Of course, this was just a minor interlude; after all, it was so noisy around that it was normal not to hear, though for Draco that was not the reason.
"It's a shame you missed the Sorting Ceremony." Draco shrugged.
"I don't really care about that anyway; it's always just these few houses being sorted into," Pansy replied, not particularly concerned with the sorting situation.
"By the way, how did you get back?" Draco asked curiously.
Pansy pointed upstairs, winked, and said, "Privileges aren't just for you, you know."
The Floo Network at Hogwarts is generally rarely connected to the outside world, much like how some supercomputers in the Muggle world are not connected to the internet; this completely prevents the intrusion of external enemies. However, there are always exceptions. This time, Pansy must have received the Headmaster's permission to lift the restrictions before using the Floo Network.
"Although it's fast, it's really nauseating. I'd still rather take the train." As if recalling the dizzying sensation from that time, Pansy's expression became conflicted again.
"Don't frown so much, you'll age faster!" Draco gently patted her head. He continued, "I'll give you your gift tomorrow; I worked at Gringotts for half the holiday for it."
"What is it?" Pansy's eyes sparkled, clearly filled with anticipation.
"It's a secret."
"Hmph." Pansy turned her head away, very dissatisfied with the answer. "I won't keep you in suspense, here." As she spoke, she pulled a delicate little box from her pocket and handed it to Draco, looking somewhat reluctant.
"Thank you," Draco said. "If you're dizzy, go to sleep; that feeling is indeed unpleasant."
"Mm." Pansy nodded, clearly exhausted, and then headed toward the Slytherin girls' dormitory.
Before long, the unbearable school song ended, meaning all students should return to their house common rooms or head straight to their dormitories.
Draco, however, walked straight toward the Gryffindor table.
"What is he doing here?" Hermione felt her heart skip a beat.
But Draco was not looking for her; he now stood before the two Weasley brothers.
"Yo, if it isn't the young master of the Malfoy family."
"Are you looking for us to pull some prank?"
George and Fred asked in playful tones.
"Just making a deal," Draco said flatly.
"What deal?" the two brothers asked in unison. Although the two families were not on good terms, no one would turn down money. Ron might, but the mercurial twins were not necessarily the same; perhaps they even wanted to take this chance to fleece someone.
"The more of these you can manufacture, the better. Here is a deposit." Draco handed them a list and left some Galleons, not even waiting for them to agree before quickly departing.
"Rooster Howler?" Fred glanced at the list and asked, "George, what do you think this is for?"
"I don't know," George shook his head. "Maybe the young master needs this to wake him up?" George thought he had made a joke, but no one responded. He did not feel awkward, though, and continued happily, "But I do know our research funds are sufficient again."
"Mm." Fred wiggled his eyebrows, and both brothers shared a knowing smile. Clearly, with sufficient funds, the Weasley twins would once again turn Hogwarts upside down.
"Better than nothing, I suppose, since it's not real and just an external item." The departing Draco could only think this way; he was not in the mood to go to the common room and went straight back to his dormitory.
As for the Gryffindor common room, it was currently bustling. Most students had not yet gone to bed. After Ron and Harry entered, the atmosphere reached a climax; clearly, their exploits had already reached the students' ears through various channels, perhaps from ghosts or Peeves.
"My brother,
How did you do it? You should have called us back then," George asked.
"I really think you could join our prank business; we lack creativity like yours," Fred also said.
Others cheered Harry on, as if he had done something incredible.
"Did you really fly here?" Hermione interjected, sounding somewhat incredulous and stern, much like Professor McGonagall.
"Stop lecturing us," Ron said impatiently. "Anyway, we didn't lose any house points; the term hadn't even started yet."
"It's not a matter of losing points or not! Do you know how dangerous that was?" Hermione's voice rose.
"Alright, aren't we perfectly fine?" Ron stretched his arms and stamped his feet to show he was completely fine. Then he asked Harry, "Right?"
"Ron, stop it," Harry said quietly, poking Ron with his hand and tilting his head to one side. Ron immediately understood; his most boring brother was coming over, looking like he was about to give them a proper scolding. So they quickly made an excuse and headed up the spiral staircase to their dormitory.
