Care of Magical Creatures

That day, Scott and Roger were walking along a path outside Hogwarts castle, heading toward the Care of Magical Creatures lesson site located near the Forbidden Forest.

Of the three boys in their dormitory year, Milton had not chosen this subject.

Just then, Scott noticed the Weasley twins sneaking up behind them, reaching out as if to hook their arms around the two boys' necks.

He laughed and took a long stride to dodge Fred's hand, but Roger was caught squarely by George.

"Good morning!"

Having missed his target, Fred shrugged with feigned regret.

George, however, shouted directly into Roger's ear: "Ravenclaws!"

"Oh, spare me, Fred!" Roger broke free from George's grip, rubbing his ear while brushing off his robes.

"Is this your way of getting revenge?" Scott turned around and asked with amusement, "Weasleys?"

"Oh, don't be like that, Scott." Fred put on an aggrieved expression.

George immediately chimed in: "You stingy Scott, we were just taking a little revenge, yet you made us share the same nickname as Percy. By the way, I'm George, Roger."

Scott looked with distaste at the mud-splattered robes the twins were wearing and asked, "Did you two go rolling in some mud pit? Or have you forgotten how to use a cleaning spell?"

As he spoke, he drew his wand from his robes and pointed it at Fred, "Scourgify."

"No!" Fred nimbly dodged the spell, "These are our medals of honor!"

"And evidence of Wood's persecution of us!" George said loudly.

"Have you two been training every day lately?" Roger asked.

Fred nodded, "That's right, rain or shine. We think Wood has gone mad."

"He drags us out of our sleep before dawn every single day," George said with a grimace.

"It sounds like you Gryffindors are dead set on winning the Quidditch Cup this year?" Roger laughed, "Though I think the cup will belong to Ravenclaw."

Fred immediately sneered, "Oh, don't brag, Roger!"

"I recall it's been a long time since you Ravenclaws won the Quidditch Cup!" George made a dismissive gesture.

"Hey!" Roger protested, "This year's Ravenclaw will definitely give you a big surprise!"

"Give us a big surprise?"

Fred and George exchanged a look and burst into laughter, moving with lightning speed to pin Roger's arms from either side.

"So, is the new Ravenclaw recruit that good this year?"

"Or did Bruce come up with a new formation?"

"Tell us, Roger."

"No, let go of me!" Roger began to struggle desperately, "Give it up, I'm absolutely not telling you anything!"

"That's not up to you, hehehe."

The twins simultaneously extended their wicked hands, moving nimbly over Roger's body and tickling him relentlessly.

"Hahahaha... let me go... haha..."

Under the tickle attack, Roger immediately lost his footing, laughing uncontrollably.

"Gentlemen, class is about to start."

Scott, standing to the side, reminded them with a helpless tone.

He shook the copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in his hand, "If you're late, Professor Kettleburn will likely make you stay behind to help him feed the Flobberworms."

With that, he turned and continued walking toward the Forbidden Forest.

"What have you been busy with lately, Scott?" Fred immediately let go of Roger and walked beside Scott with a straight face.

George also abandoned the now-limp Roger and straightened his mud-stained robes, "School has been open for a month, yet we've never seen you during our wonderful night-time excursions."

Still so persistent about night wandering, Scott chuckled to himself.

In reality, having fully satisfied his curiosity during his first and second-year night excursions, Scott had completely lost interest in the activity.

Because, in truth, it wasn't that fun.

He suspected that the main reason the twins remained so keen on these nocturnal activities was that they took great pleasure in playing cat and mouse with Filch.

But since his future plans regarding the Diary and the Basilisk would require the twins' involvement, he explained, "Sorry, I've had a lot of essays to write lately, and I also have to attend the after-school clubs for Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall."

"Oh! Writing essays!"

"Attending after-school clubs!"

"Truly a good student of Ravenclaw."

"Professor McGonagall's little darling!"

The twins began to chime in with their usual sarcastic banter.

"I know you've changed your heart, Scott!"

"And here we are, foolishly missing the wonderful nights we once spent together."

"Shut up, what you're saying is absolutely disgusting." Scott nearly choked on his own breath at the words of these two guys.

"It is a bit disgusting."

Fred made a gagging face and shifted the topic to something else.

"By the way, a first-year from your Ravenclaw house has become quite famous recently."

George laughed loudly and said, "Jacob Kent, he's being called the second Davis of Ravenclaw."

"What happened?" Roger Davies the first was completely bewildered at this point.

"Because quite a few people have seen that boy getting very close to several different girls. There are rumors going around that he's dating multiple little girlfriends at the same time," Fred said.

"It makes one think of you, Roger," George said. "After all, the speed at which you change girlfriends is also quite famous among the students at Hogwarts."

"Do you know, I've actually been single for three months this time!" Roger protested loudly.

"..." Scott looked at his roommate, speechless. "So? Do you want us to praise you for that?"

"No, I just want to say that I am different from that kid Jacob." Roger brushed the hair on his forehead in a cool manner. "After all, I am a boy who is very dedicated when it comes to relationships; I only date one girl at a time."

"..."

This time, not only Scott, but even the twins were so stunned by Roger's boasting that they didn't speak for a long while.

After a long silence, Fred frowned and said, "This kind of thing that makes one really want to refute it, yet finds no way to do so... honestly, it's a bit disgusting."

"As expected of the first Davis of Ravenclaw, we've lost this round." George gave a mock bow to Roger.

Roger held his head high and chest out, striding forward triumphantly, but as he passed Scott, he secretly gave him a wink.

Scott understood what he meant and gave a slight, subtle nod.

While joking around, the group arrived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where Professor Kettleburn, who was in charge of teaching this class, was already waiting.

This elderly professor had only one arm and half a leg left on his entire body. Even though he used prosthetic limbs for both legs, he still had to rely on a cane to move around.

"You're here!"

The old wizard's spirits were always quite good.

"Come and take a look, the lesson we are going to learn today is about identifying the Crup!"