Over the following week, Adelaide appeared somewhat uneasy. She intentionally or unintentionally avoided the gazes of Professor Sprout and Dumbledore, fearing they would come to condemn her.
Adelaide also secretly comforted herself: anyway, they didn't have solid evidence to prove she did it, so as long as she acted as if nothing had happened, there shouldn't be any problems, right?
This morning, the school's Great Hall was exceptionally lively.
Everyone's attention was drawn to a long, thin package carried by six long-eared Owls. The Owls circled in the air and then dropped the package accurately in front of Harry Potter.
Initially, Adelaide watched this scene with as much interest as everyone else, until an eagle Owl dropped a letter in front of her.
A unique family crest was printed on the envelope of this letter, and Adelaide recognized it at a glance as the symbol of the Borgin family.
Her heart couldn't help but speed up, and her hands trembled slightly as she opened the envelope—as expected, this letter was sent by Edward!
The death sentence regarding the Head of the Borgin Family from three weeks ago had been issued. After an investigation, the Ministry of Magic concluded that the Head of the Borgin Family was unfortunately killed by mistake during a clash between Muggle gangs. Since it was an accidental death, the case was quickly closed.
The wife of Brother Edward was unwilling to give up the position of the Head of the Borgin Family. When Edward went to her to argue his case, she actually chose to resolve the issue through a duel—and then she lost to Edward at lightning speed.
On the night of Halloween, Edward's succession ceremony as the Head of the Borgin Family will be grandly held—unfortunately, Adelaide, being at Hogwarts, has no way to be there in person.
However, Edward revealed some good news in the letter: he has already actively reached out to the Parkinson Family, the MacFusty Family, and the Malfoy Family.
Perhaps because Adelaide maintains good relationships with Alice, Pansy, and Draco, the negotiations for these three Pure-blood families to establish an alliance with the Borgin family and pledge loyalty to Adelaide's organization have progressed exceptionally smoothly.
If nothing unexpected happens, by the time Adelaide returns home for the Christmas holidays, she will be just in time to participate in the founding ceremony of the Pure-blood Alliance led by her.
In this way, Adelaide's sphere of influence has expanded further. She not only possesses the Acolytes led by Armandina but also the British Pure-blood organization led by Edward, two important lines of power; plus, with the Order of the Phoenix in a state of semi-obedience to her, the checks and balances between the various lines under her command have been preliminarily established.
This news made Adelaide feel as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and the large stone in her heart finally fell to the ground.
This series of developments has made Adelaide's position in the British Wizarding World increasingly stable, and her influence is gradually expanding—at least after this Christmas, if Dumbledore wants to poach her followers again, he'll have to think long and hard about it, Jie Jie Jie~
Harry's excitement after receiving the Nimbus 2000 didn't last long, because Wood, as if injected with chicken blood, began to frantically set up Quidditch training plans for them.
"Ravenclaw has Adelaide Grindelwald this year. You've all seen her flying skills and hitting techniques with your own eyes. If we don't strengthen our control over flying broomstick techniques, we'll be picked off one by one by her bludgers like targets!"
"Not to mention those bastards from Slytherin; whenever they play against us, they become incredibly savage!"
"Hufflepuff seems low-key on the surface, but in reality, their Seeker Cedric Diggory is also a tough character. Have you all forgotten how we lost last year?"
"We are currently the weakest team among the four houses. If we want to compete for the championship, we must train harder! As long as it doesn't kill you, train to the death!"
Wood's madness made Harry and the other team members feel a bit overwhelmed. Harry had originally thought that with such a good broomstick, training would be easier, but he hadn't expected it to become even more grueling now.
Due to losing a bet to Ravenclaw previously, the Gryffindor team had to fight with the Slytherin Team for the better time slots among the remaining Quidditch Pitch usage times—this was truly a fierce competition, because the Slytherin Team had Professor Snape backing them, and they seemed to have more of an advantage in this regard.
However, Professor McGonagall would absolutely not back down on matters concerning Quidditch. She firmly supported the Gryffindor team, which made the relationship between the two teams exceptionally tense and full of the smell of gunpowder. This tense atmosphere soon spread to the students between the two houses.
On the Hogwarts campus, an invisible war was quietly unfolding—the Weasley Twins were the first to strike, throwing a large number of dungbombs into the corridor leading to the dungeons, making life miserable for the Slytherin students.
And the upper-year students of Slytherin were not to be outdone; they sprayed diarrhea potion on the Gryffindor table, causing many Gryffindor students to suddenly have stomach troubles while eating. The toilets on every floor of Hogwarts were overcrowded that day.
This kind of ruleless free-for-all went on for several rounds within a month, and the gems in the house hourglasses for Gryffindor and Slytherin kept decreasing like flowing water—Adelaide was happy for several days when she first saw this, but when the flames of war spread to her, she couldn't laugh anymore.
Alice and Pansy, these two Slytherin House students, reached a secret agreement in private—the Adelaide Grindelwald Snake House Alliance.
Their goal was only one: to work together against Hermione from Gryffindor and reduce the time she spent with Adelaide.
Hermione, hailing from Gryffindor, naturally would not back down easily. Facing the combined efforts of Alice and Pansy, she was completely fearless. Relying on her sharp tongue and superior talent for spells, she engaged in one fierce confrontation after another with them.
In this contest, Hermione cleverly used her wisdom and skills to hold her own against the two of them, repeatedly neutralizing the 'lustful schemes' Alice and Pansy had for Adelaide, causing their plans to fail time and again.
Adelaide was miserable from being the center of a 'shura field' once again. Fortunately, Armandina had been suffering from high blood pressure and frequent dizziness lately due to teaching the seventh-year N.E.W.T. Alchemy class and hadn't joined the fray; otherwise, Adelaide probably wouldn't have been able to handle it.
Hermione, Alice, and Pansy fought until both sides were exhausted, and Adelaide wanted to avoid them whenever she saw them; meanwhile, Senior Cho Chang took the opportunity to become a spiritual haven for Adelaide with her gentle and inclusive personality, greatly increasing her favorability and becoming the biggest winner of this shura field.
As Halloween approached, the smell of gunpowder between Slytherin and Gryffindor gradually faded—mainly because both houses had very few points left and had to temporarily call a truce.
Ravenclaw House took the opportunity to rise, surging to the top of the house points standings in one fell swoop.
With a 35-point lead over the second-place Hufflepuff, Adelaide felt that if no variables were considered, Ravenclaw already had this year's house cup in the bag.
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