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"Seriously, what happened today was truly magical – I thought George and the others were going to be called by the professor, but they weren't," Ron said, bewildered, as he squeezed out of the crowd with his two friends.
He struggled to drag a chair from the corner, then added, puzzled, to Hermione, "And you, you were called by the professor."
"What on earth happened to make the professor so angry?"
Ron was utterly confused – from what he'd gathered, the school had only had two chickens die.
"Perhaps someone broke into Professor McGonagall's Office?"
Hiss~
Harry's casual guess triggered a chorus of sharp intakes of breath – a few people who had been curiously craning their necks to hear them talk about today's events were now completely startled by Harry's bold guess.
Even Hermione, still annoyed about being called by the professor, was shocked into refuting this bold guess.
"How is that possible? Which Gryffindor would break into Professor McGonagall's Office?"
Even the naughtiest Weasley Brothers wouldn't dare bell the cat – what mouse would willingly seek out a cat?
Hermione's rebuttal gained the approval of most, and everyone laughed for a while, but after the laughter, for some reason, the cheerful atmosphere in the Common Room vanished considerably. The students who had originally wanted to have a wild time quietly returned to their dormitories after the laughter subsided.
---
"Why did everyone go back so quickly?"
Lee Jordan emerged from a corner of the Common Room, greeting the others.
They had agreed when many Gryffindors were preparing for a feast that they would closely watch everyone in the Common Room, observing for any tell. When the true culprit revealed a flaw, they would turn them in for a holiday.
"How many people did you record?"
"Four – two excluded."
"Five, not excluded."
…
After roughly counting, consolidating everyone's list, and then excluding most of those considered free of suspicion, the list of suspects still had a full eleven people.
"Why so many? That doesn't seem right – when it comes to reactions after being caught, no one is more familiar than us. How could so many be left?"
The group of teenagers, who thought they had succeeded, were dumbfounded after checking the final list – had their method been wrong?
"No, the method isn't wrong – these people probably all have a guilty conscience, but not entirely because of the rooster incident."
Fred suddenly figured it out. He drew a line on the final overall list with his finger. "Look, these people might have all made mistakes – like not returning to the dormitory at night, secretly keeping illegal pets in the dormitory, or privately hiding forbidden toys and books under their beds. All of these are possible."
He rubbed his hands excitedly. "Our deduction is completely correct. Those guys' expressions weren't normal after they were called by the professor. They must have done something against school rules, so the culprit must be among them!"
"But Fred, what you're saying is what *we* did – should we investigate ourselves first?"
The questioner received a volley of glares from his companions and quieted down.
"Alright, everyone, quiet down and listen to me."
George showed everyone the list. "Everyone, look carefully. This is our final consolidated list. By watching the people on this list, we can quickly eliminate the extra candidates and turn in the true chicken culprit for our holiday."
"It might seem a bit like betrayal of Gryffindor, but it's not. We started our investigation after the first chicken was killed. By now, the other party should have known someone was trying to investigate him, but he still provocatively killed another rooster. This is a provocation to us, and our investigation is merely our response to him."
More than a dozen copies of the list were written and distributed to everyone. They decided to watch people one-on-one.
"Everyone, hurry up. If possible, I hope tomorrow at the feast, we can hand over the final list as an invitation letter – I bet that would be awesome."
The Common Room became lively again – this made many students couldn't help but peek out. Who was bold enough to gather again today, daring to challenge an angry Professor McGonagall, especially when everyone had just collectively realized how angry the professor was?
'Oh, it's the Weasley Brothers.'
---
"Adams, Adams?"
William knocked on Adams' office door. A muffled response came from inside, and then Adams, dressed in pajamas, appeared groggily from behind the open door.
"It's already nine o'clock, William!"
Adams looked resentful – his expression almost made William think he was waking him up at two in the morning.
Adams probably realized something was off, he mumbled, adding, "I have to take care of plants tomorrow morning, so I went to bed a bit early. Do you have something urgent?"
