Looking Down on Everyone

"It’s okay, Harry. No one will notice you."

As she spoke, Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked over, each holding a Butterbeer, and sat down at a table not far from them.

"Even if they do notice, who would know your guardian didn’t sign the permission slip, or that you snuck out under the Invisibility Cloak?"

Adam: "…"

He looked around. The expressions of the other four at his table were equally strange.

"Can they… not see us?"

Lowering his voice, Klon asked the question in utter confusion.

Adam glanced at the potted holly tree between their table and Harry’s. No matter how he looked at it, it did not seem capable of concealing them. Even if they did not recognize them, could they not recognize their school uniforms?

Or was it…

Adam looked at the Hufflepuff badge on his chest.

Were Hufflepuffs really that lacking in presence?

"Sigh… Thanks for being willing to have a drink with me."

Harry suddenly sighed.

"Professor Trelawney’s prediction earlier really put a lot of pressure on me…"

"You’re still thinking about that prediction?"

Hermione’s voice suddenly rose an octave.

"I told you, she’s just a fraud—"

"Oh, come on, Harry. Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t care what other people think at all."

Ron rather rudely cut Hermione off.

"…"

The conversation at the next table was far too lively—and far too oblivious to everyone around them. For a moment, Adam did not know whether he should continue chatting, but he could not help becoming curious about what they were discussing.

After all, gossip was human nature…

Comforting himself with that thought, Adam took a sip of Butterbeer and, with a clear conscience, pricked up his ears.

"Actually, before school started…"

Harry hesitated before telling them about how he had inflated his aunt and left the Dursleys’ home.

"What?!"

Hermione cried out, then asked Harry in a lowered voice—though Adam and the others could still hear every word clearly:

"The Ministry of Magic didn’t throw you into Azkaban?"

"You never told us about that!"

Ron slapped the table excitedly, not bothering to lower his voice. Adam suspected even the people beyond the wall could hear him.

"Then where did you stay before school started? Why didn’t you come find us?"

"Um… I stayed at the Leaky Cauldron, but that isn’t the important part."

Harry rather stiffly skipped over the subject.

"The important thing is, right after I left the Dursleys’ house, at that intersection, I really saw a huge black dog!"

"…So?"

Hermione seemed unable to understand.

"There are who knows how many black dogs in all of London! If Professor Trelawney had said your omen was a rubbish bin, a streetlamp, or something else…"

"No, I made eye contact with that Black Hound. Its eyes… I can’t really explain it, but it felt like I was looking into a person’s eyes!"

The table next to them fell silent, seemingly stunned by Harry’s story.

"Are you done drinking? Let’s go somewhere else and look around."

After finishing his Butterbeer, Eugene set his cup down on the table with a bang. The three at the next table visibly jumped, especially Harry. He instinctively reached behind himself and nearly sprang out of his seat.

Adam glanced at the back of his chair. It seemed to be missing a piece of wood… He remembered that before Harry sat down, he had seemed to make a motion as though putting something down. Was the Invisibility Cloak there?

"You—you were eavesdropping on us?"

Ron’s face flushed red with anger.

"I remember you. You’re Fred and George’s younger brother… Ron, right?"

Uther snapped back without any courtesy.

"We were sitting here long before you arrived. You were the ones who ignored our existence all the way over as if no one else was around. Who would be interested in your little secrets?"

"You—"

"Enough, Ron. Adam and the others really were there before us. We just didn’t see them."

Harry tugged on Ron’s sleeve.

If someone had come in, they could not possibly have missed it, so Adam and the others must have been sitting there from the start. Already in the wrong, and with the guilt from last year still lingering, Harry had even less desire to clash with Adam.

"…Fine."

Ron looked at Harry and Hermione, then at the five people opposite him. After thinking it over, he sat back down.

Lowering his head, Harry glanced in Adam’s direction and fell into a struggle.

Because of him, Adam had gotten into trouble last term. Harry had always wanted to go apologize, but…

Apologizing sounded easy enough in theory, but when it came time to actually do it, even a simple "I’m sorry" was incredibly hard to say.

Even if he tossed and turned until midnight the night before and firmly resolved to apologize the next day, it would turn into, "I’ll apologize after lunch," "I’ll apologize after class," "I’ll apologize after school," "I’ll apologize tonight"… and in the end, lying in bed, it would become, "I’ll definitely apologize tomorrow."

Unaware of Harry’s tangled thoughts, Adam had long since stopped taking last year’s incident to heart.

Adam had not wanted attention because of the Chamber of Secrets; that had been his own choice. Harry had probably only wanted Adam to receive points and praise, just as Harry had in his first year. If Adam had to blame anyone, it should have been Dobby.

"You can’t take the cup with you. Sit a little longer and wait until we’ve all finished drinking."

Adam glanced at Eugene. Adam did not know whether Eugene had been listening along with him just now, but Eugene really had been diligently drinking Butterbeer the entire time…

Adam conjured a plate of spicy peanuts, a plate of creamy sunflower seeds, and a basket of popcorn on the table for Eugene and everyone else to snack on with their drinks. Then he raised his Butterbeer and took another sip.

He had not paid much attention to its taste before, but now that he savored it carefully, Butterbeer really was quite good. Its rich, smooth texture balanced out the beer’s faint bitterness perfectly, making the aroma of malt even stronger.

Unfortunately, he still preferred soda and milk tea.

Even so, Adam did not turn the Butterbeer in his cup into something else. Instead, he properly finished this drink, which was still somewhat novel to him, then took a piece of popcorn from the basket and tossed it into his mouth.

Once all five had finished their Butterbeers, Adam considered the people at the next table and symbolically took out his wand, gave it a wave, and cleared away the clutter on the table. Then he picked up the empty cups and prepared to leave.

Hermione’s eyes flickered slightly. Had Adam’s studies already progressed to the point where he could cast the Vanishing Charm silently…?

"Wait, Adam!"

Harry gritted his teeth and chased after them.

"Hm?"

Seeing the five people ahead turn around together, Harry nearly bit his tongue. At the same time, he could not help regretting chasing after them… But the thought had barely surfaced before Harry crushed it. He had already put this off until his second year. If he delayed any longer, was he supposed to wait until after graduation to apologize?

"Um, well… could I speak to Adam alone for a moment?"

Although he had resolved to force himself to apologize, Harry clearly had not prepared himself to do so in front of so many people.

Adam did not know what Harry wanted with him, but he did not need to worry that someone as capable as Harry intended to harm him. So he handed the empty cup in his hand to Klon, who was closest to him.

"Help me return this to Madam Rosmerta. I’ll talk to Harry for a moment…"

Klon took the cup, glanced at Harry, and nodded to Adam.

"Then we’ll wait for you at Honeydukes Sweetshop."

They had heard that Honeydukes Sweetshop had introduced several new products to attract customers, and they had previously discussed going there to "scout out the competition."

After Klon and the others left, Adam looked at Harry.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about alone?"