The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

Near the end of the class, Scott, under Roger's cover, had a few words with Grapland alone.

"What's your decision, Scott?" Grapland asked Scott in a low voice, his usual smile on his face.

Scott asked softly, "Do you still stand by what you've said, Miss Grapland?"

"You mean?" Grapland raised one eyebrow.

Scott said, "You said that if I joined, you would give me credits to fulfill Milton and Cachini's wishes."

Grapland's expression changed, and finally he gritted his teeth and said, "Of course it counts."

Scott laughed immediately. "If that's the case, I agree to join."

“Very good.” A genuine joy appeared on Grapland’s face. “Then let’s meet again tonight at midnight in the Classical Music Club’s activity room.”

Scott nodded in agreement.

Although the two only exchanged a few words before parting ways, it only fueled the commotion from Fred and George, who were being held back by Roger.

Scott didn't care about the two men's jeers.

That evening, he first went to Professor Flitwick's office for dueling practice, then returned to his dormitory to rest before curfew, and finally rushed to the classical music club activity room with his roommates before midnight.

Grapland and Cachini were already waiting there.

Upon seeing Scott, Grapland eagerly pulled the gold card from his pocket and handed it to him.

"Take this card, I'll teach you how to use it."

“No rush.” Scott smiled and pointed to Cachini and Milton. “Let’s deal with their problems first.”

Grapland's smile deepened. "You cunning brat, you mean I have to solve their problems before you're willing to officially join the Scholars' Alliance?"

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it.” Scott smiled shyly. “What if you change your mind after I officially join the Scholars’ Union and refuse to pay the credits?”

Grapland exhaled a puff of smoke. "Well said. Now let me ask you, what if I help them solve their problem, but then you decide you don't want to join the Scholars' Alliance anymore?"

Scott gave her a genuine smile.

“You can completely trust me on this point. I never go back on my word.” He pointed to his roommates. “Ask them if you don’t believe me.”

Eddie and Roger quickly chimed in to support him.

"Scott always keeps his word and never lies!"

"My brother is the number one in integrity at Ravenclaw!"

As they were talking, the two of them gave Milton a push.

“Yes…yes,” Milton stammered in agreement.

Grapland glanced at them sideways, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"Do you think I'll believe you?" she asked coldly.

“You can trust me,” Eddie said.

“We can be trusted,” Roger said.

“Alright.” Grapland glanced at the two of them, then looked at Scott. “Let’s show some sincerity, Scott.”

Then, she raised her chin arrogantly and slowly took a drag of her cigarette.

“You have to understand one thing, Scott,” she said. “Ordinary people don’t qualify to join us.”

As she spoke, she glanced at Scott's roommates again, then casually looked away.

"Just like your friends."

As she said this, she took a step forward, getting closer to Scott.

“Please remember that it is an honor to join the Scholars’ Union,” she said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if you don’t cherish it, you will never have another chance.”

Scott fanned the sage smoke in front of him and silently took a step back.

Grapland's smile became somewhat unnatural.

"It seems we can never truly trust each other."

Scott smiled slightly at Grapland, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a roll of parchment, handing it to her.

"Therefore, in order to improve efficiency, let's take some effective measures."

Grapland reached out and took the parchment, unfolded it, and looked at it.

"A magical contract?" Her expression changed again, and she gave Scott a complicated look. "It seems you're well-prepared."

Scott, who had already undergone the brain surgery, stared at her without any hesitation and said, "There's nothing I can do. After all, I'm just a fifth-year student. Compared to Miss Grapland, who is a teaching assistant, I'm the weaker party."

Grapland chuckled and handed the parchment back. "It's alright, I can sign this contract with you."

"That's good." Scott breathed a somewhat exaggerated sigh of relief. "Now I can rest assured."

The parchment he received was enveloped in a faint, shimmering red light and floated up from his hand.

He said to Glapland, "Let's sign this magical contract."

As he spoke, he extended his right hand.

"no problem."

