— — — — — —
"Whew… good thing we ran fast."
Back at the Gryffindor table, the twins downed large gulps of pumpkin juice at the same time. They exchanged a look, both seeing the same relief in each other's eyes.
George grabbed a piece of toast and stuffed it into his mouth, patting his chest as he mumbled, "I'm telling you, Tom was definitely planning to use us to get back at those Ilvermorny students."
"No kidding," Fred said confidently.
George rolled his eyes. "I'm guessing… he wanted us to take out that Ilvermorny champion, Jancey or whatever his name is. After all, Greengrass is in last place right now."
Fred smacked his lips, suddenly looking regretful. "You know what, I think we ran too fast. We didn't even hear what he was offering. If the price was good enough, getting used once wouldn't have been a bad deal."
"You know how generous Tom can be."
Both of them fell silent.
Things hadn't been going well lately. They'd bet almost all their money on Ludo Bagman's odds, and now forget profits, they couldn't even get their original stake back.
Bagman had been showing up at Hogwarts a lot recently, but he was slipperier than an eel. Never alone, always surrounded. No chance to corner him and demand payment.
They used to earn some extra cash working for Tom, but there hadn't been any jobs lately. They were barely getting by selling prank products to fund their experiments.
Suddenly, George's Codex started vibrating repeatedly. He pulled it out and saw a message from Tom.
It was simple. Just three names, the Ilvermorny students who had started the trouble, along with their cleaning schedule for the bathrooms starting tomorrow.
No extra words.
But the twins instantly got the message.
"So… want to give it a try?" Fred asked cautiously. "With or without Tom, we should avenge Ron anyway."
They'd already heard. Among the Hogwarts students, Ron and Crabbe had taken the worst beating. One had played meat shield, the other had basically turned into a magnet for stray spells. Ron, especially, had been hit from start to finish without ever getting back up.
"Technically, revenge isn't mandatory," George said, trying to sound reasonable.
But in the end, money won.
George tentatively wrote "100" in the Codex. Two seconds later, an "OK" hand sign popped up in response.
Both twins froze, then cried out at the same time. "Crap. We asked for too little!"
Still, professional ethics mattered. Once they took the money, they'd do the job.
---
That very night, word spread through Gryffindor that those three Ilvermorny students would be cleaning the bathrooms. With the twins' network, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff quickly caught on too.
"Oof!" Lee Jordan suddenly clutched his stomach and bent over, groaning dramatically. "Why do I feel like… I'm going to have a stomachache tomorrow…?"
The girls all looked disgusted. The boys, however, exchanged knowing smiles.
"Those sneaky Slytherins!" one Gryffindor boy shouted on purpose. "Trying to spike our breakfast!"
"Exactly! Shameless! They're planning to drug tomorrow's breakfast. George, Fred, we have to hit back hard!"
"We've got just the thing," Fred said immediately, eyes lighting up as he threw an arm around the boy's shoulders. "A special blend that only works for one morning."
"Give me one. I'll dose their breakfast tomorrow."
"Me too!"
"Same here!"
Orders poured in instantly. The twins set up a cauldron right there in the common room, brewing and bottling on the spot. Pale green smoke curled out of the cauldron as they grinned from ear to ear.
Not only were they getting paid by Tom, they were also selling products on the side. What a win.
George focused on brewing while Fred went around collecting orders. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students responded enthusiastically.
Slytherin, of course, wouldn't buy anything from the Weasleys. But a simple laxative? Plenty of them knew how to make one themselves. Zabini even stepped up to take charge.
...
The next morning, Gryffindor and Slytherin both followed through.
The entire castle descended into chaos.
Every bathroom on every floor was packed. The air was… unbearable.
The professors were completely baffled. They knew something was off, but what could they do? They couldn't exactly stop students from using the bathroom.
Or what, risk a disaster happening right there on the spot?
Even Tom was stunned.
What was wrong with these students? Just to mess with each other, they were willing to drag themselves down too?
If they wanted to make things harder for those cleaners, couldn't they just bring in more mess from somewhere else? Why go for this… self-sufficient approach?
Savage. Absolutely savage.
Tom shuddered.
He had a bad feeling about this.
For the next few days, Hogwarts was probably going to be a very… "fragrant" place.
Good thing tomorrow was Saturday. No way he was sticking around. He needed to grab his people and get out.
...
And as expected, things were only just getting started.
Gryffindor and Slytherin handled the chaos on the front lines, while Hufflepuff worked quietly behind the scenes.
