Silan took the letter back to the Room of Requirement, but before he could even open it, George and Fred approached him with mischievous grins.
The two men, one on each side, nudged Silan with their shoulders, their faces beaming with knowing questions. "Where did our Filibuster Fireworks go? Silan, do you know who took it?"
"It was Miss Granger's birthday yesterday, and I forgot to prepare a gift, so I borrowed this," Silan readily admitted.
"We're all family, brothers, no need to talk about lending or borrowing," George said with a knowing smile. "Just remember to let us know in advance next time something like this happens."
"We're professionals at setting off fireworks," Fred said with a smile and a wink at Silan. "Let us handle it. We'll light up the whole sky so brightly you won't even be able to see the moon."
"I'll definitely do it next time," Silan nodded repeatedly, trying to be polite.
George and Fred walked away arm in arm, skipping along, while Silan shook his head and opened the letter that Pippin had sent.
The letter was short, but the matter was significant.
Silan read the letter from beginning to end, and gradually frowned.
In his letter, Pippin said that Lucius had discovered that the Potions bearing Snape's label originated from him and pressed him to reveal who was supplying him with Potions.
"Of course, I haven't told him a single word, you can rest assured." Pippin wrote this with neat handwriting, clearly taking it very seriously. "As your loyal business partner, I would rather die than tell him anything."
"In my opinion, Lucius won't let this go easily, but his goal is to cooperate with you to enter the Potions business. He wants to see you as soon as possible to discuss the cooperation, otherwise he might expose what we've been doing."
"I hope you make a decision soon so I can give him an answer."
"Furthermore, whatever decision you make, I will firmly support you."
After reading the letter and folding it, Silan frowned and fell into deep thought.
He never thought he could keep this a secret forever, but he didn't expect it to be exposed so quickly.
"How exactly did Lucius find out?" Silan shook her head helplessly, thinking, "If we cooperate with the Malfoy family and leverage their connections and social resources, we can indeed accumulate wealth quickly. We could even use this opportunity to build our own network of connections in the Wizarding World."
Silan is currently just a Hogwarts student on the surface, and it's difficult for him to have any real influence on the Wizarding World. However, if he were to cooperate with the Malfoy family, he could use Lucius to achieve his goals.
"Although Lucius is difficult to deal with, there are many benefits too..." Silan thought to herself, took out a quill, wrote a reply, and had Melba mail it.
The letter essentially stated that he would seriously consider the collaboration, and if all went well, he would meet Lucius at Pippin's Potions on the Full Moon Night.
Regardless, let's try to keep Lucius calm for now.
As Melba gradually disappeared into the horizon, Silan slowly withdrew her gaze, walked out of the Room of Requirement, and headed towards Snape's office.
It was fine to play around a bit and earn some pocket money under Snape's name before, but cooperating with Malfoy was a serious matter that couldn't be kept secret.
"I need to talk to the professor first. If I can get his support, I can gain an advantage," Silan thought to herself as she walked.
Pippin's Potions.
"I've already mailed the letter, Lucius. Could you please stop disturbing my business and go look around somewhere else?" The Pippin behind the counter glared impatiently at Lucius was drinking tea to the side.
"I've bought so many Potions from you, I'm a customer after all. There's no reason to turn away customers in business," Lucius said slowly, glancing around the shop. "Besides, you don't have any customers here anyway."
After Lucius finished speaking, he continued drinking his tea, showing no intention of moving.
Lucius had been lurking around here every day for the past few days, and Pippin finally managed to find a moment to mail the letter.
To keep an eye on Lucius, Pippin specifically instructed the Owl Post Office to circle the area a few more times, even if it meant being a little late.
He estimated that it might not arrive until this morning.
As a result Lucius, that shameless fellow, bought a bunch of Potions and then stayed there as a guest, like a piece of chewing gum that he couldn't be chased away.
Pippin knew Lucius was waiting for a reply, but even he wasn't sure what Mr. Prewett was thinking.
"Perhaps he's already received the letter, but doesn't want to deal with Lucius," Pippin thought absentmindedly as he tended to the Potions on the shelf.
Although he wrote the letter with great confidence, he was actually unsure of himself.
If Prewett had no intention of cooperating, Pippin had no doubt that Lucius, that shameless fellow, would immediately expose their affair to the Daily Prophet.
If things really escalate to that point, it will be quite ugly.
"Prewett, with his relationship with Professor Snape, might not be able to affect him much, but here I am..." Pippin sighed inwardly, unconsciously wiping the Potions with a velvet cloth.
He was upset and lacked energy.
An owl circled at the door for a while, then flew into the store and gently landed on the counter.
"Mr. Prewett's reply?!" Pippin was overjoyed. He put down the Potions and was about to take the letter from the owl's beak, but Lucius was faster than him.
"You've finally arrived!"
Lucius jumped up from his chair, took three steps in two, reached out and snatched the letter from Melba's mouth, only to be bitten in the process by an enraged Melba.
"How rude!" Melba flapped his wings and cursed.
This was the first time he had ever seen someone snatch a letter.
"If Master finds out, he'll think I've failed in my duties." Melba angrily spread his wings, his eyes fixed on Lucius with fury.
Lucius was furious. As the head of House Malfoy family, to be bitten by an owl—how ridiculous would that be if word got out?!
He angrily raised his cane, ready to whack the damned owl.
"Come on, shoot this way!" Melba spread its wings and stretched its neck toward Lucius.
Lucius froze.
"Go ahead and cripple me if you dare! I need to go back and report this as a workplace injury to my master." Melba stared defiantly at Lucius.
Although he couldn't understand what the owl was saying, Lucius still grasped Melba's provocation and glared at him angrily.
I, the dignified head of the Malfoy family, have been provoked by an owl. If word gets out, won't I become a laughingstock among the other Pure-blood families?
Lucius grew angrier the more he thought about it, gripped his cane, and prepared to smash it down on Melba's head.
"That's that gentleman's owl." Pippin held out his hand to block Melba and said coldly, "Lucius, think carefully!"
The anger on his face subsided like a receding tide. Lucius glanced at the envelope and said with a chuckle, "You misunderstood. I was just joking."
Lucius smiled and reached out to touch Melba, but Melba dodged him.
He wasn't embarrassed at all. He sat back down, opened the letter, and quickly glanced at the end.
Finding no signature, Lucius was somewhat disappointed. "They're really cautious..."
Lucius was overjoyed to hear that the other party was planning to meet him on the Full Moon Night.
Great, everything is going according to plan!
Lucius smiled broadly, handed the letter to Pippin, and then floated back into his chair.
He was just a student after all; a little intimidation was all it took for him to take the bait.
Just as Lucius was feeling smug, thinking he had everything under control, Silan arrived at Snape's office door and knocked.
"Come in."