The Show Can Begin

George and Fred led Harry across the courtyard and down several corridors to the first floor.

Silan was waiting there.

"This is Harry Potter. I don't think I need to introduce him, do I?"

Fred brought Harry before Silan and gave him a mischievous wink.

Silan took the initiative to extend his hand. "We've met before, Mr. Potter. In Diagon Alley. I'm Silan Prewett."

"Hello." Harry reached out and shook his hand.

"I'm sorry about your parents..." Silan did not immediately let go. "My father, Fabian Prewett, also died during that time. He and your parents were good friends."

[Silver Tongue: Proficiency +1]

In truth, Silan had no idea what Fabian's relationship with Harry's parents had been like.

He only knew that they had all been members of the Order of the Phoenix and had probably shared the same stance in resisting Voldemort.

The real purpose of saying that was simply to quickly close the distance between himself and Harry.

After all, what Harry wanted most was the companionship of family.

Sure enough, after hearing Silan say that, Harry's gaze immediately grew eager, and his grip on Silan's hand tightened.

"You knew my parents?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Yes." Silan nodded. "Our fathers were heroes, and good friends too."

"Just like us," Harry blurted out.

Silan smiled. "We're good friends now. Perhaps we'll become heroes in the future."

"I told you two you'd get along!"

George and Fred stood between them, slinging their arms around both their necks and forming a small circle of four.

"Still, aren't you two shaking hands a little too long?"

George teased them as he looked at their still tightly clasped hands.

"Hahaha..."

The cheerful atmosphere dissolved much of the unfamiliarity between them.

In just a few minutes, they had grown much closer.

Harry found Silan very approachable.

Though he was a Slytherin student, he was graceful in both his actions and speech. There was nothing about him that made anyone uncomfortable.

He had even said Harry's parents were heroes.

He really was a good person.

"This is a little gift for you." Silan handed Harry a Gryffindor Map. "I made it myself. You can use it forever."

Harry took the map and unfolded it. He found that it not only showed routes to classrooms and other places, but even marked several secret passages.

"This map..." Harry pointed at the secret passages, looking surprised.

This was quite different from the one he had bought.

Silan smiled at him. "Since it's a gift between friends, I added a few extra things. After all, I'll need your help later."

By the end of it, Silan finally revealed his true intention.

"What kind of help?" Harry carefully rolled up the map.

"It's simple." Silan patted his shoulder. "In a bit, just stand nearby and stare at the map in my hand. Oh, and don't forget to hold the map you have. It'd be best if you also looked a little envious."

"Oh... all right."

Though he did not quite understand why, Harry still nodded and agreed.

They were friends, after all. What was such a small favor?

Besides, Silan's father had been friends and comrades-in-arms with his own parents.

Silan put on a grateful expression and thanked him.

While they were talking, Malfoy came up the stairs with his two lackeys.

The three of them promptly stepped into thin air and fell from above.

They were probably used to it already. Cursing under their breaths, they went around to the foot of the stairs and prepared to climb again.

Silan gave the Weasley twins a meaningful look.

The target had arrived.

The show could begin.

George and Fred immediately understood. They swaggered over to Malfoy.

Pretending to glance at him casually, Fred said in a low voice that was nevertheless just loud enough for him to hear, "Do these first-years not know to buy a map? Climbing stairs stupidly like this every day must be exhausting."

"Who knows? Maybe they can't afford one," George immediately piled on.

Malfoy snorted coldly. You two paupers dare say other people can't afford things?

At that moment, Silan "happened" to stroll over, looking utterly unhurried.

The Weasley twins "happened" to spot him and "happened" to ask, "Why aren't you in a hurry at all? Don't you have Defense Against the Dark Arts soon?"

"What's the rush? It's not like I'll be late." Silan scoffed.

"Oho, what a boastful little junior. Don't fall off the stairs later."

"Don't worry, seniors. I have a map."

Silan lifted his chin, looking completely confident.

"A map?"

Malfoy and his two lackeys all turned to look at Silan.

Naturally, they knew that maps centered around each House's common room had recently begun selling around Hogwarts.

They recorded routes to classrooms and other places.

But strangely, people were selling them for the other three Houses, while there were none for Slytherin.

That meant they could not buy one even if they wanted to.

"You actually have a Slytherin Map?" Fred opened his mouth in an exaggerated expression of shock.

Looking both utterly stunned and deeply envious, he said, "I heard it's a limited edition! There are only a few in all of Hogwarts!"

George, meanwhile, put on a jealous expression and asked coldly.

"Do you really have one? Don't be bragging unless you're willing to show us."

"Fine, I'll show you." Putting on the air of letting a bunch of country bumpkins broaden their horizons, Silan took out a Slytherin Map.

When he unfolded it, George and Fred both narrowed their eyes as though the gilded patterns had blinded them. In perfect sync, they leaned backward.

"Merlin's stinking feet!"

The two cried out at the same time as though they had seen some priceless treasure.

Fred held the map in his hands, which began to tremble uncontrollably.

"It's so beautiful! Completely different from those ordinary maps!"

"More than different!" George looked as though he had been stunned speechless, praising it again and again. "Those ordinary maps are practically waste paper compared to this!"

Watching the three of them praise the map to the heavens, Malfoy's curiosity was thoroughly piqued.

They all craned their necks out, wanting a better look at the map.

But Silan snorted at the Weasley twins, snatched the map back, and carefully put it away.

"This is a limited-edition map. If you're not buying it, don't look at it."

George and Fred acted as though the map had tempted them beyond endurance and they would never rest until they got it. Scratching their heads in agitation, they hurriedly asked.

"We want that map too! Name your price!"

Silan looked at them with some disdain.

"Hmph. This map isn't about money at all. There are only ten in all of Hogwarts. People like you wouldn't be qualified to buy one even if you had the money."

George and Fred put on dejected expressions.

"Come on, Fred." George looked heartbroken. "People like us simply don't deserve to own it."

"No, George."

Fred's lips trembled twice, his gaze both fervent and expectant.

"Let me see it one more time. Just once!"

"That delicate, exquisite parchment, those beautiful and noble lilac lines."

"Just let me see it one more time, I'm begging you!"

The two got increasingly immersed in their roles, their acting becoming more and more exaggerated.

Silan had no choice but to give them a look and cough dryly.

That was enough. Acting as though they were being torn apart from their lovers was going too far.

George and Fred got the message. But they had to see the act through. Even as they slowly walked away, they kept looking back every few steps, as though they could not bear to part with the map.

There was practically no trace of acting at all.

Malfoy looked at the reluctant Weasley twins, then at the map Silan had carefully put away, and suddenly asked.

"How much is that map?"