Chapter 639: The School’s New Brooms
As Cedric had anticipated, every DA meeting for the next two weeks brought a fresh challenger. Each time, someone new tried their luck against him.
The good news was that Fred and George, his primary concern, had remained surprisingly quiet so far—which only meant Cedric kept an even closer eye on them.
Another challenge quickly became apparent: scheduling. With Quidditch practices needing to avoid bad weather, it was difficult to set a consistent day for their meetings.
Fortunately, a solution was soon found.
Inspired by Kyle's reward idea, Hermione used the Protean Charm to create a batch of fake gold coins. These coins were enchanted so that when the number on the main coin changed, all the others would update as well, allowing them to quickly inform everyone of the next meeting's time.
The method proved remarkably convenient.
Fred and George, of course, saw potential in this charm for other purposes—namely, cheating. However, Cedric discovered their idea before it went too far, putting a stop to it.
Cedric wasn't about to allow them to risk using the coins for mischief. While the twins were often inventive pranksters, cheating was a step too far. The consequences of being caught—demerits, detention, or even expulsion—were far more severe than those for their usual antics.
Expulsion would be disastrous for their future plans. The Weasley twins knew that running a joke shop as "brilliant graduates of Hogwarts" sounded far better than doing so as expelled troublemakers.
One morning at breakfast, Cedric handed Kyle one of the fake gold coins.
"This is for you," Cedric said. "You haven't been in recently, but I thought you should have one."