60 Not a Clue, Something Better

When he had arrived at the library, he was surprised to find it open. There were actually still students studying inside it at this time!

Casimir shed an imaginary tear of pride. Ah, such diligent children! Their parents must be very proud!

Taking a closer look, he suddenly realized that he actually recognized these diligent children.

Immediately, Casimir walked away with a dark expression. Your mom! Forget I said anything.

This bunch of troublemakers insult the meaning of diligent! The only thing they're diligent about is causing trouble!

""Proulx!"" Two identical voices called at the same time then, followed by two arms slinging onto his shoulders as if it were but natural. "What brings you here?" Fred asked with a grin. "Came looking for us perhaps? No worries! We'll be happy to accompany you all night!" George continued.

"No, all week!" Fred added.

"All month!" George grinned wider. Then there was a pause before both of them gave each other a look of tacit agreement and their grins widened. "Forever!" They laughed.

"No thank you." Casimir muttered as he shook those arms off from his shoulders and walked away.

"Come on, don't be so uptight!" Fred chuckled and followed after Casimir. "Yeah! Lighten up! Life is for the living!" George chuckled in a similar manner, both twins tagging along as if they were Casimir's shadows.

In a certain table some distance away, Ron began to grumble. "Is it just me or does it really sound like Fred and George are here?"

"Probably just you." Hermione said snappily. "Keep searching!"

"Wait, I think I heard it too." Harry said, glancing away from the think book he was reading and turned to look towards the bookshelf behind them.

After a short bout of silence, they began hearing chuckling and muffled conversations from behind the bookshelves.

"They really are here!" Ron said in surprise. "But, why? I've never seen them enter the library before!"

"They're most likely just planning their next prank, Ron!" Hermione rolled her eyes shoved more books in front of the other two. "If the two of you keep on being distracted like this, we'll never find out who Nickolas Flamel is!"

"Hermione's right. We better keep reading." Harry said and adjusted his glasses but, despite his sensible words, he couldn't help but glance towards the bookshelves behind them every time he heard sounds coming from there. The same problem posed for Ron as his eyes kept darting from the book in his hands and the bookshelves.

In the end, Hermione ran out of patience and directly slammed the book shut. "For crying out loud! Let's just go and take a look for a bit. After that, you two should be able to concentrate on our actual task rather than being distracted by everything!"

As soon as she said that, the two boys immediately stuck to the bookshelf behind them and began peeking on the other side, making Hermione sigh in an exaggerated manner.

"Exactly!" Fred exclaimed. "Every pathway-" George grinned. "Of every place-" Fred continued. "Inside the castle!" They said at the same time.

"See? They're really here!" Ron whispered as he gave Hermione a glance that seemed to say 'I told you so', to which, Hermione just rolled her eyes to. Meanwhile, Harry just focused on listening in on the conversation that was taking place on the other side of the bookshelf, finding it suspicious that the twins were talking as if there was another person with them. But, who could it be?

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice speak.

"Oh? So, you know all pathways?" Casimir looked around thoughtfully, a sly glint in his eyes as his gaze settled on a particular bookshelf, causing Harry, who was on the other side, to feel nervous. He couldn't have noticed them, right? "Then, what about those that appear on Friday nights?"

"Of course, included!" Fred and George answered without a moment of hesitation. "Just tell us what you need to find and we'll find it for you!"

Casimir laughed in his mind. Why exactly are these two so enthusiastic about this? Do they really actually want to become his henchmen or something? Really curious.

"Huh? Proulx? How come he's here as well?" Ron said in surprise but was quickly shushed into silence by Harry.

"Really?" Casimir showed a mischievous smile. "Then, I hope you'll be able to keep your word."

"Let's meet again ten minutes before midnight on Friday outside the library." Casimir said casually and walked away, throwing a mischievous wink over his shoulder towards the two. "Don't be late."

Before he left, it was unknown whether it was on purpose or not but, Casimir sent a meaningful glance towards a certain bookshelf and turned, walking away as if nothing happened.

Meanwhile, Fred and George high dived each other when Casimir had left. "Misfit crew member has been successfully recruited!" Fred laughed.

"Our hard work has finally paid off!" George laughed along.

"The next target, the world!" Fred declared, punching the air.

"But, there's only the two of us..." George suddenly realized. "Plus Proulx, that's only three..."

"... We'll add more in the future." Fred mumbled thoughtfully.

"Mm..." George hummed in agreement.

On the other side of the bookshelf, Harry sat with a contemplative expression. Friday at midnight? Pathways that only appear on friday nights? Just what exactly is Casimir planning?

Harry tried to figure it out but, inevitably, he could only keep on guessing. Inwardly, despite looking as if he got along well enough with this certain student from Slytherin, he was still more or less suspicious of the other.

Although they were of the same age, Harry had already heard many less than favorable rumors about the other, particularly, family wise. Growing up in such a household, he thought that any child should be influenced one way or another. At least, he would grow to be similar to Draco Malfoy or worse but, curiously, he was quite approachable.

Even more than quite a few from Ravenclaw.

This fact didn't reassure him at all. In fact, he was even more suspicious.

As they say, an enemy in the dark is much more dangerous than an enemy in the light. He needed to find out first, if Casimir really was such an enemy.

Therefore, he decided to follow them on Friday at midnight to see what he was up to. Perhaps they may even have the same objectives or... Opposing ones.

Hopefully not.

In the end, the one who was secretly the happiest in the whole ordeal that happened in the library was Casimir himself, grinning to himself as he walked back to the dungeons.

Well, I found no clue today but, that's okay! I found two henchmen instead and three little tag-alongs! How nice!

Maybe I'll end up finding a new base, two new followers, and have fun while I'm at it! How wonderful!