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"Heh, aren't your pure-blood families swimming in money? Why would you care about this little bit? If you don't have money, just ask your family for it. Of course, if you don't give it to me, then I can't 'protect' you," Anduin said, emphasizing the word 'protect' as he stared wickedly at Rosier.

Rosier felt the grip on his arm tighten, his face contorting in pain. Even an idiot would understand what that meant. If Anduin didn't 'protect' him, it meant he would suffer. Rosier immediately felt his Hogwarts career plunge into darkness, but he could only grit his teeth and agree.

Seeing Rosier's reluctant agreement, Anduin rolled his eyes, thought for a moment, and then said, "Rosier, I won't make it too difficult for you. If you really can't afford it in the future, you can use other things as a substitute."

Rosier quickly asked, "What things?"

Anduin smiled, "Information, your Rosier family's heirloom books, as long as I haven't read them. Or..."

Anduin glanced at Travers, who was lying nearby, and then said, "Have this guy bring money and come find me to cause trouble. Anything I get from him can be deducted from your share."

With that, Anduin released Rosier and walked over to Travers, patting him up and down. He indeed found a money pouch. Anduin counted it – there were 12 Galleons and 6 Sickles.

"See? This covers your share for this month. Next month, I'll round down and only charge you 8 Galleons for protection. If you make any significant contributions in the future, I'll even give you rewards. How about it? These terms aren't bad, right?" Anduin said with a smile to Rosier.

This guy has a misunderstanding about rounding down. Shouldn't rounding down mean only charging 7 Galleons? Rosier grumbled inwardly, then shot an annoyed glance at Travers. If it weren't for this guy, why would I have run into this menace today? But now that Anduin had taken all the money, he had no choice but to agree.

Seeing that Rosier was being sensible, Anduin smiled, "Very good. Cooperate well, and I won't treat you unfairly. Also, if you have any information now, you can tell me. Whether it's inside or outside the school, as long as it's valuable, I'm quite fair."

After speaking, Anduin placed his hand on Rosier again, gripping his shoulder tightly.

Rosier yelped in pain from the grip and tensed up again. His mind raced, and in a moment of panic, he blurted out, "Uh, I, I remembered. Once, during a gathering, I heard a third-year student, Prefect Wilkes' senior, bragging that his uncle was planning to cause trouble for the Order of the Phoenix around Christmas. Of course, he might have just been bragging, it might not be true."

"Are you sure?" Anduin's eyes suddenly became extremely sharp as he stared intently at Rosier.

"R-really. That Prefect Wilkes often bragged to us that his uncle was working for the Dark Lord. He also told us stories about them attacking Muggles, which were even reported in the news," Rosier stammered, completely intimidated.

I just wanted to scare this guy, and I actually got something useful. Around Christmas? Could it be targeting Lily? Although he didn't know if it was true or not, Anduin preferred to believe it might be true than not. He filed the information away in his mind.

Upon hearing this news, Anduin loosened his grip. Rosier, overly tense, felt his legs go weak and he collapsed onto the ground.

Seeing this, Anduin smiled at Rosier, "This piece of information is somewhat valuable. How about this, I'll waive your protection fee for next month. Also, consider this potion a reward for you."

He took out a bottle of Elixir to induce euphoria and handed it to Rosier. Seeing that Anduin even had potions, Rosier became even more uncertain about his depth and could only meekly accept it.

"Don't be nervous, it's just a Elixir to induce euphoria. You can try a sip now, it'll do you good." Anduin found the boy's timidity amusing. Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, "By the way, doesn't your family also have a Death Eater? You sold them out so readily?"

Rosier could only force a bitter smile when Anduin asked, "Not everyone is wholeheartedly following the Dark Lord. The one who joined the Death Eaters is my cousin, Evan Rosier. He's the first in line to inherit the family fortune. He's very powerful and usually very harsh on us, so not many people like him.

Our family originally intended to remain neutral and stay out of trouble, but Evan dragged the entire family into supporting the Dark Lord. I didn't have much choice. I just wanted to go with the flow at Hogwarts, and if anything bad happened, it would be on him, not me."

Rosier had given up at this point. Since he couldn't escape, he opened the potion bottle and took a sip, recovering his mood slightly before standing up again.

Anduin hadn't expected these pure-blood families to have so many complexities. He gave Rosier a few more instructions, telling him to wait until Travers woke up and then claim he was also knocked out, pushing all the blame onto him. He said it was fine if Rosier cursed him in front of others. Then, Anduin pocketed the money pouch and left alone.

After Anduin had truly gone, Rosier finally let out a long sigh of relief. He glared hatefully at the unconscious Travers on the ground, couldn't resist walking over, and kicked him several times. Then, as if he had used up all his strength, he sprawled on the grass, muttering with lingering fear, "This Anduin is too terrifying. His eyes are like an abyss, making me feel like I'm about to be swallowed whole. It's all Travers' fault for dragging me into this mess. I just wanted to muddle through, but now... sigh, whatever. Let it all be destroyed, I'm tired."

He then fell into a deep sleep.

"Rosier, Rosier!" Rosier was groggily asleep when he suddenly felt someone shaking him. He woke up instantly and looked up to see Travers.

Travers felt pain all over his body, as if he had been kicked many times. Gritting his teeth, he said to Rosier, "You're finally awake. That filthy half-blood dared to ambush us. How long were we unconscious? It's already dark."

Hearing Travers' words, Rosier realized it was already night. Coupled with the approaching winter, he was almost frozen stiff. He could only sniffle and say, "Let's hurry back to the castle. It's too scary here at night. I feel like I'm about to freeze to death."

Travers cursed Anduin under his breath, but he couldn't disagree with Rosier. He just wanted to leave this cursed place as quickly as possible. They could only support each other as they walked towards Hogwarts Castle. Both felt their limbs stiff and their bodies aching uncontrollably. Rosier's injuries were from Anduin's kicks, while Travers' injuries... the culprit was right beside him.

I changed the synopsis today, hope you all like it!