"I... I'm sleeping!"
Cho Chang hurriedly switched off the nightlight that was emitting a faint glow, then like a startled little rabbit, she quickly burrowed into her quilt, trying to wrap herself up tightly to avoid Adelaide's gaze.
However, things didn't go as planned. A slightly cool little hand, like a nimble snake, silently reached into the quilt and accurately hooked around her shoulder.
Adelaide's sudden move gave Cho Chang a fright, making her whole body shudder violently.
Almost at the same time, Adelaide's low voice rang leisurely in her ear: "My dear top student, I know you must have stayed up this late to study hard—since you're already up, you wouldn't mind sleeping a bit later, would you?"
"Your little liar hasn't eaten all afternoon, and now my stomach is touching my back from hunger. How about accompanying me for some late-night snacks?"
Hearing this, Cho Chang blurted out subconsciously: "You actually didn't eat dinner? What on earth were you doing?"
The moment the words left her mouth, she immediately realized that the two of them were still in a cold war. A trace of embarrassment appeared on her face, and then she added coquettishly: "Hmph, anyway, whatever you do has nothing to do with me. If you want to eat a late-night snack, then go quickly. I'm going to sleep—and don't blow air in my ear!"
Adelaide was amused by Cho Chang's cute appearance and couldn't help but chuckle softly by her ear. Along with the laughter came her warm breath, which brushed against Cho Chang's earlobe like a gentle warm current.
In an instant, Cho Chang felt a rush of heat to her cheeks, and her entire face turned bright red. Her hands began to push desperately against Adelaide.
"If you want to wake Marietta up and let them see you blushing while entangled with me, then keep struggling."
Adelaide tossed out this sentence nonchalantly. Though her tone wasn't heavy, it was like a spell that instantly froze Cho Chang. It was as if she had been hit by Petrificus Totalus; she didn't dare move a single finger anymore.
Helpless, she could only glare fiercely at Adelaide in the pitch-black environment, then grit her teeth and ask in a low voice: "What exactly do you want?"
Adelaide responded softly: "Put on your cloak and come with me. I will take you to a special place—to share a secret that belongs only to me."
Hearing this, Cho Chang's heart, which had been full of suspicion and hesitation, suddenly settled down.
Since Adelaide was finally willing to open her heart to her, what was there to be conflicted about?
Thus, she quickly put on her shoes, grabbed the cloak beside her to drape over her shoulders, and followed Adelaide, who was carrying a suitcase. Together, the two left the Ravenclaw Common Room.
They tiptoed like two light-footed cats, carefully avoiding Dean Flitwick's office, and came to a halt before an ancient tapestry depicting trolls clubbing Barnabas the Barmy.
Adelaide first moved the suitcase from her left hand to her right, then took a deep breath and muttered silently in her heart: 'A perfect place to enjoy a late-night snack...'
Just as Cho Chang was looking confused and bewildered, Adelaide actually began to pace back and forth along the wall in front of them. Something unexpected happened: when she finished the third pass, a wooden door appeared out of nowhere on the wall without any warning!
Adelaide gently pushed open the somewhat old wooden door. With a soft 'creak,' the scene inside came into view. It was clearly a space similar to a dining room, with a set of solid wood tables and chairs arranged in the warm-toned room.
Her gaze first fell on the wooden dining table, where several white candles stood quietly, emitting a soft and warm glow. As the candlelight flickered, it seemed to draw one's thoughts into a peaceful and cozy atmosphere.
In addition, a green plastic potted plant was placed in the center of the table. Although it wasn't a real plant, its presence added a touch of life and vitality to the entire space, making one's eyes light up.
Seeing this scene, Adelaide secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it wasn't the room where the cockroach diadem was kept.
She turned around and said to Cho Chang behind her with a smile: "Cho, what is laid out before you is a mysterious room that most Professors don't even know about—come, let's enjoy a delicious hotpot together!"
Cho Chang stepped forward and walked into the room somewhat mechanically.
At this moment, she was still in a state of shock, not yet recovered from the astonishment of discovering a hidden room. She could never have imagined that such a secret room existed within Hogwarts Castle!
Even more unexpected things for Cho Chang were yet to come.
She saw Adelaide briskly place the suitcase on the dining table, then open it and begin taking things out.
First was an exquisite, never-before-used cauldron, followed by a gas canister and a gas stove. Then came a bag of fragrant hotpot base, followed by three pairs of chopsticks—two short and one long—neatly laid out to the side. Added to that were beautifully packaged rolls of beef and mutton, a wide variety of fresh vegetables, and colorful little meatballs... These dazzling ingredients and cooking utensils soon piled up across the entire dining table, emitting an enticing aroma that made one's mouth water.
At this point, Cho Chang couldn't care less about the cold war. Her eyes sparkled as she watched Adelaide put the hotpot ingredients into the cauldron, asking: "Adelaide, where did you get all this stuff?"
One had to know that when they previously planned to have hotpot, they only had instant noodles, vegetables from the banquet salads, and medium-rare steaks!
"What else did you think I was busy with today?"
Adelaide gave Cho Chang a tender look. "To make amends to my best friend, I pleaded with Dumbledore for a long time—I almost got down on my knees to beg him—before the old man made an exception and took me to London's Chinatown to buy ingredients."
This was a lie—well, it wasn't exactly; Adelaide was just exaggerating a bit.
In reality, she had only mentioned after leaving St Mungos that "I heard from Cho Chang that London's Chinatown has a lot of authentic Chinese food and many special desserts you can't find elsewhere in Britain." Dumbledore had readily taken her there to feast for the whole afternoon and bought these ingredients and supplies on the way back.
However, Cho Chang was completely unaware of this. When she heard that Adelaide had gone to such lengths to purchase these ingredients just to apologize to her, the raging fire in her heart instantly died down by more than half.
At this moment, her gaze toward Adelaide unconsciously became exceptionally soft, as if all the previous unpleasantness had already vanished into thin air.
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