'Moonlight Clan' Penelope

"Hmph! Boss Bell seems to be in a pretty good mood today!"

"..."

Bell put down his book and looked at Penelope sitting opposite him with a bewildered expression.

Is the other party on fire? He doesn't recall offending them recently.

"Senior, who's upset you again?"

Looking around the Ravenclaw lounge, the few people there were all engrossed in reading and studying.

"So it can't really be me?"

Bell thought to himself, feeling a little guilty.

"Who else could it be? That big idiot Percy, of course!"

Penelope said indignantly.

"Thank goodness, it wasn't me."

Bell breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as he didn't unintentionally offend Penelope, he could sit back and watch the drama unfold in peace.

But honestly, given what has happened in the past, Bell really doesn't want to get involved in this Penelope and Percy scandal.

You might easily get yourself into trouble!

However, under Penelope's threatening gaze, the books in Bell's hands felt incredibly heavy, and he couldn't lift them no matter what.

"Um... what did he do to upset you, senior?"

In the end, Bell gave in. He steeled himself and asked the question Penelope wanted him to ask.

"I should have gone to play with my younger sister."

Today is the weekend, Shanna has been invited to have a picnic and enjoy the snow at Black Lake with her two friends.

Naturally, Shanna approached Bell, wanting her Gege to come along too.

Bell certainly wanted to go on the trip with his younger sister. However, he worried that since the other girls were all girls and he was the only boy, he might spoil the atmosphere.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Bell decided not to go and instead recommended Hermione instead.

And so, the situation arose where he was alone in the Ravenclaw common room reading.

When Bell finally asked a question, Penelope gave him a "good thing" look.

She leaned over and snatched Fina from Bell's arms.

As Penelope deftly pulled food from her pocket and fed it to Fina, she complained:

"You have no idea how much Percy has bothered me these past few days!"

Although Penelope said that, Bell couldn't tell from her face that she was annoyed at all.

That's clearly an expression of someone who's about to explode with anger!

" In the Quidditch Match a few days ago, Ravenclaw played against Gryffindor, right? I was thinking that our house's Quidditch team is pretty strong too. So, I made a bet with Percy that Ravenclaw would win."

Bell stared at Penelope in disbelief. So who gave her the courage—no, the confidence—to believe Ravenclaw could win?

As is well known, Ravenclaw is a house that produces many academic geniuses. And academic geniuses are often colloquially referred to as "nerds" or "bookworms."

Therefore, Ravenclaw's Quidditch team has consistently been the top team among the Four Houses!

It's just that they're arranged from back to front.

Penelope, somewhat annoyed and embarrassed by Bell's look of disbelief, kicked Bell hard and tried to explain:

"Our house's Seeker this year— Cho Chang —is outstanding! If Harry hadn't suddenly gotten hold of the latest Flying Broomstick — Firebolt — Cho Chang would definitely have caught the Golden Snitch!"

How could Madam Hooch allow Harry to use that foul-sounding Flying Broomstick like Firebolt? It's so unreasonable! So outrageous!

Bell felt that Penelope's lines sounded familiar. Didn't he hear something similar from Hermione last year?

"So, by how much did you lose to Percy?"

Bell asked curiously.

"10 Galleon".

"That's alright. What? Senior, you're not trying to renege on your debt, are you?"

To be honest, for Little Wizard still studying at Hogwarts, 10 Galleon is indeed a huge sum of money.

When Ron lost his beloved pet, in his grief and anger, he gritted his teeth and demanded 10 Galleon in compensation from Bell.

But Penelope is different; she currently earns 50 Galleon a month. So 10 Galleon should still be within her means.

"I never intended to renege on my debt!"

Penelope glared at Bell with displeasure.

This wretched person, if she can't speak properly, can't she just shut up and listen quietly? Is she the kind of person who doesn't keep her word?

"I just don't have any money right now, so I told Percy to hold off for now, and I'll give it to him as soon as I get my salary this month."

"No way, senior. Could it be that you're one of those ' Moonlight Clan ' (living paycheck to paycheck)? The kind who feels uncomfortable if you don't spend all your money each month?"

If it were due to low income and insufficient funds, Bell could be understood. But Penelope is now considered to be in the middle-income group, so how can she also run out of money every month?

"How dare you say that!"

Penelope looked at Bell with a resentful expression, making Bell feel a chill run down his spine.

Thankfully, Hermione isn't here right now. Otherwise, if she had heard Penelope's words, coupled with Penelope's perfectly timed expression, she probably would have fought Bell to the death!

"No, why would I be embarrassed? What is there to be embarrassed about? Senior, you know you can be held legally responsible for what you say? Be careful, or I'll sue you for defamation!"

Hearing Bell's exasperated remarks, Penelope realized that what she had just said was indeed somewhat inappropriate.

Penelope blushed and hurriedly explained:

"I mean, the materials they usually send me are too profound and complicated. I can't understand most of them."

Left with no other choice, I had to use all my salary to buy those thick and expensive magic books.

"Bell, are you really able to understand those documents?"

Penelope looked at her boss with suspicion.

(As Bell's secretary, Penelope's job was to organize the magical data sent to Bell from the research institute and select the more important parts, marking them.)

Although she bought plenty of cosmetics and clothes, Penelope did indeed, as she said, spend the majority of her money on buying magic books.

Even so, she can only understand about one-third of the information in those documents. As for the rest, she can only guess.

This is the result of her working tirelessly day and night for the past six months, cramming on magical knowledge.

At first, Penelope truly felt like she was reading a book written in a foreign language. She recognized each word individually, but when they were put together, she had absolutely no idea what they meant.

Faced with Penelope's questioning, Bell simply smiled and offered no explanation. He knew she was just complaining and wasn't really asking him anything.

"Wow! I didn't expect you to be so dedicated, senior. I'm almost embarrassed."

Bell cracked a joke with a grin.