Don't Go Telling Everyone

Seeing that Adam had not replied for a long time and was already leaning toward refusal, Fred gritted his teeth.

"If you agree, we can give you sixty percent of the Skiving Snackboxes profits!"

George quickly added:

"We can't give you any more than that. We still need to recoup the development costs for the Skiving Snackboxes."

This was already the bottom line of what they were willing to offer.

Adam's thoughts were interrupted by their words, and he looked at the twins before him in surprise.

What he did not know was that the existence of his little shop had, in a sense, spurred Fred and George on. They felt that their genius ideas could also be turned into a business, so they accelerated development of the Skiving Snackboxes. The price of releasing them early, however, was making the brothers' already meager funds even tighter.

In other words, they might, perhaps, possibly... still need to borrow another sum of money from Adam to produce their first batch after the Skiving Snackboxes were finished. They were only afraid of scaring Adam off, so they had not blurted all of that out at once.

Another point Fred and George had to consider was that no one could guarantee the Skiving Snackboxes would really sell well. They needed a senior with business experience to lend them a hand.

It had to be said that the fact that development of the Skiving Snackboxes had not gone as smoothly as expected had hit them quite hard, leaving the two of them somewhat shaken in their confidence.

On top of all that, along with the continued development work on the Skiving Snackboxes, what they needed now was a partner with ample experience making sweets, running a shop, and enough money.

To put it even more bluntly... if they wanted to keep pursuing their dream business as soon as possible, they had to win Adam's cooperation.

"..."

Seeing the unease in their eyes, along with the hope they held for their dream, Adam considered it for a while longer.

"All right. We can try cooperating on the Skiving Snackboxes first."

"That's great!"

The twins rushed forward to hug Adam, only for him to hold them back with a hand against each of their shoulders.

"Wait. Don't celebrate just yet. I need a detailed plan, such as how low you intend to keep the cost of the Skiving Snackboxes, your target customers, and so on. We also need to draw up a contract covering the specific terms of our cooperation."

Seeing how professional Adam looked, the twins nodded repeatedly, taking note of everything and assuring him there would be no problem.

"We'll give you what you want before tomorrow night~"

"See you!"

Adam watched the two of them run off and shook his head. That was not something they could finish in a day. They would find out once they started writing it.

After hurrying to the Great Hall and finishing lunch, Adam had not expected to be stopped again on his way back.

"Adam! Do you remember us?"

"Of course. Hermione, Ron, and Harry."

Adam looked at the trio before him, his smile carrying a hint of confusion.

"Did you need something from me?"

The fact that he still remembered them after so long clearly made the three of them happy, especially Ron.

"We wanted to ask when your shop is usually open."

"Ron?!"

Hermione shot him an incredulous glare.

"Ah—of course—cough, cough. There's also something else we wanted to ask about while we were at it. Do you know Nicolas Flamel?"

Ron suddenly remembered the real reason they had come and added awkwardly.

"Except during holidays or when otherwise announced, I open at the North Tower every Saturday afternoon."

After answering Ron's first question, Adam looked at Hermione.

"As for Nicolas Flamel, I haven't heard that name before."

"Is that so... All right."

Hermione sighed in disappointment.

She had asked around about Adam recently. Unlike the twins, who were more concerned with Adam's business, Hermione had paid more attention to his studies.

Thanks to two people who had completely forgotten about their investigation over the holidays, their progress was still at zero after an entire break. She had thought that asking an outstanding student like Adam might uncover a clue.

Now, however, it seemed Adam did not know either.

"May I ask why you're investigating that name?"

"It's like this, we previously..."

What surprised Adam was that Harry and the others did not hold anything back from him. They directly told him everything about what they were investigating, then added at the end, "Don't go telling everyone."

Um...

By "don't go telling everyone," did they mean that whenever someone asked why they were looking into Nicolas Flamel, they would lay the entire matter out in full?

"So if you find any information related to Nicolas Flamel, remember to tell us."

"...All right."

Adam gave them an awkward yet polite smile, then hurried away with a headache.

"That was a little strange."

Hermione narrowed her eyes as she watched Adam's retreating back.

"Strange? What was strange about it?"

"I can't really explain it... It's just a feeling. Adam should know something about Nicolas Flamel. His reaction was a little too calm."

Hermione looked at Harry.

"Normally, when someone hears that the strange incident during Harry's Quidditch match was Professor Snape's doing, they should have some sort of reaction, right? But he acted too normally, as if..."

"As if he already knew about it!"

Harry clapped his hands and said.

"That's right! Looks like we've found a clue..."

Hermione nodded and looked at Harry and Ron.

"You two, take turns following Adam and see whether you can find any clues."

"Us?!"

"Or would you rather go look in the library while I follow Adam?"

"Uh... all right."

Just thinking about all those words made Harry's head hurt. Following Adam was more convenient.

Ron looked at Hermione, then at Harry. He felt they were probably being overly sensitive, but he had no better idea, so he could only remain silent.

After that day, Adam discovered with some annoyance that Harry and Ron had somehow begun appearing around him often. Usually only one of them would be there, and neither came over to speak to him. They simply followed him from a distance.

After they had been doing it for a while, the Hufflepuff students also noticed that they seemed to be following Adam. While eating in the Great Hall, Cedric leaned close to Adam.

"What's with those guys? Want us to deal with them for you?"

Even the Chosen One could not bully their Hufflepuff!

Especially not Hufflepuff's chef!

Adam glanced toward the Gryffindor table. Seeing the trio immediately put on serious expressions as they ate, he sighed helplessly.

"No need. They don't mean any harm... I'll handle it."

It seemed it was time to find Professor Dumbledore.

Yet when he arrived outside the Headmaster's Office, Adam was surprised to find that none of the usual passwords worked.

Could it have been changed to one of the desserts I made?

Not intending to stand outside the Headmaster's Office reciting a menu, Adam roughly guessed that Professor Dumbledore was either absent or did not wish to see him... so he had no choice but to find another way.

One time, when Ron was sneaking after Adam, an arm suddenly hooked around his neck from the side.

"Hey! Ron, it's been so long. Want to try some sweets your brother has just developed?"

"What are you talking about? Didn't we see each other this morning? Let go of me, I'm busy right now—mmph, ugh—"