"Why are you two up so early today?" Scott looked Fred and George over inquisitively. "Unless... you didn't sleep last night?"
"We got enough sleep over the summer! And a great adventure is calling us!" Fred gave an exaggerated bow.
George raised his head haughtily. "Mr. Trollope, who's missed an entire year of adventures, wouldn't understand."
"But I did offer you my support, didn't I?" Scott pointed to the brass Monocular in Fred's hand.
"This is just your Christmas present from last year!" Fred collapsed the extendable telescope and slipped it into his robe pocket.
"It can't help us spot old Filch before he catches us when we're sneaking around the twisting corridors of the castle at night." George took an identical telescope from his pocket and waved it around. "We can only use it to see what Percy's getting up to."
"Maybe he wants to ambush people beneath Ravenclaw Tower and kill a few rivals by surprise," Fred speculated.
George's eyes widened in mock horror. "Then he'd be sure to become Head Boy in his seventh year!"
Scott couldn't help laughing.
"Maybe he'll decide to kill you two annoying brothers first," he said.
"Oh, Percy's definitely thought about that more than once," George said with a wink.
Fred continued, "He wants to become Minister for Magic, and we might become a stain on his future record."
"He thinks that if he gets rid of the stain..."
"...he'll become a spotless Minister for Magic!"
The two of them traded nonsense and burst out laughing again.
When they'd finished laughing, Fred suddenly turned serious. "We wanted to tell you, Scott."
"Welcome back to the team for another school year." George also put on a solemn expression.
Scott was a little surprised. He'd only run into the Twins during a few nighttime explorations in his first and second years, when they'd all dodged the caretaker Filch together. Last school year, he'd been too absorbed in his research to go roaming at night.
He hadn't expected the Twins to consider him one of their nighttime adventure buddies.
"Maybe?" Scott said with a smile, sounding uncertain.
"Then it's settled. If you discover anything new, you have to tell us."
"See you!"
The Twins decided on their own that he'd agreed, then laughed and dashed off like the wind.
Scott shook his head and crossed the Entrance Hall into the Great Hall.
He sat at the long table and read for a while. Then food appeared on the table.
It was breakfast time.
He set his book aside, took a glass of milk, some sausages and bacon, a sunny-side-up egg, and a piece of soda bread. Then he began to enjoy his breakfast at an unhurried pace.
Scott was nearly finished eating when his three roommates finally appeared at the table.
"Scott, why are you up so early?" Roger sat down beside him, yawning.
"I suppose I got used to it over the summer," Scott said. "I kept to my parents' schedule."
"Did you know, Scott? Something big happened last night while we were none the wiser." Eddie tore off a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth, lowering his voice as he spoke indistinctly.
"What happened?"
Scott drained his glass of milk and set it down.
"You know how the first-years always get back later than us at the start of term because they have to learn their way around? So we missed it last night!"
Eddie was clearly sorry he hadn't gotten the scoop firsthand, but he eagerly told Scott anyway. "Last night, when Cooper and Taylor were leading the first-years up the spiral staircase in Ravenclaw Tower, one of the boys pushed a girl down the stairs."
Scott immediately thought of something and asked, "Is the girl all right?"
"She's fine. Cooper cast the Levitation Charm on her in time," Eddie said cheerfully. "Anyway, everyone got furious with the boy who pushed her. His roommates kicked him out of their dormitory, so he spent the night in the Common Room. Penelope took him back this morning."
So that was what had happened.
Scott understood now. The boy was Jacob Kent.
Still... he couldn't help thinking that the boy hadn't seemed like someone with the nerve to push a classmate down the stairs.
But Penelope had already dealt with it. Scott thought she'd handle it better than Cooper and Taylor.
So he quickly put the matter out of his mind.
"I need to talk to Professor Flitwick, so I'll head to the Charms classroom first." Scott picked up his books from the table and stood. "See you in class, Roger, Milton."
"I'll come with you, Scott!"
Roger stood up, holding his books and a sandwich.
"I need to ask the professor to drop my Divination class."
"Then let's go together," Scott said.
The two of them made their way against the stream of students entering the Great Hall and headed to the Charms classroom on the fourth floor of the castle's main building.
Scott pushed open the classroom door. As expected, Professor Flitwick was already standing on a stack of books beside the lectern.
Professor Flitwick always liked to arrive early and watch each of his students come in.
"Good morning, Professor Flitwick."
Scott and Roger greeted him respectfully.
"Good morning, Scott, Roger!" Professor Flitwick replied warmly. He had some goblin ancestry, which made him very short and gave him a high-pitched voice.
"Professor..."
Roger stepped forward first and explained his request to Professor Flitwick.
After hearing Roger out, Professor Flitwick didn't object. He smiled and said, "That's perfectly normal, Roger. I think it shows wisdom when a student can manage his time sensibly and rationally give up on a subject that's bound to get him nowhere."
"Thank you, Professor!"
Roger was delighted to have Professor Flitwick's approval.
"Then I'll remove Divination from your schedule for this school year. I'll let Professor Trelawney know."
Professor Flitwick nodded, then turned to Scott.
"Did you want to talk to me about something too, Scott?"
"Of course." Scott stepped forward with a confident smile. "I can't wait to show you one of my accomplishments, so I came early. It's also an early birthday present for you."
"A birthday present?"
Professor Flitwick let out an excited squeal. His birthday was more than a month away, on October 17, but so what?
"Oh! I love birthday presents! What are you waiting for, Mr. Trollope?" He couldn't hide how eager he was.
"I'll show you right away!"
Scott reached into the Moke Skin Pouch at his waist and pulled out an oil painting almost as tall as he was.
Professor Flitwick smiled. He could tell Scott's Mokeskin Pouch was only a disguise; the bag clearly had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it, or it couldn't hold anything so large. But he didn't call him out.
He simply gazed expectantly at the oil painting in front of him, which was covered with a white cloth.
"Could it be... have you taught yourself to paint a magical portrait, Mr. Trollope?" Professor Flitwick rubbed his hands together.
"It's not a magical portrait."
Scott took hold of the white cloth.
"Although I only used Muggle painting techniques, I think this painting shows off my work even better than a magical portrait."
With that, he yanked the cloth away.
"Oh!!!"
The moment Professor Flitwick saw the oil painting revealed before him, his eyes widened. He let out a sudden, piercing shriek and tumbled off the stack of books.
Roger hurried over to help him, but Professor Flitwick paid no attention. He scrambled to his feet and hurried over to the painting, then gazed up at it, entranced.
"Oh... it's real... incredible..."
He kept exclaiming in amazement.
Seeing Professor Flitwick's reaction, Scott couldn't help smiling smugly. "Professor, are you pleased with your birthday present?"
"Pleased? I'm absolutely delighted!"
Professor Flitwick nodded over and over, his face wreathed in smiles.
Before you continue