An Adventurous Invitation, A Birthday Gift

"Why are you two up so early today?" Scott looked at Fred and George inquisitively, "Unless... you didn't sleep at all last night?"

"We got enough sleep over the summer! And a great adventure is calling our names!" Fred gave a mock salute.

George held his head up "haughtily," "A man like Mr. Trollope, who has been absent from adventure for an entire year, wouldn't understand such logic."

"But I have been providing you with support, haven't I?" Scott pointed to the brass monocular in Fred's hand.

"This was just your Christmas present from last year!" Fred retracted the collapsible telescope and tucked it into his robe pocket.

"It doesn't help us spot that nasty old Filch ahead of time when we're night-wandering through the twisting castle." George also pulled an identical telescope from his pocket and gave it a shake, "We can only use it to observe what Percy is up to when he's acting all sneaky."

"Maybe he wants to lie in wait at the base of Ravenclaw Tower to take out a few competitors by surprise," Fred speculated.

George's eyes widened in horror, "That way he could ensure he becomes Head Boy by his seventh year!"

Scott couldn't help but chuckle.

"Perhaps he'll choose to take out you two annoying brothers first," he said.

"Oh, Percy has definitely thought about that more than once," George winked.

Fred continued, "He wants to be Minister for Magic, and we might just be a stain on his future."

"He thinks that if he just clears away the stains..."

"...he can become a flawless Minister for Magic!"

The two spoke in riddles, then burst into laughter.

After the laughter died down, Fred suddenly said with a serious face, "We wanted to tell you, Scott."

"Welcome back to joining us for the new school year," George also put on a solemn expression.

Scott was a bit surprised. He had only run into the twins a few times during his first and second-year night-wandering sessions, helping each other dodge the caretaker Filch. Last school year, he had been too absorbed in his research to go out at night.

He hadn't expected the twins to consider him a partner in night-wandering.

"Maybe?" Scott smiled, unsure.

"It's settled then. If you find anything new, you must tell us."

"See you!"

The twins, assuming he had already agreed, laughed and ran off like a gust of wind.

Scott shook his head, walked through the entrance hall, and entered the Great Hall.

He sat at the long table and read for a while, and 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 slowly.

By the time Scott was almost finished, his three roommates appeared at the long table.

"Scott, how come you're up so early?" Roger yawned and sat down next to Scott.

"I guess I got used to it over the summer," Scott said, "I followed my parents' schedule during the holidays."

"You know, Scott, something big happened last night while we weren't looking," Eddie said, lowering his voice and speaking indistinctly while tearing a piece of bread and putting it into his mouth.

"What happened?"

Scott finished the milk in his glass in one gulp and set the cup down.

"You know, at the start of the term, the first years are always later getting back than us because they're learning their way around. So we missed it last night!"

Eddie was clearly very regretful that he hadn't gotten the scoop, but he still excitedly told Scott, "Last night, when Cooper and Taylor were leading the first years up the spiral staircase to Ravenclaw Tower, one of the boys pushed a girl down the stairs."

Hearing this, Scott immediately thought of something and asked him, "Is the girl okay?"

"She's fine, Cooper cast a Levitation Charm on her just in time," Eddie said with a grin, "Anyway, the boy who did the pushing caused public outrage. He was kicked out of his dormitory by his roommates and had to sleep in the common room for the night, only being sent back this morning by Penelope."

So that was it.

Scott understood; that boy must be Jacob Kent.

However... he still felt that the boy's demeanor didn't seem like someone who would have the nerve to push a classmate down the stairs.

But Penelope had already handled the matter. Scott figured she would handle it better than Cooper and Taylor would have.

So he quickly put the matter aside.

"I'm going to talk to Professor Flitwick, so I'll head to the Charms classroom first," Scott stood up, picking up the books on the table, "See you in class later, Roger, Milton."

"I'll go with you, Scott!"

Roger stood up, clutching his books, still holding a sandwich in his hand.

"I need to ask the professor to drop my Divination class."

"Let's go together, then." Scott had no objections.

The two wove against the flow of students entering the Great Hall and made their way to the Charms classroom on the fourth floor of the main castle.

Scott pushed open the classroom door, and sure enough, Professor Flitwick was already standing on a stack of books next to the podium.

Professor Flitwick always made a habit of arriving at the classroom early to watch every student arrive.

"Good morning, Professor Flitwick."

Scott and Roger greeted him respectfully.

"Good morning! Scott, Roger!" Professor Flitwick responded kindly. He possessed a portion of goblin ancestry, which made him quite short and gave his voice a high-pitched tone.

"Professor..."

Roger stepped forward first to explain his request to Professor Flitwick.

After hearing what Roger had to say, Professor Flitwick did not object. He smiled and said, "That is perfectly normal, Roger. I believe that a student who can reasonably allocate their own time and rationally abandon subjects destined to yield no results is demonstrating a form of wisdom."

"Thank you, Professor!"

Roger was very happy to have received Professor Flitwick's approval.

"Then your Divination class will be canceled for this school year; I will explain it to Professor Trelawney."

Professor Flitwick nodded and then looked at Scott.

"Do you also have something to discuss with me, Scott?"

"Of course." Scott stepped forward with a confident smile. "I couldn't wait to show you a result of my work, so I came to the classroom early. This is also an early birthday gift for you."

"A birthday gift?"

Professor Flitwick let out an excited squeal. Although his birthday on October 17th was still more than a month away, who cared!

"Oh! I love birthday gifts! What are you waiting for, Mr. Trollope?" He couldn't help but show an expression of great anticipation.

"I'll show you right now!"

Scott reached into the mokeskin pouch at his waist and pulled out an oil painting that was nearly as tall as he was.

Professor Flitwick smiled. He could tell that Scott's mokeskin pouch was just a disguise; it clearly had an Undetectable Extension Charm cast on it to hold something that large, but he didn't expose him.

He simply looked on with anticipation at the oil painting covered by a white cloth.

"Could it be... Mr. Trollope, have you taught yourself to create magical paintings?" Professor Flitwick rubbed his hands together.

"Not a magical painting."

Scott reached out and grabbed the white cloth.

"Although I only used Muggle painting techniques, I feel that this painting demonstrates my results better than a magical one."

With that, he yanked the white cloth off.

"Oh!!!"

Looking at the oil painting suddenly revealed before him, Professor Flitwick's eyes widened instantly. He let out a high-pitched shriek and tumbled off his stack of books.

Roger hurried to help him up, but Professor Flitwick didn't care about that. He scrambled to his feet, hurried over to the painting, and tilted his head back to gaze at it in fascination.

"Oh... this is real... it's absolutely incredible..."

He kept gasping in amazement.

Watching Professor Flitwick's reaction, Scott couldn't help but smile with pride. "Professor, are you satisfied with this birthday gift?"

"Satisfied, more than satisfied!"

Professor Flitwick nodded repeatedly, his face beaming with joy.