Brian had never seen the Hogwarts Library so busy-nearly every table and chair enjoyed the students' prolonged company, even the low stools that usually sat neglected because they were uncomfortable to sit on.
The students were in a peculiar mood today, too. Their quills worked busily while their voices hovered at just the right volume to keep testing the limits of the library's rules.
Their conversations revolved around either the Quidditch match, budding romances between students, or both.
"Angelina, my goddess. I bet she'll score the first goal in the match the day after tomorrow."
Lee Jordan was tackling his Astronomy homework-circling all the stars belonging to a particular constellation among a field of thirty-odd stars.
"No matter what Professor McGonagall does to me after the match, I'm going to proclaim my love over the microphone."
"Oh, please. Professor McGonagall's used to you doing that by now. How many times has Angelina rejected you again?" Fred Weasley was trying to make his handwriting larger so he could finish his Charms essay sooner.
"How am I supposed to remember that?" Lee Jordan drew a horizontal line across a star, then crossed the line out with a slash.
"Then let me ask you something else-how many Quidditch matches have you commentated on?" On the line beneath the question asking what could be used against Devil's Snare, George Weasley unhesitatingly wrote "fireworks and firecrackers."
"Including unofficial ones... forty-two?"
"Then you've been rejected forty-two times," George said confidently. "Every time you commentate, you mention Angelina, then confess your love, and then she rejects you without a second thought-the only difference is her tone."
Fred cheerfully added:
"If Gryffindor wins, she rejects you happily. If Gryffindor loses, she rejects you angrily. If Gryffindor isn't playing, then she rejects you either happily or angrily depending on how the match affects Gryffindor."
"Shut up, both of you." Lee Jordan viciously circled the last star.
Their voices were not actually very loud, but Brian's hearing was far too good. Similar groups of two, three, four, or even more students filled the entire library-all sorts of gossip and amusing stories competed to assault his eardrums, rising and falling without a moment's respite.
All right, listening to student gossip was fun, but mishearing it was not. Brian could no longer tell who liked whom or who had a crush on whom. For instance, Cedric and Percy both seemed interested in girls from Ravenclaw, but he had nearly heard it as Cedric being interested in Percy-
Damn it, why did the rumors that he would haul people off to detention do nothing to intimidate these students?
Brian covered his ears in distress, shook his head, and asked Madam Pince, who stood beside him looking unruffled:
"Are the students like this before every Quidditch match?"
"Yes, every single time. That's why I always relax my standards for quiet in the library a little before a Quidditch match."
Madam Pince sighed and said,
"Don't worry, Brian. It'll be better tomorrow. The students will finish most of their homework today. They tend to leave the small amount that remains until the last day, or squeeze it into their spare moments."
Better tomorrow-Brian honestly doubted he would last until tomorrow. Right now, the sheer power of so many students gathered in one room was already threatening to blast him to pieces. He had to think of something-
He remembered the half-crate of beautifully wrapped Creamy Almond Toffee Hagrid had thrust upon him yesterday, each piece large and creamy yellow. Hagrid had received it as a gift after delivering a large batch of high-quality animal milk to Honeydukes, and had promptly passed the entire gift on to him.
For the sake of his teeth and his health, Brian had no intention of eating too much Creamy Almond Toffee himself. He had already divided the sweets into numerous portions and given one to Madam Pince. He planned to hand the rest out to the Hogwarts staff one afternoon at teatime.
Even so, there was still far too much toffee left-but it ought to come in handy today.
Brian explained his plan to Madam Pince and received her approval.
"A good idea," Madam Pince said approvingly. "If it makes them quieter, we can pay for these sweets out of the library's maintenance budget."
"No, there's no need. These sweets didn't cost much." Brian waved away the offer. "You could teach me another useful spell instead-something like an Earplug Charm. I've already mastered the Amplifying Charm."
"So soon?" Madam Pince said in surprise. "I only taught you this morning."
"I suppose I have a bit of a talent for Charms." Brian nodded, then went back to his room and brought out the crate, which was now a little less than half full. The students would love these tempting sweets. Honeydukes was the best sweetshop around.
He cleared his throat, held his wand near his vocal cords, and said in a calm voice:
"Quiet for a moment, everyone. Listen to me-it's nothing much, really. The library has some Creamy Almond Toffee from Honeydukes to reward hardworking students. Once you've finished the homework you're working on, bring it over to me and collect your toffee, then leave your seat free for someone else who needs it. The condition is that you must have done the work properly. I'll check it. All right, that's everything. Supplies are limited, so first come, first served."
After Brian finished, the students exchanged glances for a moment before launching into another round of animated discussion. Some were doubtful, while others were eager to try, until Fred and George rose from their chairs together and ran over to him with their homework.
"Please check it-yes, just this one sheet," Fred said happily. "I only brought homework for this subject."
"Same here." George handed over a worksheet that he had filled in, though somehow it did not look entirely filled in.
Brian took the Charms essay with its enormous handwriting, then examined the Herbology worksheet, where most of the answers were wildly fanciful and failed to fit the lines provided. He recalled Professor Flitwick's and Professor Sprout's assessments of the twins.
"The Weasley Twins? I must say they're very talented. Their ingenious ideas often impress me-but the essays they hand in are always a mess. They're either repeating themselves endlessly or copying out the textbook."-Professor Flitwick.
"Those two little rascals? I'm quite fond of them. They're practical, capable, and full of interesting ideas. But if they dare bring flammable materials into my greenhouse again, I'll have no choice but to give them low marks in Herbology."-Professor Sprout.
With more than a hundred pairs of eyes fixed on him, Brian considered for a moment, then said:
"I'll count that as a pass. Help yourselves to the toffee-but don't take too much. There are plenty of other people here."
"Thank you, Mr. Brian." The twins each grabbed a piece of toffee, then turned and pulled faces at Lee Jordan together, mouthing, "We'll wait for you on the pitch, Jordan."
After that, the discussions in the library grew much quieter, though there were still plenty of them. Most of the conversations now went something like-
"Hurry up and write! Can you do it or not? If you can't, I'll help you!" "There's not much toffee left. I'll get a piece first and wait for you at the door!" "This isn't fair! I brought seven whole worksheets! It'll be dark by the time I finish them all!"
By the time Lee Jordan got his toffee, the crate was nearly empty. He complained bitterly to Brian:
"Mr. Brian, you ought to be stricter with those two awful gits-betrayal! This is blatant betrayal!"
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