Upon returning to their dormitory, they were warmly welcomed by their roommates. Neville looked at them with a face full of admiration. The two of them now felt that the previous punishment was nothing and even felt a bit proud. Of course, they did not know that a terrifying howler letter would be waiting for them tomorrow morning.
The next morning, students from the four houses were eating breakfast at their respective long tables, which were laid out with bowls of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon.
"I didn't expect to be the only one late." Pansy talked with Draco as he told her about the 'glorious deeds' of those two yesterday. "Then it looks like Gryffindor lost a lot of points at the start of the term. How many did they lose?" Pansy asked expectantly.
"Uh, they didn't lose a single point. Our Head of House probably wanted to deduct some, but apparently, the term hadn't officially started yet, so they were only given detention as punishment." Draco found it hard to understand why Pansy was so obsessed with the House Cup.
"How disappointing." Pansy's lip curled up, clearly dissatisfied with the ruling.
"Just wait for the show later," Draco could only comfort her this way.
"What show?" She did not think anything interesting would happen in the Great Hall.
"There, it's about to start." Draco pointed to the owls flying into the Great Hall. Hundreds of owls circled above, finally splitting into four groups to drop letters and packages into the chatting crowd.
"Errol!" Ron shouted.
Perhaps having endured too much of his master's fury at home, the owl was in a daze and could not find its footing, plunging straight into Hermione's jug, splashing milk and feathers all over them. Ron had no choice but to pull the soaking wet owl out by its claws. Errol lay slumped on the table, legs in the air, with a damp red envelope in his beak.
Even though he did not want to open it, thinking of the potentially worse consequences, Ron tore it open anyway.
Almost everyone present, the moment the letter was opened, instinctively plugged their ears with their fingers. A massive noise filled the entire Great Hall, shaking dust down from the ceiling.
Harry never imagined that the usually gentle and kind Mrs Weasley could be so terrifying when angry. Her voice, a hundred times louder than usual, made the plates and spoons on the table rattle, and the echoes off the four stone walls were deafening. Everyone in the Great Hall turned to see who had received the howler letter, except for Draco and Pansy, who had already turned their heads. Ron shrank into his chair, only a bright red forehead visible, while Harry sat staring blankly at the opposite side.
"Oh, dear Ginny, congratulations on getting into Gryffindor. Your father and I are both so proud of you." At the very end, the howler letter's tone softened before it began to smoke and burst into flames.
Ginny lowered her head as if she were the one who had been disgraced.
Only a few students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw covered their mouths and snickered, while the laughter from the Slytherin side almost rivalled Mrs Weasley's voice just now. Pansy laughed until tears were about to come out, and did not forget to ask, "How did you know there would be a show?"
"With their family's standard of living, what do you think happens when a car is totalled?" Draco asked Pansy in return.
"Alright, it seems I can't understand the lives of the poor." Pansy gradually suppressed her laughter, as if realising it was not ladylike, then held out her hand and asked, "Where's my gift as promised?"
"I knew you were thinking about it." Draco smiled, pulled out a beautifully wrapped little box, and handed it to her.
"Can I open it?" Pansy was eager to try; actually, the question was redundant.
"Of course." Draco made a "please" gesture.
Pansy tore open the packaging. Inside the box lay an ancient-looking Golden Snitch. Rather than golden, it looked more grey; time had left too many marks on it, and its original metallic lustre had vanished.
Pansy covered her mouth with both hands, which had opened wide in surprise, because this gift was truly a wonderful surprise. She then asked, "Can it fly?"
"Of course, but we might need to go somewhere a bit smaller, otherwise it will be hard to find if it flies away." To fix this thing, Draco had taken the time to visit Borgin and Burkes again. To be honest, sometimes repairing something is indeed much more expensive than the item itself. Although the goblins were very generous to Draco for his great help, after buying the broomstick and this gift, Draco was basically penniless.
"Thank you," Pansy said with a blush.
"That's not like you," Draco said teasingly.
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