In the past, when students were punished with cleaning duties, it was mostly for show. Once they left, the house-elves would sneak back and finish the job.
This time, the Hufflepuffs intercepted the elves.
They only allowed them to clean the common rooms and staff areas. The public bathrooms? Completely off-limits.
At first, the house-elves didn't dare agree. But their most beloved students were Hufflepuffs.
One or two requests they could resist. A whole group, earnestly pleading? They folded quickly, even risking punishment to comply.
It just proved one thing. Never make enemies of the people who handle logistics. They'll always find a way to make your life miserable.
Snape was a perfect example.
At the start of term, he'd thoroughly offended Professor Sprout. Now he didn't even have enough herbs for class. Every time he went to ask for supplies, she'd calmly say the plants were "unwell" and the harvest had been poor.
Rumor had it Snape had recently been buying ingredients out of his own pocket.
Paying to go to work.
...
As for Ravenclaws, they didn't contribute much physically. But they made up for it mentally. They hovered around the Ilvermorny students, dropping sarcastic remarks and backhanded comments nonstop. The psychological damage was arguably worse.
By Friday, the entire castle was a mess.
The three Ilvermorny students were pale from the smell. They actually went crying to their headmaster to complain.
At this rate, by the time they returned to Ilvermorny, they'd be permanently marinated.
But Fontaine couldn't help them. He'd agreed to the punishment yesterday. Backing out now would cost him far more face than a few students' suffering.
Still, he was grinding his teeth in frustration. From the headmaster down to the students, Hogwarts didn't play fair. What was meant to be a symbolic punishment had turned into outright torment.
"Sleep in tents tonight," he said coldly, tossing them two tents. "Don't stink up the rest of the building."
Then he walked off into the Ilvermorny residence, leaving the three students on the verge of tears.
If they could go back in time, they'd never have stuck their necks out like that.
...
Early Saturday morning, Tom packed up, ready to make a strategic retreat.
Right then, he received a message from Aberforth. He was back, and he'd brought the phoenix with him.
After a moment's thought, Tom decided to check it out, heading toward Hogsmeade.
The moment he stepped onto the second floor, Aberforth stormed over, looking ready to settle accounts.
"Tom! This is how you take care of my sister? I trusted you with her before I left, didn't I? Should've left her with Albus instead. Clearly I misjudged you."
The old man looked travel-worn and furious, as if Tom had done something unforgivable.
Tom ignored him, craning his neck to glance inside. Sure enough, Ariana stood beneath her portrait, secretly grinning at him.
"This is a competition, Aberforth," Tom said, pushing past him and walking in like he owned the place.
He moved straight to the cabinet, pulled out a clean glass, and poured himself some of Aberforth's homemade rum before speaking again.
"She chose to participate. If you're upset, shouldn't you be lecturing Ariana instead?"
"You can't spoil kids too much. Sometimes they need a little discipline, or they'll turn out badly."
Ariana instantly recalled all the times she'd annoyed Tom in the study room and gotten her butt smacked for it. For some reason, she suddenly felt the sting again.
"Huh?!"
The logic made sense.
But for a devoted brother, logic didn't matter.
Aberforth still blamed Tom.
"Who told you to come up with such ridiculous tasks? If you're setting the next challenges too, the champions might as well quit now. You'll break them sooner or later."
"I'm building their character," Tom replied lazily. "It's not like Daphne and Fleur didn't suffer too."
"Albus told me something," Aberforth shot back. "When you're in the mood, you don't care who gets caught up in it. Friend or not, as long as you're having fun, you'll do anything."
Tom's heart skipped a beat.
Damn. Since when did the old man understand him so well?
Aberforth kept going, and Tom felt his head start to ache. Enough was enough.
He pulled out his trump card.
A Lume-Lens flickered to life, and Aberforth's own voice echoed from it.
"Me? Work for that bastard Grindelwald?"
"Listen up, kid. I, Aberforth Dumbledore, would rather starve or get killed than—"
"STOP!"
Aberforth's face went deathly pale. Sweat poured down his temples as he lunged forward like a starving dog, slapped a silencing charm on the Lume-Lens, then turned back with a smile uglier than a grimace.
"Well… hardship is good for Ariana. Builds character. You're right. I've been spoiling her too much. Tom, you handled it well."
Ariana stood there, completely stunned.
Just what kind of leverage did Tom have on her brother that he'd fold this fast?
.
.
.