Harry shoved the cabbage into a small bag, the same one he had bought from a mysterious wizard in Diagon Alley.
Invisible Extension Charm bags were now prohibited from being sold.
Trunks were an exception; first-years had to buy them from designated vendors.
He also stuffed his dragonhide gloves into his pocket; without gloves, his hands would get bitten if he went after the cabbage.
He also needed to buy some cabbage seeds on his way to Diagon Alley, Harry thought.
Neville was quite skilled at growing it, so he could trust him with the task.
However, cabbage seeds weren't sold to junior wizards like him in Diagon Alley; he'd have to go to the other Diagon Alley.
Harry tucked the bag into his pocket and quietly slipped out of the dormitory.
When he returned to the Great Hall, the twins were clearly growing impatient.
"Oh, you're back," Fred said.
"Fred thought you were scared and made up an excuse to run away," came George's voice.
"Relax, even if you two desert, I won't," Harry said. "Gryffindor never falters due to a lack of courage, right?"
"Courage to make the professor take off his suspicious hood?" The twins exchanged a look and high-fived. "That's it!"
"Listen," Harry said, sitting down and tapping his finger on the table. "Here's the plan. The three of us will keep an eye on Quirrell as planned. You two will throw snowballs. If Quirrell takes off his hood, fine. If not, I'll handle the rest. Got it?"
"Got it, King Leo," the twins said in unison.
"Great." Harry glanced at the clock. "It's 7:50. We have ten minutes to position ourselves—"
At that moment, Hedwig appeared, floating in.
Perhaps because of the cold, Hedwig flew sluggishly, and when she reached Harry, she practically collapsed into his arms.
"Your bird doesn't look too good," Fred said. "I think you should buy some owl supplements, especially since it's so cold."
"You're right," Harry said, taking the letter Hedwig had been carrying.
"Oh, oh, oh—" George saw the handwriting on the envelope. "Looks like it was written by a girl…"
"Alright, George, respect other people's privacy," Fred pulled George aside and said to Harry. "Harry, we'll scout the area for you."
"Alright, I'll be right there," Harry replied.
Once the twins left, Harry opened the letter.
It smelled like vanilla. He unfolded it, and it read:
"Mr. Potter,
I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. Being the Head of Slytherin is not only an honor but also a responsibility of equal measure.
Do you have time today? I'll be waiting in an empty classroom on the second floor. Please ask your owl to bring back a response.
I'll be waiting.
Sincerely,
Gemma Farley."
Miss Farley?
Harry folded the letter and put it back in the envelope.
What was she up to?
Since she made the invitation, Harry had no reason to decline.
"Am I, a Gryffindor, afraid of a Slytherin?" Harry thought. He then borrowed some paper and a pen from a cheerful Hufflepuff boy sitting behind him and wrote a reply to Gemma, asking Hedwig to deliver it.
"Thanks for the paper and the pen." After writing his response, Harry handed the paper and pen back to the boy. "Hello, I'm Harry Potter."
"Hello, of course, I know you." The boy smiled widely and shook Harry's hand. "Cedric Diggory, you can call me Cedric."
"Alright, Cedric." Harry nodded and pointed toward the door. "Sorry, the Weasley twins are waiting for me outside."
"I won't bother you anymore, Harry." Cedric smiled and said, "Go ahead, don't make them wait."
Harry grabbed a glass of water from the table, took a big gulp, said goodbye to Cedric, and hurried out.
The Weasley twins were already crouched behind the bushes outside, well bundled up in their robes, gritting their teeth and shouting into the north wind.
"Hey, guys," Harry greeted as he quickly walked over to them, immediately noticing the snowballs, launched by cannons behind them, resembling Napoleon's artillery reserves.
"What is this?!" he asked, his pupils dilated in shock. "We weren't planning to ambush Quirrell, were we? The amount of snowballs you two made is enough to take out all the professors at the school, you idiots!"
"Snowballs," the twins presented their new product to Harry, unconcerned. "Look, this is the regular version."
Fred grabbed a snowball the size of two fists and squeezed it hard.
"This is the extra version." George also grabbed a snowball, but instead of crushing it, he rubbed the snow off the surface with his thumb, revealing a crystal-clear ice ball inside.
Harry's eyelids fluttered. My God, you two are a piece of work.
I just wanted to throw a biting Chinese cabbage at Professor Quirrell, and what are you two doing?! What are you trying to pull?!
"That's a bit much, don't you think?" Harry asked hesitantly.
"Well," Fred shrugged, speaking to Harry, "it's better than continuing to suffer from garlic. I'd prefer Professor Snape replace us in Defense Against the Dark Arts — Gryffindor will lose points, but at least we'll learn something useful."
"Shhh!" George suddenly grabbed both of them and pulled them down to crouch. "Quiet, someone's coming!"
The three of them peered furtively through the bushes. Professor Quirrell, holding a book under his arm, was strolling calmly toward the Great Hall of Hogwarts.
"Get ready—" Fred whispered.
As Quirrell passed them, his back completely exposed, the twins exchanged a look, grabbed a snowball, and smashed it hard into the back of Quirrell's neck.
"Who!" Quirrell asked frantically, desperately trying to remove the turban wrapped around his head.
However, he continued to struggle, showing no intention of removing it.
The twins tried to grab another snowball, but Harry stopped them.
"Look," he said.
Harry put on his dragonhide gloves, and amid the twins' initial confusion, followed by shock and, finally, reverence, he pulled the pot of Chinese cabbage out of his Invisible Extension Charm pocket.
The cabbage, propelled by the cold wind, shook its round body twice and even sneezed.
Carrying the pot of cabbage with both hands, Harry quickly ran toward Quirrell.
When he was about to reach him, Harry deliberately slipped and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
The pot of cabbage shattered with a crash, and the round cabbage bounced nearly a meter high on the ground like a basketball.
Then, with the speed of lightning, the cabbage bit Quirrell's neck as he adjusted his turban.
"Ah—!!!"
Quirrell let out a blood-curdling scream.
/------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Read more chapters on my Patreon: https://patreon.com/SailorTranslations?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink