The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

"Professor Flitwick has boasted to me more than once about the birthday gift you gave him in advance. And if I remember correctly, his birthday is October 17th."

Professor McGonagall suddenly winked mischievously.

“But I’d like to remind you, Mr. Trolop, that your Transfiguration professor’s birthday is more than ten days earlier than your Charms professor’s.”

After saying that, she turned and walked into her office without looking back, leaving a somewhat dumbfounded Scott standing alone in the hallway.

Sigh, why are the professors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry so competitive? They're all clearly not young anymore.

Scott shook his head and turned to walk towards the stairs.

Since Professor McGonagall has given him this reminder, it seems he must prepare a gift that is equally thoughtful to justify his actions. Besides, forgetting Professor McGonagall's birthday was his mistake in the first place.

But more importantly... he thought about it carefully and realized that there were only five days left until Professor McGonagall's birthday on October 4th!

So, what should I give as a gift?

Scott walked and thought.

Would it seem too perfunctory to give Professor McGonagall another painting on the same theme?

After all, he knew that Professor McGonagall had taken great care of him over the past three years, and that her instruction in Transfiguration had gone beyond the scope of a school professor's responsibilities.

In fact, from Scott's perspective, who was a Chinese in his previous life, this was already the difference between a disciple and a student.

If Scott had simply given the professors a Christmas gift as he always had, it would have been fine. But this time, eager to show off, he used the excuse of a birthday present to give the painting to Professor Flitwick. No wonder Professor McGonagall felt a little resentful.

Being too popular with professors can be a problem for a student.

Scott, lost in his own narcissistic thoughts, hurried down the stairs.

Meow……

Just then, a meow rang out, and Scott's expression immediately turned sour; he couldn't help but purse his lips.

Sure enough, Filch strode down the first-floor corridor with his skinny, ugly cat, Mrs. Lorice.

The magic lamp in his hand illuminated the two pairs of bulging, light bulb-like eyes of the man and the cat, which were identical.

“Curfew is almost here, Trollope.” Filch grinned at Scott with a wicked grin, revealing his ugly teeth. “You’d better hurry up and run back to the Ravenclaw common room, or you’ll be in solitary confinement starting tomorrow.”

Although Scott had never been caught by Filch during his previous nighttime outings and had hardly ever interacted with him, he was not surprised at all by the malice Filch was displaying at this moment.

Because he knew that this old Squib genuinely hated anyone who could learn magic.

“Curfew is almost here? But it’s not here yet, is it?” Scott gave Filch a clearly fake smile and quickened his pace to brush past him and Mrs. Lorris.

Filch's angry voice came from behind, "I'll catch you if you don't get back to the Ravenclaw common room on time..."

“Oh, if you can do that,” Scott replied nonchalantly.

Although curfew was approaching, he didn't heed Filch's advice to run. He reasoned that even if he did go out at night, Filch wouldn't be able to catch him.

But he was still preoccupied with preparing a birthday present and had no interest in going out at night.

But when he walked out of the main castle building and passed through the courtyard, he stopped.

"Come out."

He spoke to the monstrous stone sculpture in the courtyard.

“Fred, George.”

Two identical figures immediately emerged from behind the stone sculpture, one on the left and one on the right.

"As expected of you!"

"The Ravenclaw Hound!"

“…When did I get such an awful nickname?” Scott glared at them through gritted teeth. “You must have given it to me just now!”

"It wasn't us!"

Fred cried out that he was innocent.

"It's been coming from Ravenclaw these past few days!"

George added.

“How come I didn’t know?” Scott frowned.

He always felt that he was quite popular in Ravenclaw, and that no one would maliciously give him such a nickname.

"We don't know who gave you that nickname."

"Perhaps you can look it up yourself."

Fred and George spread their hands together, looking at him with innocent expressions.

"Or ask Eddie."

He must have known, but he didn't tell you!

Oh, right, Eddie.

Scott nodded in agreement. The kid must have known the nickname, but hadn't reminded him at all.

Scott decided to settle accounts with him as soon as he got back.

"Then goodbye, you two."

Scott waved and turned to leave.

"It's a beautiful night, and curfew is almost here."

"Won't you join us on a fun adventure?"

The twins chased after him, inviting him to join them.

"No, have fun."

Scott rejected them without hesitation.

"Then don't blame us..."

"...I won't write a letter to introduce you to Bill."

The twins grinned and said that although they were not members of the Transfiguration Club, they were obviously very well-informed.

Scott didn't stop walking when he heard this. "It's okay, Percy has already agreed to help me."

“Percy?” Fred exclaimed dramatically.

George said smugly, "Clearly, Bill prefers us to Percy."

Scott paid no attention; he was now more interested in who had given him the nickname "dog."

But the twins kept chattering in his ear.

"And we're not sure if our parents will accept Bill having a boyfriend."

"Perhaps we can help you persuade them."

Scott felt the veins on his forehead throbbing, and unable to contain himself any longer, he pulled his wand from his pocket.

However, as he turned around, the twins immediately ran away laughing and joking.

Scott took a deep breath.

Very good, that's very British!

He hurried toward Ravenclawta, suddenly feeling a strong urge to find a girlfriend as soon as possible.

Chapter 022 A Conversation in the Dark at Night

On the way back, Scott, spurred on, had completely forgotten about preparing a gift and was preoccupied with how to find a girlfriend and have a sweet romance as soon as possible.

So he carefully recalled all the girls he knew, and found that his current situation seemed a bit awkward.

In fact, if you add up his past and present lives, he's already over thirty. But right now he's only fourteen.

The mismatch between physical age and psychological age has created an awkward situation.

He couldn't fall in love with girls his own age or younger like normal boys.

But if it's a girl who's a bit older than him... she probably won't like him. He even felt that the way those sixth and seventh grade girls looked at younger boys was like they were looking at monkeys.

Forget it, let's just let things take their course.

Scott, feeling a pang of sadness, quickly walked to the vicinity of Ravenclaw Tower.

A gentle evening breeze swept through, instantly clearing away much of the jumbled thoughts in Scott's mind. He remembered that he had two more important things to do right now.

One thing to do is to find Eddie as soon as possible and find out who the culprit is who gave him those nicknames behind his back.

Another thing is to prepare Professor McGonagall's birthday present as soon as possible.

Scott walked into Ravenclaw Tower without stopping, but stopped again as he stepped onto the spiral staircase.

He sensed the magic of the two students, who were hiding outside Ravenclaw Tower, in the corner where the tower and the main castle building met.

Jasmine Travers and Caitlin Roll.

One was a Slytherin freshman who made Scott somewhat wary; she was very good at disguising herself. The other was a Ravenclaw freshman who had clashed with Jacob Kent in the past and was getting too close to Travers.

In addition to the intelligence Eddie later gathered, Scott and his roommates had been secretly keeping an eye on the two little witches and their group of pure-blood girls.

It's already curfew time, yet these two girls are hiding in the shadows, which is clearly suspicious.

Since they had run into each other by chance, Scott decided to investigate for himself.

Scott pulled his wand from his pocket, flicked his wrist and muttered a spell under his breath, then touched the tip of the wand to himself.

In an instant, the color and texture of his body became exactly the same as the surrounding environment.

After using the Disillusionment Charm to completely blend himself into the environment, Scott waved his wand again and used a Whispering Charm.

"Whispering (Quietus)".

After getting ready, he turned and walked out of Ravenclaw Tower, skirting the outer wall of the tower, and slowly made his way towards the dark corner where the two girls were.

Scott stopped when he was ten steps away from his target.

He was somewhat surprised at this moment.

Because he neither saw the target nor heard the target's voice.