Adam’s Secret Base

"So, which one of us had the strangest Boggart?"

Klon suddenly spoke up. The five of them looked at each other, and four silently raised their hands to point at Bernard.

Bernard, who had been pointing at Adam: "???"

"You’re slandering me! Could my Boggart possibly be stranger than Adam’s?"

"He had an unpleasant encounter with Uther during the holidays. It’s only natural that what he thought about by day appeared in his dreams at night. But aren’t your parents clearly very close?"

Klon looked at him speechlessly.

"Your persecution complex… You always doubt other people’s feelings for you, yet you’re so deeply invested in your feelings for others. That’s really strange!"

"When have I ever?! You… don’t make things up!"

"I’m really worried about Bernard when he starts dating in the future."

Adam sighed with an old-fashioned air.

"If he got dumped, he seemed like the type who’d sit up in the middle of the night and secretly cry, writing letters while he cried to ask exactly what he’d done wrong."

"No, no, no. I think he’d be more likely to pin the other person down, point his wand at them, and coldly demand to know why they dumped him, while crying and throwing a tantrum internally."

Eugene analyzed the matter calmly, his reasoning sound and convincing.

At first, Bernard had merely flushed bright red. But as everyone continued teasing him, his eyes gradually began spinning.

"Ahem, all right, all right, let’s not talk about this…"

In the end, Adam’s occasionally present conscience kicked in and put a stop to Bernard’s torment.

After class, Adam left the group alone. He was heading into the Forbidden Forest for a rather special date.

"Have you been waiting long?"

Leaning on the Wand of Darkness and dressed in new clothes, Adam arrived at his "secret base."

He had specially commissioned the outfit from a Muggle clothing store. It balanced comfort and style, and looked roughly like the same kind of mage’s robe Eriol Hiiragizawa wore—even with a matching hat.

Guarded by magical plants such as the Whomping Willow, Venomous Tentacula, and Devil’s Snare, the spot lay amid thick bushes. Four unicorns had gathered there, and upon seeing Adam arrive, they trotted eagerly over and circled him several times.

"Long time no see. I missed you too~"

More precisely, they hadn’t seen each other for an entire holiday. But judging by the surroundings, the unicorn family had protected this secret base very well during that time.

Adam took out several glass bottles and placed them on a rack made of branches. Then he opened his arms to the unicorns. They all affectionately rubbed against him, but the smallest-looking unicorn was clearly more impatient. After only a brief moment of nuzzling, it seized Adam’s sleeve in its teeth and tugged him toward the bushes ahead.

"I know, I know. Don’t rush…"

Adam ran his hand through its smooth, silver-thread-like coat, then waved the Wand of Darkness. A complex magic circle lit up beneath his feet—

In the blink of an eye, the bushes became laden with fruit. Blueberries, strawberries, red currants, raspberries… Every berry was sweet, juicy, and tempting to both humans and beasts. The unicorns stamped their hooves excitedly before plunging their heads into the bushes and feasting greedily.

"Mmm~"

Adam plucked a blueberry for himself and popped it into his mouth. Its fresh sweetness spread across his tongue, making him smile happily.

"As expected, when conjuring fruits and vegetables, it’s better to use the Tree Card’s magic. The Sweet Card can make sweet fruit too, but perhaps it’s just psychological—this freshly picked natural freshness is hard to replicate."

The Wand of Darkness tapped against the earth. On trees, among bushes, and along vines… countless fruits ripened, ignoring the restrictions of season and climate. Just then, a breeze passed through, carrying waves of intoxicating fruity fragrance.

Apples and pears, watermelons and pomegranates, mangoes and grapes, cherries and sugar apples, longans and lychees… When dozens of kinds of fruit were picked at the very moment of ripeness and delivered before someone, surely no one could refuse.

And if they could, what about a seedless, peeled, sliced, and neatly plated version?

Adam spent some time playing with the unicorns in the Forbidden Forest, then went to catch up with the hippogriffs the unicorns had introduced him to. After that, he played with the mooncalves for a while… Without realizing it, Adam had built up quite a network among the forest’s beasts.

Only after the sun had set did Adam, having simply eaten a dinner of three meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, one soup, and assorted fruit, return to the kitchen with an enormous quantity of fruit stuffed into his satchel.

A Purifying Charm removed the pits and peels, followed by several Sectumsempra spells that sliced the fruit into bite-sized pieces. He layered them together in twelve glass plates connected through the center to prevent their flavors from mixing, then decorated them with jelly, chocolate, and small cakes. Just like that, an ultimate luxury fruit tower was complete.

Once the plating was done, Adam became the center of attention the instant he entered the Hufflepuff common room.

Mainly because the nearly two-meter-tall fruit tower floating behind Adam was simply too eye-catching… And perhaps because of the glass containers, the entire tower seemed to glow under the light!

"Adam~"

Several Hufflepuffs who had been chatting wandered over to Adam on slightly unsteady feet. Looking at the fruit tower, they couldn’t help swallowing.

"Is that behind you a new product…?"

"Nope~ Uther and the others are mainly running Adam’s Snack Shop now, so new products will be released much more slowly. Besides, I don’t think arranging fruit on a plate with a few decorations counts as a new dessert."

With a flick of his finger, Adam set the fruit tower steadily onto the table in the middle of the common room.

"Just like last year, Professor Dumbledore asked me to serve as the head chef for the Halloween feast. Since some rather unfriendly people have appeared around the school this year, Professor Dumbledore added an extra payment and asked me to lift everyone’s spirits through the Halloween feast. So I’ve prepared a few surprises for it."

"Um…"

Hearing this, the Hufflepuffs exchanged looks.

"If that’s the case, isn’t it bad for you to let us know in advance?"

Senior Bruce voiced everyone’s thoughts.

"Oh? Of course not, because this fruit tower isn’t the surprise I meant. But it will indeed appear at the Halloween feast—if everyone likes it."

Adam smiled faintly and looked at everyone.

"So what are you waiting for? Hurry up and try it! First-years, take the forks from the bottom tier! As for everyone else, there isn’t enough room around the table for so many people, so make good use of your Levitation Charms~"

"Come on, Adam. Even if you made the most ordinary fruit gummies, we’d still support you…"

Senior Bruce’s gaze lingered over the fruit tower. As a longtime customer of Adam’s, his sharp eye quickly noticed that the stars of the fruit tower were still the fruits themselves. Among those fruits, excluding the ones he recognized…

Bruce waved his wand, and a piece of white, jade-like fruit flesh floated into his mouth.

The moment he bit down, an unbelievable sweetness bloomed in Bruce’s mouth. He even thought he had eaten a piece of candy—but the burst of fragrant juice and the marvelous texture immediately made him realize that no candy could create such a flavor.

Every Hufflepuff found fruits on the tower they had never seen before. For a time, the candies and little cakes were actually neglected…

As the fruit tower was rapidly consumed, everyone became even more interested in the surprise Adam had mentioned.

Amid everyone’s eager anticipation, Halloween slowly drew near… Yet for the third-years and older students, the day before Halloween was also very important.

It was the day they could leave the school and head to Hogsmeade to relax!