HP: Hogwarts Snake

Della and Theodore went for a walk outside until evening, and when they returned to the castle, they learned that Ron had gone to the infirmary, saying that he had developed an unknown red rash all over his hands and feet.

what......

Ron drank the bottle of wine that Professor Slughorn was going to give to Dumbledore.

Why is Della so sure about this?

Because a month ago, she switched the wine, which contained deadly poison, with this harmless poison that would only cause a rash for a short period of time.

“Go back,” Della said to Theodore. “I’m going to the infirmary to see Ron.”

"I—" Theodore opened his mouth to try and persuade her, but after being glanced at by Della, he shut up and nodded obediently.

Della went to the infirmary alone. When she got to the door, she heard a commotion. Harry's voice sounded urgent, probably explaining the situation. Hermione's voice trembled, probably still crying intermittently. Besides these two, there were two other easily recognizable voices: the Weasley twins' rising intonation and Hagrid's booming voice that sounded like it could shatter windows.

Before pushing open the door, Della looked down at the large muddy footprints on the ground, thinking that Hagrid's presence was easy to guess, and at the same time, she heard Ginny's voice.

Whether it was her own aura or not, Della thought she pushed the door open very gently, but everyone looked at her at the same time, including Ron on the hospital bed, whose cheeks were also covered with red rashes.

"Is it serious, Ron?" Della walked over and asked with concern.

"Can you talk to him now?" Ginny asked before Ron could reply. She had heard from Ron about Della's current cold attitude and was seriously dissatisfied with it.

“No matter what, I still hope my old friends are doing well,” Della said calmly, still managing a smile. She asked Ron again, “Are you feeling alright?”

"It's alright." Ron was actually also dissatisfied with Della's attitude, but seeing how calm Della could be in the face of Ginny's questioning, his dissatisfaction was like punching cotton.

"Anyway, you're unlucky, little Ron~" Only one of the Weasley twins came, but that didn't stop him from joking around and livening up the atmosphere. He had obviously seen a lot of Ron's sour love stories in his sister's letters.

“George?” Della looked at him and asked curiously.

"!" George opened his eyes wide. "You guessed so accurately, Della? It seems Miss really cares about us."

“I have a feeling I’ll visit your joke shop sometime,” Della chuckled. “How did you get back? And where’s Fred?”

“I came to Hogsmeade today to see if I could buy a shop to open a branch. As for Fred,” George said, pursing his lips, “he ditched his brothers to go on a date today. He finally managed to meet up with your handsome friend.”

"Fred went on a date with that tomboy?" Ron yelled. "Merlin! I don't want a sister-in-law like that!"

“But the truth is, Merlin has no say in what your sister-in-law is like, and neither does your mother,” George said fairly. “Little Roro has even less say in what she is like.”

“You only bring anger to the patient. Your attitude when visiting your brother is really commendable, George,” Ron said indignantly, and started arguing with George.

Amidst the bickering, Harry walked over to Della and, controlling his voice, tried to say casually, "Ron got poisoned this time because he drank the wine that was supposed to be given to Dumbledore at Slughorn's place."

"So?" Della said lightly, "Is there anything you want to hear from me?"

“…” Harry choked for a moment, frowned, and after thinking for a while, he asked again, “Why do you think the wine at Slughorn’s place was poisoned?”

“Harry, this is definitely an issue that will be investigated, not necessarily one that you need to investigate,” Della said. Hermione, who had been sobbing, looked up at her. “Do you think this is something you should be busy with right now?”

Harry frowned even more, a wave of guilt washing over him. For a moment, he felt like he was facing Dumbledore. He tentatively asked, "So what should I be doing?"

“I think you should be aware of your school life,” Della said ambiguously, putting pressure on Harry.

Meanwhile, Fred, who had finally arranged to meet with Leah, was watching Leah mix drinks at her little bar.

Tap-tap-tap--

After a few swift cuts, the ice cube in Leah's hand was transformed into a neat ice ball. She placed it in the glass next to her, and as she picked up the cocktail shaker and measuring cup, she glanced at Fred, only to be met with his bright, earnest eyes.

“To be honest, your persistence surprised me quite a bit,” Leah said, her hands still busy as she chatted with Fred. “I thought that once you entered society, you would quickly mature enough to see through the naivety of your past infatuation.”

“Love at first sight is all about the heart,” Fred said with a slightly silly smile. “And the fact that I’m sitting here today proves that my persistence really paid off.”

“Even though I used to come to your door every week to hint that you should pay certain amounts, you didn’t budge?” Leah swirled her drink. “Some things are obvious, Fred, I’m not a good person.”

“But we’ve never been affected by you, have we?” Fred looked admiringly at the beautiful lines of Leah’s arms as she swirled the wine, almost marveling at her beauty. “As for whether she’s a good person or not, it’s not up to you to decide for her suitors, it’s up to me.”

“I think you’re even cuter now, Fred.” Leah chuckled softly, her laughter containing both pleasure and a barely perceptible hint of mockery directed at someone else.

"So you already thought I was pretty good, right?" Fred's eyes lit up. He placed his hands on the bar, leaned slightly towards Leah, and asked excitedly.

"Sister Liya! There's something in the office—"

The house-elf's shrill voice rang out at an inopportune moment, but the words stopped abruptly, as did Leah's movements and Fred's long-awaited time alone.

“It seems things are more important,” Leah said apologetically, pouring the half-shaken golden liquor into Fred’s glass. “No matter how much I don’t want to deal with cold things, I’ll treat you another time, Fred.”

"Oh! How annoying!" Fred groaned, but there was nothing he could do but watch as Leah hurriedly left.