Adam Lost a Fortune

The sky grew darker and darker.

Along with the familiar cold that seemed to seep into their very hearts, everyone could not help recalling what they had experienced at the start of term.

The rain had stopped at some point, yet the chill in the air had only become more piercing. Everyone could see things gathering amid the dark clouds, rolling toward them.

"D-Dementors!"

With that cry, the stands erupted into chaos.

The joy Quidditch had brought the entire school was simply too tempting in the Dementors’ eyes. Unlike the feast, when everyone had been inside the castle, they were now all out in the open on the Quidditch pitch.

From a human perspective, it was like scallops opening their own shells and exposing their tender, delicious flesh to lure people into eating them.

Who could resist that?

So the Dementors moved in.

Not to mention that they were not actually employees of the Ministry of Magic, merely partners at most. Even taking the Ministry into account, the only order they had received was not to enter the castle—they had not entered the castle, had they?

Though they apparently considered that perfectly logical, some people clearly had no intention of listening to their reasoning.

With the Dementors’ arrival, it was not only Eugene and Uther who were severely affected. Harry, still in the air, was as well!

Harry plummeted headfirst from the sky, while the Nimbus 2000 Professor McGonagall had bought for him spun out of control and wobbled toward the Forbidden Forest.

"Cushioning Charm!"

At that critical moment, Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet and cast a wandless spell at Harry. Harry’s descent immediately slowed.

Only then did Professor Dumbledore look up at the Dementors in the sky, his eyes filled with a fury no one had ever seen in the eyes of this highly respected wizard.

Oh boy…

Adam could not see clearly, but he did not miss the magic surging like a volcano on the verge of eruption. It seemed a certain Minister for Magic would be very busy for a while.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Professor Dumbledore’s voice drew Adam’s attention back. Magic and surging emotion intertwined as a silvery-white substance swept across the sky like crashing waves. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Dementors were flattened and torn apart the instant the waves struck them…

Nonexistence had no concept of death. They appeared because of emotion and vanished because of emotion. Even when torn apart, they would only reform amid despair and emptiness.

But their instinctive aversion to positive emotions still made the Dementors keep their distance from the Quidditch pitch.

"My God…"

Almost none of them had ever seen the Patronus Charm before, and even those who had had never witnessed one on such a scale. As they watched the sky suddenly become bright and clear, every young wizard was left stunned.

It was also at that moment that the Slytherin team seized the Golden Snitch and claimed victory in the match.

However, when everyone returned to the ground and excitedly looked toward their Head of House, they found Professor Snape standing beside Professor Dumbledore. He paid no attention to their victory at all, instead staring at Harry sprawled on the ground with a livid expression.

"Rolanda, continue with what you need to do. I’ll take Harry to the hospital wing first."

After speaking gently to Madam Hooch, Professor Dumbledore waved his wand. A stretcher appeared beneath Harry, lifting him from the grass, and Professor Dumbledore headed straight for the castle with it.

After Professor Dumbledore left, Madam Hooch resumed officiating the match and declared Slytherin the winner.

After the match, everyone dispersed. Only one person remained standing in the middle of the field, welcoming the rain clouds slowly gathering overhead once more.

"That’s Gryffindor’s captain, Oliver Wood."

Cedric glanced back at him, unable to keep himself from feeling pity.

"If I remember correctly, ever since he joined Gryffindor, the Gryffindor team has never beaten Slytherin for the Quidditch Cup. Not even once… He’ll be graduating after this year, won’t he?"

"So are you planning to go easy on Gryffindor in your match against them?"

Adam turned to look at him.

Slytherin had indeed defeated Gryffindor in this match, but that was not good news for either House.

The conditions had been too terrible, and the match had ended too quickly. Neither team had earned many points—the final Quidditch Cup standings were determined not by how many matches each team won, but by the total points they earned throughout the season.

That was why Quidditch had so many loopholes. In a Quidditch competition like Hogwarts’s, with only four teams, if one team decided to feed points to another and was not too weak itself, it could absolutely push the other team into becoming champions.

"How could I?"

Cedric lifted his chin.

"This is the year Hufflepuff has the best chance of winning the championship!"

With the food motivation buff from Adam, if Hufflepuff still could not win this year, they would not have much hope over the next few years either.

"Mm, I’m looking forward to the final results."

Adam smiled and nodded, then looked at Uther and Eugene.

"Come on, let’s go set up our stall at the North Tower~"

The Dementors’ intrusion cast a shadow over this year’s Quidditch matches. In response, Adam specially introduced a soothing set meal, sweet enough to melt into one’s heart, and it was permanently discounted. Even young wizards who had not been frightened could not resist buying and buying, with some even purchasing them on behalf of their families.

"The set meal was already discounted, and now there’s an extra discount on top of that? Adam must be losing a fortune! I’m buying ten sets!"

Watching Seamus immediately reach for his money, Harry hesitated before speaking.

"But… Adam prepared these especially for people frightened by the Dementors. Isn’t it a little wrong for us to take advantage of that?"

"Actually, I was frightened by the Dementors too. You just can’t tell from the outside."

Seamus’s barefaced lie earned him a disapproving look from Harry.

The twins had somehow appeared behind them. After hearing Harry’s words, their expressions became rather complicated.

Yes, yes, Adam was losing a fortune. If everyone in Hogwarts bought just one extra set, Adam would lose so much he’d go bankrupt!

If the loss in the first Quidditch match had left the Gryffindors somewhat downcast, then the Defense Against the Dark Arts class that followed caught them even more off guard.

"Your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is ill. I’ll be substituting for this class."

Professor Snape stood behind the lectern with a gloomy, faint smile. Adam felt that Professor Snape’s current mood probably had little to do with the green plum essence-flavored Wolfsbane Potion Adam had brewed before.

Professor Snape was naturally fond of smiling, after all. What could it possibly have to do with an ordinary passing badger like him?

That was what Adam thought after Professor Snape gave him a pointed glance.

"Your original progress has been far too slow…"

After explaining why he was teaching the class, Professor Snape viciously criticized a certain Defense Against the Dark Arts professor’s incompetence, then gave them a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson somewhat ahead of their current level.

The main content was how to identify werewolves hidden among ordinary people and how to deal with them.

"Next class, I expect to see every one of your essays."

After assigning the homework, Professor Snape drifted away, leaving a chorus of wails behind him.

There was nothing they could do. Professor Lupin’s lessons had been humorous and engaging, and he had hardly assigned any homework. This was nothing like that…

"A three-foot-long essay. Does Professor Snape have a grudge against werewolves or something?"

Even Eugene could not help complaining as he packed up his books and notes.

He had Quidditch training this year, along with two electives and helping Adam watch the shop. He did not have nearly as much free time as last year.

Adam could not help glancing at him upon hearing that. It had been a long time since he had heard one of Eugene’s prophetic remarks, and he rather missed them.

All Adam could do was narrow his eyes and agree.

"Who knows? Maybe he really does…"