A new chapter is up.
Come in, get comfortable, and let’s see what kind of trouble waits this time ❤️ ✦ Only after they reached an abandoned classroom did Cho fully recover from her amazement.
“I did not know there were so many house-elves in the Hogwarts kitchens.” She sounded genuinely impressed.
Although Cho was already a second-year, she had never known who prepared the food they ate every day.
Edmund nodded.
He had known Hogwarts had many house-elves, but seeing over a hundred of them working together was still striking.
Inside the classroom, the twins and Lee set the food on the table with practiced ease.
Roast lamb.
Roast chicken.
Fried sausages.
Cornish pasties.
Yorkshire pudding, pumpkin pasties, and a thick soup.
Finally, Lee opened the bag he had been carrying.
Inside were several bottles filled with golden liquid.
“What is that?” Cho asked curiously.
“Butterbeer!” The twins announced it with pride.
“How did you get it?” Cho asked.
“They just sold it to you?” Lee shrugged.
“I walked in like I knew exactly what I was doing.
The server at the Three Broomsticks never asked a single question.” Cho could not help laughing.
Edmund’s appetite rose as he looked at the spread on the table.
It was already midnight, five or six hours after dinner.
He really was hungry.
Still, he reminded Cho to drink only a little.
Cho wrinkled her nose but agreed.
“Come on, everyone.” George dragged over a stool, planted one foot on it, and raised his bottle.
“A toast to the newest members of the Hogwarts Night-Roaming Club!” “Cheers!” The others copied him, raising their bottles and clinking them together.
After taking a sip, Edmund found the taste surprisingly smooth.
The alcohol was mild.
He glanced at Cho.
She seemed to like the taste too and took several small sips in a row.
Edmund quickly stopped her.
The party had only just begun.
She did not need to get tipsy at the start.
Butterbeer was not strong, but it was not nothing.
“Edmund, this is really good.
I have wanted to try it for ages, but my parents never let me.” After two cups, Cho’s cheeks had turned pink.
She spoke to Edmund with visible excitement.
The night’s rule-breaking had clearly thrilled her.
Cho had grown up as a proper, well-behaved girl, and in a single evening she had broken at least ten school rules and drunk butterbeer after midnight.
Watching her flushed, lively expression, Edmund found her impossibly charming.
“If you like it, I will bring you here often.” “Oh?” The twins and Lee immediately began making noise.
“Edmund, we know several secret passages to Hogsmeade,” George said grandly.
“If you ever want to go, just let us know in advance.” Edmund smiled and nodded.
After that, no one talked much for a while.
They lowered their heads and ate, clinking bottles from time to time and taking sips of butterbeer.
A small feast formed in the abandoned classroom.
Before long, the table had been cleared of food, and everyone was groaning contentedly.
Feeling uncomfortable sitting upright, Edmund took out his wand, summoned several chairs, and transfigured them into reclining chairs.
The others’ eyes lit up.
There was no need for persuasion.
They all collapsed into the chairs at once.
“Ah…” Everyone released a satisfied sigh.
Cho glanced at Edmund in admiration.
“Your Transfiguration is amazing.
We have not even started transforming objects this large in second year.” Fred gave him a thumbs-up as well.
“Forget second year.
We cannot do that either.
Bringing Edmund into our Hogwarts Night-Roaming Club was absolutely the right choice.” Edmund waved it off, indicating it was nothing.
He lightly held Cho’s hand and rocked lazily in the reclining chair.
For a while, the only sound in the classroom was the soft creak of the chairs.
After some time, Edmund stretched and asked the twins lazily, “You have two other brothers at Hogwarts, do you not?
Why did you not bring them?” “Percy and Ron?” Fred said.
“Do not be ridiculous,” George replied.
“If our dear prefect found out what we were doing tonight, we would receive Mum’s Howler by breakfast.” “As for our Ronnie, he is Mum’s precious little darling.
How could we possibly corrupt him?” Fred laughed at his own words, and the rest of them joined in.
Percy’s reputation in Gryffindor was not especially good.
He used his prefect badge to interfere in everything, and many of the young lions complained about him.
Edmund had always thought someone as ambitious as Percy should have gone to Slytherin rather than Gryffindor.
Perhaps his blood mattered too much to the Sorting Hat.
The Weasleys were practically born Gryffindors.
After that, Fred and George shared some of their glorious exploits from the past two years.
They even revealed a few of Hogwarts’ secret passages.
Edmund and Cho listened with great interest.
The twins’ school life sounded wonderfully eventful.
Eventually, even Fred and George began to yawn, and the gathering wound down.
They cleaned the classroom, restored everything to its original state, and prepared to return to their common rooms.
Because Fred, George, and Lee had drunk quite a bit of butterbeer, Edmund worried they might be caught by Filch.
He cast the Disillusionment Charm on all three of them before they left.
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS AuroraVale Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you a little deeper into the story.
Stay close, because things are only getting more interesting.