*That's a bit too early.*
However, when asking for a favor, it's clearly not appropriate to make a snide remark. William suppressed the urge. "I'm planning to host a feast. Beverages and food are all arranged, but this afternoon Professor Lockhart said I also need to prepare some entertainment. I plan for it to be a bit formal, and when I intended to invite a band, Professor Singid said you might have a way—"
"Invite a band? Approving a band to come to Hogwarts is quite difficult. Did you sort it out with Professor McGonagall?"
Sorted out? The professor was especially enthusiastic about introducing and giving ideas when she heard I was planning a feast – she even had Professor Lockhart take me through the specific procedures. This should count as sorted out, right?
William said his guess uncertainly, which made Adams burst into laughter.
"Haha – Professor McGonagall told you to organize more feasts!"
"Eh? What's so funny about that?"
William was baffled by Adams' laughter – he had realized when Professor Lockhart explained it that he might have been a bit too hasty. The preparation time for the feast was too short, but promises made to students clearly couldn't be arbitrarily broken, or it would affect the professor's prestige.
So he was preparing everything with utmost caution, and he was ready for any hiccups – if the feast could just be successfully held, that would be a victory; losing a bit of face during preparation was no big deal.
"No, no, I have contact information for a few performing groups. Just send an owl, and I can give you the results tomorrow morning."
Adams replied seriously.
"Oh, by the way, I'm not very proficient with the Undetectable Extension Charm either. Can you help out tomorrow?"
"No problem – see you tomorrow morning."
Adams feigned a sleepy expression to send him away, making William feel something was off.
But Adams was trustworthy, so William had no choice but to bid farewell.
Once he, still bewildered, rounded the corner, Adams finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Tell him to prepare more feasts – how strict is William exactly, that even Professor McGonagall thinks he needs feasts to loosen up a bit, pfft haha."
Adams, who was doubled over with laughter, finally managed to stop, then started scolding himself – his sleepiness was completely gone.
(end of chapter)
He struggled to drag a chair from the corner, then added, puzzled, to Hermione, "And you, you were called by the professor."
"What on earth happened to make the professor so angry?"
Ron was utterly confused – from what he'd gathered, the school had only had two chickens die.
"Perhaps someone broke into Professor McGonagall's Office?"
Hiss~
Harry's casual guess triggered a chorus of sharp intakes of breath – a few people who had been curiously craning their necks to hear them talk about today's events were now completely startled by Harry's bold guess.
Even Hermione, still annoyed about being called by the professor, was shocked into refuting this bold guess.
"How is that possible? Which Gryffindor would break into Professor McGonagall's Office?"
Even the naughtiest Weasley Brothers wouldn't dare bell the cat – what mouse would willingly seek out a cat?
Hermione's rebuttal gained the approval of most, and everyone laughed for a while, but after the laughter, for some reason, the cheerful atmosphere in the Common Room vanished considerably. The students who had originally wanted to have a wild time quietly returned to their dormitories after the laughter subsided.
---
"Why did everyone go back so quickly?"
Lee Jordan emerged from a corner of the Common Room, greeting the others.
They had agreed when many Gryffindors were preparing for a feast that they would closely watch everyone in the Common Room, observing for any tell. When the true culprit revealed a flaw, they would turn them in for a holiday.
"How many people did you record?"
"Four – two excluded."
"Five, not excluded."
…
After roughly counting, consolidating everyone's list, and then excluding most of those considered free of suspicion, the list of suspects still had a full eleven people.
"Why so many? That doesn't seem right – when it comes to reactions after being caught, no one is more familiar than us. How could so many be left?"
The group of teenagers, who thought they had succeeded, were dumbfounded after checking the final list – had their method been wrong?
"No, the method isn't wrong – these people probably all have a guilty conscience, but not entirely because of the rooster incident."
