Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

Wade did not ask any more questions. He lowered his head and looked over the Shopping List first.

As a small village, Hogsmeade naturally could not compare to Diagon Alley, the commercial center of the British Wizarding World. It did not have many shops. But though the sparrow was small, it had all the vital organs; one could find almost every kind of shop there—clothing stores, Quill Shops, magical equipment stores, post offices, pubs, tea houses, and so on. Of course, the most popular place among students was definitely the sweetshop. The list of candies on the Shopping List went on and on, exceeding all the other categories combined.

Wade glanced at the things everyone else wanted to buy and could not help asking, "With so much stuff, can he carry it all?"

"In the Hufflepuff Common Room, Cedric specifically mentioned it—" Theo said with a smile. "He said, 'Don't worry about whether my arms can carry it all. There's the Levitation Charm! The other third-years said they could help too. They won't let Cedric work like a Cow all by himself.'"

Michael sprawled across the table and lamented weakly, "Sigh—why doesn't Ravenclaw have such warmhearted upperclassmen? All they do is look at you sideways and say, 'Don't rush. You'll get to go in two years.' Or, 'It's for your own safety!' Not one of them offered to bring us back some candy! Sigh, another day of wishing I were in Hufflepuff!"

Theo and Ryan exchanged looks and smiled with pride.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Neville both thought of Gryffindor's Prefect, Percy Weasley—"I'm a Prefect, so you have to listen to me!" "Do you want to cost the house points?" "Younger students, don't think you can sneak past. Filch will check everyone one by one and won't let anyone who should not be going slip out! Of course, I'll also help keep an eye on you troublemakers."

Or the two third-year Weasleys—"Of course! Dungbombs or Belch Powder? What an idea! You'll give Filch quite a surprise! Fifteen Silver Sickles, please! I swear, it's only five Knuts more than Hogsmeade!"

However, before they could get the money, Percy discovered their proxy-shopping scheme. More importantly, most of the Joke Products the Twins were buying on behalf of others were things that would make Filch let out Screams. The two brothers were chased all around the Common Room by their older brother.

Hermione and Neville were worlds apart academically, but in a sense, both were "outsiders" in Gryffindor. They swallowed their complaints about the Weasleys, but both envied the atmosphere in Hufflepuff.

Then Wade said with a smile, "Michael, don't be so quick to envy Hufflepuff for having an upperclassman willing to look after younger students. When we reach third year, would you be willing to buy all sorts of sweets for Ravenclaw's Young Wizards?"

"Are you kidding?" Michael said without hesitation. "What a hassle! I don't want to spend the weekend I only get once in a while completing a task list!"

"That's why we're self-centered Ravenclaws," Wade said calmly. He chose some items that the others had not picked much, so they could trade with one another after the purchases came back.

He just did not know whether Cedric would be startled by the long lists from Theo and the others.

"Actually, I think you're the same kind of person as Cedric, Wade."

After lessons ended that day, Theo deliberately stayed behind to tell Wade this.

"Hm?" Wade was still absorbed in Petrificus Totalus and had completely forgotten what everyone had said earlier.

Theo looked into his eyes and said seriously, "Though no one has ever said it, our SSC group came together entirely because of you, Wade. You've always selflessly guided us in practicing Spells, and you were willing to share the notes you worked so hard to organize. I've never seen another Ravenclaw do that."

Wade was a little surprised. He looked at Theo, not knowing what to say.

"Michael and Hermione are so smart. They only started hanging out with all of us because of you. Ryan, Neville, and I—we three were not outstanding academically to begin with. In some subjects, we were even at the bottom. But because of your help, we've recently started earning some points for the house too. Professor Flitwick has praised us several times, and during the last Herbology class, Neville even dared to raise his hand and answer. Professor Sprout gave him a point too."

Theo concluded, "Wade, you're a Ravenclaw, but you're not self-centered or cold. You've helped us so much—I just wanted to tell you that."

For a long time after Theo left, Wade felt an inexplicable emotion filling his heart.

He packed up his things and walked out of the Umbrella Room. There, he saw Claudia in the portrait taking a walk through the grass. A trace of sorrow hung between the young girl's brows, and her expression reminded him strongly of Lin Daiyu.

Watching the door to the Umbrella Room close, Wade muttered to himself, "How could we possibly have gathered entirely because of me? That guy Theo must have forgotten—he was the one who applied to Professor Sprout for this classroom!"

Miss Claudia remained as silent as ever. She never spoke to students, nor did she ever visit other portraits like the rest. She always stayed on that empty lawn. If she did not occasionally walk back and forth, she would be no different from a Muggle portrait.

Cedric had indeed kept his word. He bought back everything Wade and the others had written on their lists, and did not charge them even one extra Knut.

"Oh my God, I'm flying!" Hermione cried out. The brown-haired girl had only drunk a cup of beverage when she slowly floated up from the ground. Wade hurriedly reached out and grabbed her so she would not fly too high and fall.

After quite some time, the drink's magic wore off, and Hermione slowly descended to the floor. A little angrily, she said, "They should have written the consumption warnings on the packaging!"

"But that was so fun, Hermione!" Michael said.

Hermione glared at him with a red face. "But I was wearing a skirt!"

Michael was left speechless. Lowering his head, he said, "Sorry—you're right."

"Watch this!" Theo shouted. "I'm going to eat this Pepper Imp!"

Everyone watched him expectantly.

Theo tossed the candy into his mouth and chewed a few times. His expression suddenly changed, and the next second, fire burst from his nostrils!

Everyone burst out laughing.

Michael grabbed a handful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and handed some to everyone, saying excitedly, "Come on, try these! Let's bet on who gets the worst one!"

He tossed one into his mouth first. "Not bad. Carrot-flavored."

Ryan ate one and made a bitter face. "Unlucky—earwax-flavored."

Wade asked curiously, "How do you know what earwax tastes like?"

Ryan froze, looked at the sky, then the ground, and casually turned to Theo. "Hurry up, it's your turn."

Theo ate one with a grin. "Mm—honeydew melon! I'm so lucky!"

Hermione ate one too. "Beef flavor. Not good, not bad, I suppose."

Neville stared fearfully at the yellow Every Flavor Bean in his hand and muttered, "It can't always be me who gets unlucky, right?" He closed his eyes and swallowed it, then immediately stuck out his tongue and cried incoherently, "Water, water, water!"

"Did you get sand flavor?" Michael handed him some water and asked curiously.

After gulping down a large cup of water, Neville said with tears in his eyes, "It was an extremely spicy chili pepper flavor."

Everyone turned to look at Wade.

Wade stared at the Every Flavor Beans with distaste. He had never eaten this specialty of the Wizarding World before, because he had heard Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans even came in vomit flavor—what kind of prankster mindset did the manufacturer have?

But everyone was waiting for him. After giving himself a mental pep talk, Wade finally tossed a bean into his mouth.

"What flavor is it?" his friends asked eagerly.

Wade let out a breath of relief and smiled. "It tastes like snow."