

"Ella is amazing!"

A chorus of admiration rippled through the lounge. Percy's academic achievements and status as prefect already earned him the respect of some students.

His outstanding performance in Professor Viktor's courses, known for their high difficulty and practicality, has further solidified his image as a "top student."

"Hmph!" Ron, in the corner, let out a clear, disdainful snort. The volume wasn't loud, but it sounded particularly jarring during the brief pause in his praise.

He deliberately didn't turn his head, but everyone knew who the voice was directed at.

Percy's smile froze for a moment, his gaze behind his glasses sharply sweeping towards the back of Ron's head, his lips pressed into a straight line.

Ella seemed to sense the change in her master's mood. She stopped snoring, pricked up her ears warily, and looked in Ron's direction.

The atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward.

Harry quickly nudged Hermione and gestured with his eyes.

Hermione understood, immediately raised her voice, turned to Harry, and asked in a serious tone that was just loud enough for those around them to hear.

"By the way, Harry, didn't you ask me to ask Professor Victor about—well—the characteristics of certain dangerous creatures? Any progress?"

She cleverly omitted the sensitive word "basilisk".

Harry immediately chimed in, feigning a troubled expression: "Oh, that. Hermione, did you go ask her later? I haven't been able to find an opportunity these past few days."

Hermione shook her head, taking the opportunity to steer the conversation away from the Weasley brothers' cold war, which also attracted the attention of other students who were still interested in the "locked room monster" topic.

"No, Professor Victor seems to be particularly busy lately, appearing and disappearing like a ghost." She pushed up her glasses, her tone somewhat helpless.

"We don't have a Magical Creatures Protection class, and Professor Flitwick has been the Duel Club's practical training instructor for the past few weeks. Professor McGonagall seems to be assisting him with some research on ancient runes as well—we haven't seen Professor Victor anywhere."

Upon hearing Hermione's answer, Harry and Ron also wore expressions of helplessness and disappointment, scratching their heads in agreement.

Although Ron was still awkwardly turned to the side, his ears were clearly perked up.

"Yes," Harry sighed, "I always felt that if I consulted Professor Victor, I might get some more—"

A clear, intuitive clue.

Their conversation successfully diverted some of their attention.

Some students began to whisper among themselves about what Professor Victor had been up to lately, wondering if he was preparing some new course or research on magical creatures.

Percy seemed to have temporarily suppressed his dissatisfaction with Ron, reverting to his serious demeanor as a prefect, and led Ella toward the boys' dormitory stairs, preparing to go back and organize his patrol records.

As he passed Ron, he paused almost imperceptibly, and Ella on his shoulder breathed softly in Ron's direction, her fur standing on end.

Ron's back was visibly tense, but he stubbornly resisted turning around.

Over on the twins' side, Fred and George exchanged a glance.

Fred quietly gestured to Keppela, whose misty body swayed slightly, and a wisp of extremely faint, almost invisible gray mist drifted toward Percy's feet, quickly tying a comical bow on his shoelaces.

George patted King Galleon on the head and whispered, "Well done, buddy. How about we borrow some cream pudding from the kitchen for tonight's dinner?"

The little eyes of the golden dragon immediately shone as brightly as the real golden dragon, and it nodded frantically, patting the little pocket on its belly as if it were ready.

The firelight danced on the three men's faces, elongating their shadows and casting them onto the scratched and graffiti-covered wall behind them.

It was confirmed that most people's attention was drawn to the twins' renewed and more exaggerated battle, and that Percy's figure had completely disappeared around the corner of the stairs leading to the boys' dormitory.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione then huddled together again, forming a tight, guarded little circle to prevent eavesdropping.

Ron glanced quickly at the noisy crowd around him, making sure no one was paying attention to their corner, before lowering his voice and almost whispering as he asked.

"Hermione, how's that thing in the bathroom—'thing'—?"

He dared not utter the words "compound decoction" directly, even in the relatively safe public lounge.

Hermione also cautiously scanned the area, leaning forward slightly to make sure only Harry and Ron could hear her.

Her voice was low, but it carried an irrepressible excitement of the plan's successful progress.

"It's going very smoothly. Harry and I have taken turns overseeing it, strictly following the steps in 'Potions of Power,' and there haven't been a single mistake. Most importantly, the materials Snape—well, provided—are of unexpectedly good quality. The African tree snake skin has a very high magical activity."

She paused, her eyes gleaming with calculation and anticipation.

"Judging from the current progress of the decoction and the state of the liquid, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it should be completed around the Christmas holiday. Ideally, it would be in the days leading up to the holiday."

"That's awesome!" Ron couldn't help but cheer in a breathy voice, lightly punching his knee with his fist, his face beaming.

Harry also felt a sense of relief in his chest, as if a certain burden that had been hanging over him had been lightened a little.

