When several upper-year Slytherins pushed open the compartment door, they were surprised to find that this space, which should have belonged to them, was actually occupied by Grindelwald the Second and her small group.
These upper-year students didn't even check if the friends beside Adelaide were from pure-blood families before they unhesitatingly apologized respectfully and quickly closed the compartment door.
This move caught the attention of others present, and the news spread quickly like wildfire.
After learning that Grindelwald the Second was in this compartment, other upper-year Slytherins looking for space wisely avoided it, even subconsciously lightening their footsteps when passing by, as if there were some untouchable taboo inside.
Adelaide had a pleasant smile on her face as she shared the delicious pizza carefully prepared for them by the House-elf Bru with her friends.
While tasting the food, she silently calculated the time in her mind.
Edward should have received the letter by now and started taking action, right?
Today was the big day for new students to enter the school, and the teachers were all extremely busy; Dumbledore and Armandina had a lot of things to handle, so they shouldn't have the energy to pay attention to her little maneuvers.
According to information Adelaide received a few days ago, the Head of the Borgin family had a shady deal to conduct tonight at the Port of Manchester—as a famous bustling metropolis in Britain, Manchester was filled with a large number of illegal workers, refugees, and immigrants, and the public security in certain areas was quite poor, especially at night.
Trading in such a mixed and chaotic place, it would be quite normal for the Head of the Borgin family to accidentally encounter a Muggle gang shootout and unfortunately get shot, wouldn't it?
The corners of Adelaide's mouth curled up slightly into a sly smile, and she was full of anticipation for tonight's events—arrogant pure-blood Death Eaters like the Head of the Borgin family had always looked down on Muggles, which was why she designed such an experiment; she wanted to see if Protego could block bullets fired from Muggle automatic firearms.
Even if he didn't die on the spot, it didn't matter; Edward would help send his big brother on his final journey from the shadows, and then command the gang members who had been placed under the Imperio curse to perish together, dealing with all potential risks.
When Adelaide went out to use the restroom, she happened to hear another piece of news that surprised her a bit: Draco Malfoy, who had just enrolled this year, had actually taken a luxury compartment all to himself along with Pansy Parkinson and several other new friends.
This was undoubtedly a very rare situation, as first-year students usually didn't receive such special treatment.
What was even more surprising was that the other upper-year Slytherin students seemed to have no objection to Draco Malfoy's behavior, even tacitly acknowledging that he had the right.
Adelaide raised an eyebrow; it seemed that the Slytherin students were not as arrogant to the point of losing their reason as the outside world rumored. Their keen insight into the current situation and their worship of the strong were deeply imprinted in the Slytherins' DNA, and the survival of the fittest law they believed in was exactly what Adelaide needed right now.
On the way back from the restroom, Slytherin students constantly took the initiative to greet Adelaide, and she responded to them one by one in a pleasant mood.
She breathed a sigh of relief in her heart because this time she had abandoned her usual low-profile style and high-profilely led a few friends to occupy a luxury compartment; her original intention was to test the Slytherin students' attitude toward her.
Now it seemed that everyone was giving her plenty of face, which made Adelaide very satisfied; this way, the resistance her next cooperation plan faced would be much smaller.
Just as Adelaide was thinking about these things with joy, a round-faced little boy with a tearful expression suddenly blocked her path.
"Excuse me, I wanted to ask, have you seen my toad?" the little boy asked anxiously.
Adelaide looked closely—wasn't this Neville!
Neville Longbottom was a member of the Longbottom family among the Sacred Twenty-Eight; before being sorted into Gryffindor House, he was also quite recognized by pure-blood Slytherin students.
So he was able to come to the luxury carriage in the front to look for his toad, and no one stopped him; it was just that because he had no talent, everyone's attitude toward him was relatively distant.
"Hey, Longbottom!"
Adelaide called out Neville's name softly with a smile.
Neville looked at the powerful and confident beautiful girl in front of him with a dazed expression. It took a while for him to realize, as if waking from a dream, that the girl with the bright smile across from him was exactly the Adelaide Grindelwald his grandmother had been nagging about all summer.
"Hello, Senior Grindelwald..."
Neville stammered, his voice as quiet as a mosquito's buzz, and he unconsciously hung his head, seemingly afraid to meet Adelaide's gaze.
"Is your toad lost?" Adelaide asked with concern.
"Um..." Neville's voice grew even lower, "My toad, Trevor, often leaves me..."
He felt a bit frustrated; before he came to school, his grandmother had repeatedly instructed him to learn more from Senior Grindelwald and The Chosen One Harry.
But, but both of them were celebrities in the Wizarding World!
He felt he was so stupid that even if he tried his best, he could never compare to even a single hair of theirs.
Adelaide seemed to know Neville's thoughts like the back of her hand. Her expressive eyes darted around, and she suddenly seemed like a different person, showing immense enthusiasm toward Neville.
"I promised Mr. Dumbledore before that I would take good care of you at school!"
Adelaide's voice was crisp and pleasant, like an oriole in spring. "How about this, I'll accompany you to find the toad; two people are always faster than one."
With that, Adelaide didn't hesitate at all and pulled open the compartment door with a "swish," her movement clean and sharp.
She poked her head in, gave the girls sitting inside a sweet smile, and then said softly, "Sisters, I have something to take care of. You guys go ahead and enjoy your food and drinks."
The girls all nodded in understanding. Only then did Adelaide turn back with that charming smile still on her face and say softly to Neville, "Alright, let's go. We'll start from the front and look through the compartments one by one; we'll definitely find Trevor."
Neville gave Adelaide a grateful look; he didn't expect this outstanding senior to be so warm-hearted, having so much patience even toward a clumsy new student like him.
The two walked side by side down the carriage aisle, not missing a single compartment. The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students were very helpful, and the Ravenclaw and Slytherin students also gave Adelaide face—unfortunately, none of them had seen any sign of Trevor the toad.
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