"Senior, let's go!"
At around ten o'clock, David appeared in the common room and invited the senior lounging on the sofa.
I managed to get the senior with the big waves to spend time with me alone at night. My damn charm is really something.
"Let's go!"
Penelope stretched out her hand for David to pull her up and followed him out of the common room.
Here at Hogwarts, she wasn't afraid that David would betray her.
After descending the spiral staircase, David pulled out a worn parchment from his robe pocket.
"I solemnly swear that I have done nothing good!"
As he tapped the parchment with his wand and recited the phrase, lines of ink spread across it, revealing a detailed map of Hogwarts. Filch was on the west side of the third floor, while Dumbledore remained in his office on the eighth floor.
Penelope, who witnessed everything, was stunned. A map that could track the exact locations of everyone in Hogwarts? Isn't this practically an invasion of privacy?
No wonder David dared to sneak out at night without hesitation. Getting caught with this tool would be nearly impossible.
However, something didn't add up. It made sense for a pureblood to have such a rare alchemical artifact, but David, like her, was born into a Muggle family. So where did he get it? Judging from how old and worn it looked, it had been around for a while.
David, noticing Penelope's puzzled gaze, explained, "This is the Marauder's Map. If you recite the phrase I just said, it activates. It was created by some former Hogwarts students who have long since graduated. Fred and George found it by accident and gave it to me."
"Fred Weasley and George Weasley?"
Penelope knew them well despite being in a different year. The Weasley twins were infamous at Hogwarts, especially for their mischief and pranks.
And speaking of the Weasley family, their older brother Percy had once tried to pursue her back in third year, though she had rejected him without much thought.
"Yeah, those two."
"Are you close with them?"
This was clearly a rare alchemical artifact, and no one would just give it away. David and the twins were in different houses, different years—one was Muggle-born, the other pureblood. What kind of connection did they even have?
"Very close. We went to Hogsmeade together this afternoon!"
"You also went to Hogsmeade?"
Penelope was starting to feel like she didn't understand David at all.
Does he even care about Hogwarts' rules? Is he sure he's a Ravenclaw and not a Gryffindor?
"Yeah, is there a problem with that?"
David nodded nonchalantly, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"Do you realize I'm a prefect? And you're just admitting this in front of me?"
Penelope sighed. In front of this junior, her authority as a prefect seemed completely useless.
"Senior, are you going to report me to Professor Flitwick?"
David turned to her with a smirk.
Penelope patted his shoulder, met his gaze, and grinned. "Next time, I'll take you there!"
She really is the flirtiest senior.
The two of them continued chatting as they walked toward the eighth floor.
"Are we heading to the Headmaster's office?"
Penelope was confused. As far as she knew, the only thing on the eighth floor was Dumbledore's office, and practicing magic near it seemed like a bad idea. Any loud noise could easily alert the Headmaster.
"Just follow me."
David led her to a seemingly ordinary section of the wall, directly across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet.
"Have you heard of the Room of Requirement, senior?"
"All Requirement?"
Penelope raised an eyebrow. What kind of place dares to claim it can provide for all requirements?
"Walk past this wall three times while thinking about what you need, and the room will appear. And don't worry—most people don't even know it exists, let alone use it."
"Really? Let me test it out."
Following David's instructions, Penelope paced back and forth three times, and just as he had said, a door appeared out of thin air.
Curious, she pushed it open. David followed, only to be stunned by what he saw inside.
"Are you serious?"
He couldn't believe his eyes. Instead of a study or training room, the space before them resembled a dazzling crystal palace straight out of a fairy tale.
"What's wrong with it?"
Penelope, meanwhile, was thrilled, marveling at the sparkling decor.
Like many young girls, she had dreamed of a princess castle, but Hogwarts, with its medieval practicality, had never fulfilled that fantasy.
After they finished exploring, they reshaped the room into a proper practice space.
David had originally planned to train alone, but Penelope insisted on staying with him.
"Senior, try this!"
David handed her a small bottle of green liquid.
It was a potion he had brewed with his roommates earlier, and he wanted Penelope to test it.
As a first-year, no one would believe him even if he claimed the potion worked, especially when it cost five Galleons a bottle. But Penelope, a well-respected prefect, had credibility.
"What is it?"
Penelope shook the bottle, examining it.
"A love potion!"
"Yeah, right. I don't believe you."
Without hesitation, she downed the potion in one gulp. As if I wouldn't recognize a love potion. It's not even the right color.
"It's actually a Buffy Brain Refresher. It helps with studying and magic practice. The effect lasts about twenty minutes."
Penelope's eyes lit up. "I've been practicing the Shield Charm. Let me try it now!"
The Shield Charm was notoriously difficult, and even many graduates couldn't cast it properly. But for anyone aspiring to become an Auror, it was essential.
As Penelope focused on her practice, David worked on refining his Fiery Curse and Mjolnir.
The sudden burst of heat caught Penelope's attention. When she turned around, her jaw nearly dropped.
The towering flames and the massive thunder hammer in David's hands were beyond anything a first-year should be able to conjure.
Are we even attending the same school?
As the fire faded, she cautiously approached him.
"David, what was that?"
She handed him a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.
"The Fiery Curse and Mjolnir. The latter is ancient magic."
Penelope knew about the Fiery Curse—it was considered dark magic, though not an Unforgivable Curse. But Hogwarts didn't teach it.
And Mjolnir?
"Wait, is that Thor's hammer?"
Norse mythology was well-known in Britain, thanks to the Vikings' historical influence.
"Something like that."
She decided not to pry further. Instead, she changed the subject.
"And this potion… what's your goal here?"
She had to admit, the potion's effect was remarkable. For those twenty minutes, she had felt incredibly sharp, noticing details she usually missed.
"Buffy Brain Refresher. Five Galleons per bottle. You sell one, and I'll give you one Galleon as commission. Deal?"
David would still net a solid profit—each batch cost roughly one Galleon to produce, and one batch yielded five bottles.
Besides Penelope, the Weasley twins could also help distribute it, thanks to their Gryffindor connections.
"So you want me to be your salesperson?"
Penelope smirked at him.
But really, there was no reason to refuse.
"Sure, no problem!"
It was expensive for a short-term effect, but wealthy purebloods would definitely buy it. O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s were serious business, and students desperate for an academic edge wouldn't hesitate.
David was going to make a fortune.
And Penelope would gladly take a cut.
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