With the compound decoction, they had the key to unlock Malfoy's tightly shut mouth.

"The problem now is," Harry continued, his green eyes shining brightly in the firelight.

"Who should we become? Our target must be someone close to Malfoy, someone he can lower his guard against and who is willing to confide in us."

"Crawb and Goyle," Ron answered without hesitation, as if he had rehearsed the question in his mind countless times.

"Those two big oafs are Malfoy's most loyal henchmen, following him around like shadows all day long. Malfoy is almost completely unguarded in front of them, and their minds—well, they're relatively simple—make it easier for us to imitate them and less likely to give us away."

Hermione frowned, rationally analyzing the risks.

"Crawb and Goyle are indeed the best choices, in terms of status and relationship. However, we have three people, while they only have two. This means that one of them must not be involved in direct questioning, or—we need to find a third Slytherin student, preferably from the Malfoy inner circle, but not so prominent."

Harry pondered, "Pansy Parkinson? She's Malfoy's friend, a girl, none of us can change."

"No, Parkinson is too harsh, and he's very attentive to Malfoy's movements. It would be difficult for us to imitate him, and we'd be easily exposed," Hermione immediately objected.

"Or—Theodore Nott? He seems to have occasional contact with Malfoy, but they're not particularly close, and he's rather aloof."

"Nott is too smart, and we know too little about him," Ron shook his head.

"If you ask me, it'll be Crabbe and Goyle. Two of us will go and get information out of them, and the last one will be in charge of—um—"

"Keep watch? Or try to lure the real Crabbe and Goyle away, making sure they don't suddenly appear while we're on our way, or we'll be completely finished."

This practical issue left all three of them silent for a moment.

How can we ensure that, during the several hours of the drug's effects, the real Crabbe and Goyle don't happen to come looking for Malfoy, or appear anywhere they might run into the "imposters"?

This requires meticulous planning and a bit of luck.

"We can choose a time when they are most likely to separate," Harry said slowly.

"For example, Quidditch practice? If the Slytherin team has practice, Malfoy will definitely be there, but Crabbe and Goyle aren't players, so they might be in the library, well, that's unlikely. Or they might just be idling in the common room. We need to figure out their routines."

"And there are the ingredients needed for the compound decoction," Hermione reminded her, her voice even lower.

"We not only need a little something from them, like hair or nail clippings, but we also need to make sure it's theirs and that they don't notice. This is probably more dangerous than trying to get information out of them."

Ron's face paled, clearly thinking of some unpleasant possibility.

"Plucking hair from their heads? Or stealing drinks from their cups when they're not looking? Merlin's beard, that sounds worse than dealing with spiders."

"It's better than facing the Basilisk head-on." Harry smiled wryly, trying to lighten the mood. "Besides, it's the best we can think of right now."

"We need to come up with a complete plan." Hermione took out her notebook and quill pen, which she always carried with her to record various matters, but after looking around, she put them away.

"I can't write this here. Tomorrow, I'll find a completely safe place and list out every step: the time, place, and method for obtaining the materials; the specific date and time of successful preparation; the duration of the medicine's effects; the specific locations and strategies for extracting information; how to deal with emergencies; and how to safely evacuate afterwards."

Her clear and logical words were like a reassurance, calming Harry and Ron's anxious mood somewhat.

With Hermione around, at least the plan won't be riddled with flaws.

"Okay." Harry nodded, his gaze resolute. "Let's do as Hermione said, and plan in detail tomorrow. For now, let's enjoy ourselves—"

He pointed to the center of the lounge, where Fred was directing Kebora to temporarily trap George's Galleon with an exaggerated "mist tornado," while George was yelling for Galleon to pull a "secret weapon" out of his pocket to get out of the predicament, which made the onlookers burst into laughter.

"—A rare moment of relaxation, perhaps. Until the compound decoction is ready, we must remain normal and avoid arousing any suspicion."

.

Ron muttered, "I'd like to relax, but the thought of breathing the same air as Percy's face makes it hard to relax," but he turned his attention back to the bustling battle zone.

Hermione sighed softly, her gaze sweeping over the laughing crowd before drifting involuntarily towards the deep night outside the window.

The ancient stones of the castle gleamed with a cool luster under the moonlight, and the winding corridors, hidden corners, and the legendary secret chambers buried deep underground remained concealed beneath the calm surface.

But at least now they have a clear path, a plan that can be put into action.

This is much better than the previous aimless speculation and worry.

The fire crackled on and on, warming the Gryffindor Tower.

Meanwhile, in the abandoned girls' restroom on the other side of the castle, a pot of purple potion, shimmering with a pearly luster, was quietly maturing in a corner unknown to anyone, as the bubbles slowly burst.

Beside the potion, a figure draped in a black cloak was watching the potion bubbling in the cauldron.