Compared to the agitated Slytherins, the atmosphere on the Gryffindor side was much more cheerful, especially after seeing Rosier storm angrily out of the Auditorium—they laughed even louder.
"George, is this the Nimbus 2000?"
After the Slytherins had all left, a dark-skinned boy with long braids couldn't wait any longer—he squeezed up to the twins, urging, "Well, what are you waiting for? Show us already."
His words were immediately echoed by the others, "Yeah, come on, open it up and let us have a look."
"Merlin's beard, this has to be the best broom yet—even some pro teams probably don't have a Nimbus 2000."
Yet despite everyone's urging, Fred and George showed absolutely no intention of opening the package.
George glanced at the person next to him with obvious disdain and said, "Hey, Lee Jordan, I'm Fred—can you still not tell us apart?"
"Sorry, Fred, I can see—"
"Nope, I'm Fred."
Beside them, the real Fred hooked his arm around his shoulder, "You fell for such a simple trick? Honestly, I'm starting to doubt if you're really our best friend."
Poor Lee Jordan was utterly baffled. He looked from one identical face to the other, but simply couldn't tell the difference.
They really must have been copied and pasted or something.
"Fine, Fred-George, my apologies." Lee Jordan shook his head, took a deep breath, and said, "I don't care which one of you it is, can you just let me see the Nimbus 2000? Just a peek."
Pretty please?"
Normally, Lee Jordan would have pointed at the twins' noses, talked some smack about their dumb tricks, and probably thrown in a few choice words.
But now, not only did he not do that, he actually apologized, lowering himself a lot.
No helping it, when you're under someone's roof, you have to play by their rules. As a die-hard Quidditch fan, the lure of a brand-new broom—one that hadn't even been released yet—was just too much. If he didn't get a look, he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
"What Nimbus 2000?" Fred shot him a look, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Our broom's just a dusty old Cleansweep Five."
"I get it, you're trying to keep it a secret..." Lee Jordan glanced around. "But all the Slytherins have left, it's just us here—one look won't hurt..."
Fred and George said nothing.
"How about we go back to the common room?" Someone suggested, "It'll be safe to open it there."
"You can't do that…" Some Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw kids protested, "We want to see it too!"
But nobody cared about their opinion now.
The Gryffindors crowded around the twins and all swarmed out of the Auditorium.
But when they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Fred and George had disappeared.
"They must've run off when we were heading upstairs."
Lee Jordan was super aggrieved. "Outrageous! They even guard against their own team!"
By lunchtime, the mood at the Slytherin table was still heavy.
They'd spent the whole morning turning Hogwarts upside down and hadn't even caught a glimpse of Fred or George—it was like the two had just evaporated out of thin air.
Meanwhile, the ones who'd sent letters home got nothing back. Some of the parents with quick tempers even scolded them soundly in their replies, telling them to focus more on their studies and stop wasting time on pointless stuff.
Rosier was one of them.
"Nimbus 2000? I've got a Nimbus 2100 for you, how about that!"
He crumpled up the letter in his hand, about to fling it away, but suddenly thought of something and held it back, snapping furiously, "Still nothing?"
Everyone else gave each other blank looks, saying nothing.
"Pathetic!"
Just as Rosier was about to overturn a plate, a Slytherin player came running in a hurry.
"Captain, I've got news."
Marcus Flint grinned, showing a row of big teeth, and said, "When I passed by the Quidditch Pitch, I saw the whole Gryffindor team there—they must be trying to test out the new broom while we're having lunch in the hall."
Rosier looked up.
Sure enough, all the Gryffindor players were missing from the Auditorium.
"Captain, do you want to go check it out?" Marcus asked tentatively.
"Let's go!"
Rosier didn't hesitate, leading his crowd straight toward the Quidditch Pitch.
Just like Marcus said, the entire Gryffindor team was there—but instead of training or testing out the broom, they were… fighting?
To be precise, it was the Weasley twins who were fighting, with everyone else trying to break them up.
Seeing this, Marcus was overjoyed, "The Gryffindors are having internal strife?"
The game was happening that afternoon—seeing the enemy split apart now was fantastic news for Slytherin.
Rosier also noticed that the package the owl brought that morning was lying near the corridor where they were standing.
And no one was watching it.
…
A minute later, the Slytherins all left the Quidditch Pitch, huddled together and shielding someone in the middle as tight as possible.
They didn't go back to the Auditorium to eat, or even the common room, but found a random empty classroom and ducked inside.
When the door was closed, they finally spread out, revealing the person in the middle—along with the long package he was holding.
"Captain, is it safe to hide it here?" Marcus said nervously, "I still think we should just stash it back in the common—"
He didn't even finish when Rosier gave him a kick.
He wasn't trying to steal the broom, just hide it before the match, so the Gryffindors couldn't use it.
Leaving it in the common room? What if someone blabbed?
"Slytherin steals a broom?"
If word got out, Professor Snape would be the first to skin him alive.
Rosier looked around and saw that all the desks in this place were piled thick with dust—it clearly hadn't been used in ages.
"Here's good. Make sure it's hidden well." Rosier said.
But nobody moved; everyone just stood there staring at the one holding the package.
After a long silence, someone suddenly suggested, "Should we open it? What if it's not the broom inside? All our effort would've been for nothing."
The others all nodded in agreement.
"No way, not opening it."
Rosier refused flat out, snatching the package away and setting it aside.
He knew the Gryffindors—if the news was fake, whatever's in the package definitely wasn't going to be anything nice.
It was safest left unopened here.
"Heh heh heh, clever little brats."
A milky-white Dwarf suddenly appeared at the window.
"Buzz off, Peeves!" Rosier said darkly.
"Rude little brats! You'll be punished!"
Peeves, furious, shattered the glass and threw a balloon full of liquid inside.
The balloon didn't hit anyone, but landed right on the package with perfect aim.
No idea if it was water or what, but the package instantly started swelling up violently.
"I knew it… damned Peeves!"
Rosier turned to leave, but the door was jammed and wouldn't open from the inside.
He pulled out his wand, "Bombarda—"
"Boom…"
There was a huge bang—and the package finally exploded, sending a thick stench flooding the entire classroom.