Fred suddenly figured it out. He drew a line on the final overall list with his finger. "Look, these people might have all made mistakes – like not returning to the dormitory at night, secretly keeping illegal pets in the dormitory, or privately hiding forbidden toys and books under their beds. All of these are possible."
He rubbed his hands excitedly. "Our deduction is completely correct. Those guys' expressions weren't normal after they were called by the professor. They must have done something against school rules, so the culprit must be among them!"
"But Fred, what you're saying is what *we* did – should we investigate ourselves first?"
The questioner received a volley of glares from his companions and quieted down.
"Alright, everyone, quiet down and listen to me."
George showed everyone the list. "Everyone, look carefully. This is our final consolidated list. By watching the people on this list, we can quickly eliminate the extra candidates and turn in the true chicken culprit for our holiday."
"It might seem a bit like betrayal of Gryffindor, but it's not. We started our investigation after the first chicken was killed. By now, the other party should have known someone was trying to investigate him, but he still provocatively killed another rooster. This is a provocation to us, and our investigation is merely our response to him."
More than a dozen copies of the list were written and distributed to everyone. They decided to watch people one-on-one.
"Everyone, hurry up. If possible, I hope tomorrow at the feast, we can hand over the final list as an invitation letter – I bet that would be awesome."
The Common Room became lively again – this made many students couldn't help but peek out. Who was bold enough to gather again today, daring to challenge an angry Professor McGonagall, especially when everyone had just collectively realized how angry the professor was?
'Oh, it's the Weasley Brothers.'
---
"Adams, Adams?"
William knocked on Adams' office door. A muffled response came from inside, and then Adams, dressed in pajamas, appeared groggily from behind the open door.
"It's already nine o'clock, William!"
Adams looked resentful – his expression almost made William think he was waking him up at two in the morning.
Adams probably realized something was off, he mumbled, adding, "I have to take care of plants tomorrow morning, so I went to bed a bit early. Do you have something urgent?"
*That's a bit too early.*
However, when asking for a favor, it's clearly not appropriate to make a snide remark. William suppressed the urge. "I'm planning to host a feast. Beverages and food are all arranged, but this afternoon Professor Lockhart said I also need to prepare some entertainment. I plan for it to be a bit formal, and when I intended to invite a band, Professor Singid said you might have a way—"
"Invite a band? Approving a band to come to Hogwarts is quite difficult. Did you sort it out with Professor McGonagall?"
Sorted out? The professor was especially enthusiastic about introducing and giving ideas when she heard I was planning a feast – she even had Professor Lockhart take me through the specific procedures. This should count as sorted out, right?
William said his guess uncertainly, which made Adams burst into laughter.
"Haha – Professor McGonagall told you to organize more feasts!"
"Eh? What's so funny about that?"
William was baffled by Adams' laughter – he had realized when Professor Lockhart explained it that he might have been a bit too hasty. The preparation time for the feast was too short, but promises made to students clearly couldn't be arbitrarily broken, or it would affect the professor's prestige.
So he was preparing everything with utmost caution, and he was ready for any hiccups – if the feast could just be successfully held, that would be a victory; losing a bit of face during preparation was no big deal.
"No, no, I have contact information for a few performing groups. Just send an owl, and I can give you the results tomorrow morning."
Adams replied seriously.
"Oh, by the way, I'm not very proficient with the Undetectable Extension Charm either. Can you help out tomorrow?"
"No problem – see you tomorrow morning."
Adams feigned a sleepy expression to send him away, making William feel something was off.
But Adams was trustworthy, so William had no choice but to bid farewell.
Once he, still bewildered, rounded the corner, Adams finally couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Tell him to prepare more feasts – how strict is William exactly, that even Professor McGonagall thinks he needs feasts to loosen up a bit, pfft haha."
Adams, who was doubled over with laughter, finally managed to stop, then started scolding himself – his sleepiness was completely gone.
(end of chapter)