Grapland also extended her right hand.

Both men simultaneously placed their right handprints on the parchment floating in the air.

A blinding red light flashed, and then the parchment returned to its ordinary state, falling from the sky.

Scott reached out and pinched the parchment, looked at the two bright red handprints covering the text, smiled with satisfaction, rolled up the parchment and put it back in his pocket.

"then."

Grapland handed over the gold card again.

This time, Scott accepted the card without any hesitation and examined it carefully.

This card is made of metal, and although its color looks very similar to gold, it is much harder than gold.

Both sides of the card are decorated with exquisite reliefs. One side features a combination of scrolls and quills, while the other depicts Prometheus having his heart pecked out by an eagle.

Scott paused for a moment when he saw the image of Prometheus, but he quickly realized the significance of the Scholars' Union.

Perhaps they wanted to become teachers and protectors of mankind, like Prometheus in Greek mythology?

Scott glanced one last time at the number on the card: 01-0723.

Grapland explained: "01 represents the UK region, and the following number represents that you are the 723rd British person in the Scholars' Union. Of course, this number only counts the era after the existence of the [Knowledge Bank]."

Scott nodded.

“Input magic,” Grapland said.

Scott did as instructed, channeling his magic into the card, which quickly expanded and transformed into a hardcover book with a gold cover.

"Give it to me." Grapland put the pipe in his mouth, snatched the hardcover book, and opened it.

Then, she showed Scott the open pages of the hardcover book.

Scott glanced at it and found that the inner pages shown to him contained notices about joining the Scholars' Union, including the so-called rights and obligations of members.

“If there are no problems, sign your name.” Grapland handed the hardcover book to Scott.

Scott took it and read it carefully several times, nodding only after confirming that there were no unfair clauses in the text.

He took out his pen and wrote his name on the bottom right side of the inner page.

Soon, the hardcover book flew from his hand, quickly shrank in a burst of golden light, and turned back into a card.

After the golden light dissipated, the card began to fall, and Scott reached out and caught it.

Suddenly, Scott felt a blurry presence touch him.

The feeling was indescribable; it was as if an invisible behemoth had glanced at him, and its gaze was as tangible as a physical object.

“That’s fine,” Grapland said. “You can figure out the rest on your own.”

She seemed too lazy to explain anymore, a stark contrast to how she had tried to sell to Scott earlier.

Scott tried to infuse some more magic into the card and watched it turn into a book again.

With the magic power applied again, the book transformed back into a card.

He didn't try again, holding the card in his hand and looking at Grapland.

“Now it’s your turn to keep your promise, Miss Grapland,” he said.

"Aren't you going to take another look?" Grapland glanced at the cards in his hand and asked with a smile, "Since I'm here now, I can answer any questions you may have."

“No need,” Scott laughed.

He took out the parchment with the contract written on it again and shook it in his hand.

“You’d better keep your promise, Miss Grapland,” he said. “I think you won’t go back on your word after signing the contract, will you?”

“Of course,” Grapland said through slightly gritted teeth, “I will keep my promise even without a contract.”

As she spoke, she pulled another gold card from her pocket with a pained expression.

Chapter 376 The English Daiyu Returns

The card that Grapland took out immediately turned into a hardcover book.

She put the pipe in her mouth again, held the open book in her right hand, and extended her left hand toward Cachini.

Kachini looked excited and quickly took out the same gold card and handed it to her.

Grapland casually placed the card on the inside page of the book, then held up his pipe with his left hand and slowly exhaled puffs of white smoke.

“Strictly speaking, Kacchini is not the owner of this card,” she told Scott. “Although she inherited the five points left on the card, she can only use them with my help.”

As she spoke, Kacchini's card rapidly expanded into a hardcover book with the same gold casing.

Grapland picked up her pipe again, closed her own book, tucked it under her arm, and opened Cachini's book.

She tapped the pages of the book several times with her finger before handing the book back to Kacchini.

"Now it's my turn to spend money."