Dumbledore sat down after saying this, and the Great Hall immediately returned to its boisterous state, everyone eagerly discussing the day's events.
Weilan found Hermione and Ron at the end of the Gryffindor long table, pulled out a stool, placed it next to Hermione, and began to eat the slightly cooled food on the long table.
"Weilan, you can't imagine!" Ron gestured excitedly, "Hagrid and I almost emptied all the food in Hogsmeade. Professor Flitwick said he would recruit new House-elves before next Thursday."
Slam!
Hermione unhappily slammed her spoon on the table.
Under the long table, Weilan stepped on Ron's foot. The two tacitly stopped mentioning the topic of hiring new House-elves.
After a while, many students who had finished eating began to leave in twos and threes. Ron had almost finished his meal, while Weilan and Hermione still had some food on their plates because they had returned to the Great Hall later.
While Ron was waiting for them to finish dinner, he noticed something new and nudged Weilan with his elbow, saying:
"Hey, Weilan, Luna from Ravenclaw has looked at you here for the eighth time in five minutes."
Ron didn't notice Hermione's suddenly poor expression and chuckled, saying:
"Actually, if that girl was willing to comb her long hair and take off that strange necklace, she'd be one of the top beauties in Ravenclaw."
Clang!
Hermione suddenly stood up, causing her chair to hit the ground with a loud noise.
She held her head, thick with brown hair, high, like an unyielding lion cub, and left without looking back.
"What's wrong with her?" Weilan looked at Hermione's retreating back in surprise and turned to ask Ron, but the latter shook his head.
"She hasn't finished her bread, how can she waste food?" Weilan looked at Hermione's plate and silently complained in his heart.
As the feast drew to a close, Professor McGonagall quietly approached Weilan from behind, patted his shoulder, and motioned for him to leave with her for a moment.
"This is Dumbledore's reward for you this time. He said you uncovered the mastermind and performed a great service, so you should be rewarded."
Outside the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall smiled and handed Weilan a clinking money bag.
"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore, thank you, Professor McGonagall!"
Weilan's eyes lit up instantly. He carefully took the money bag and opened it, the golden Galleons inside dazzling him.
"You're welcome, you deserve it. It's getting late, you should go back and rest soon."
Professor McGonagall said this and walked away. Weilan remained in place and counted the Galleons in the money bag—there were twenty Galleons in total, which was a huge sum for Weilan.
He still didn't forget to return to the Great Hall and give six of the Galleons to Ron.
"So much? Is this our detective agency's first mission?"
Ron transferred the six Galleons from his left hand to his right, and then from his right hand to his left, as if they were something very hot.
"But I didn't do anything, can I still get a share?"
"Of course you get a share." Weilan and Ron walked out of the Great Hall together, "You bought everyone's food, so of course you deserve compensation for your hard work."
The six Galleons were no longer hot in Ron's palm; he put them in his pocket.
Weilan was very satisfied: "Then for the detective agency's promotional activities this Saturday, I'll trouble you to put up the notices."
"Although I've made a name for myself at Hogwarts this time, the most important goal of our detective agency is to find opportunities to explore ancient ruins in the areas surrounding Hogwarts."
"I'll go to the three most expensive villages a day in advance to try and get you the best prices. Then I'll buy some cheap Floo powder."
"Floo powder can only take you to fixed points, and you'll have to travel through 10 villages in two days... it will still be very tiring, so be prepared, Ron."
They chatted as they opened a hidden door behind a tapestry and entered a narrower staircase. After the door closed, the tapestry fell back into place, and the corridor returned to its original appearance.
Soon after, Ron's younger sister, Ginny, a red-haired girl a year younger than him, arrived there. Just as she was about to pull back the tapestry and push the door open, someone called out to her from behind.
Ginny turned around and saw two older Ravenclaw girls. She recognized them as Cho and Marietta.
Cho's face was flushed, and she looked a little shy. Marietta supported Cho, a suppressed smile on her face:
"Hello, Ginny."
Marietta greeted Ginny: "Do you mind if we ask you about that Gryffindor boy from today?"
"Oh, you mean him ~"
Seeing the embarrassed Cho, Ginny immediately showed a knowing smile:
"Weilan Costa, one year above me, one year below you, but it's as hard as climbing to the sky for you to pursue him, because the only thing that can move him is..."
...
"Money!"
In the Gryffindor boys' dormitory, Weilan was overjoyed. He counted the 14 Galleons Dumbledore gave him over and over again, as if if he miscounted even once, that small pile of Galleons would be reduced by more than half.
Luna, Hermione, they were all long forgotten at this moment.
He managed to restrain the urge to count the Galleons again, rolled out of bed, lit his wand with a Lumos charm, and took out a stack of yellowed papyrus from the deepest part of his suitcase.
He opened it, and the paper was densely covered with Weilan's savings records from the past four years.
There were no large sums on the paper, mostly small change like 5 Knuts, 10 Knuts, and the largest single amount was only 3 sickles. They densely covered the page, yet they were a testament to Weilan's hard work over the past three years.
At the very end of the record, these small amounts had accumulated to a total of 121 Galleons, 3 sickles, and 15 Knuts.
They were Weilan's house-buying money, stored at Gringotts.
When Weilan turned 18, St. Catherine's Children's Home would permanently expel him. At that time, Weilan would be homeless, and this money would be his only reliance before he found a formal job.
Weilan picked up a quill and quickly calculated on a blank piece of paper.
He had long set his sights on a nice second-hand house on the outskirts of Upper Hogsmeade Village. After some bargaining, the seller agreed to sell it to Weilan for a bargain price of 400 Galleons if the house could be reserved for him until four years later. (Because it was on the edge of the village, the location was not excellent)
But this also meant that Weilan had to earn about 380 Galleons in the remaining four years, averaging at least 8 Galleons in net income per month.
Weilan covered his head, feeling a throbbing pain in his forehead—this was not an easy goal for him. He had to work even harder than in the past three years, be more frugal, and be more diligent.
"But it's all worth it."
Weilan said to himself in his heart.
Closing his eyes, Weilan seemed to see the house he had reserved in Upper Hogsmeade Village—
Outside the house, the night was silent, and inside the house, the fireplace was burning brightly. A soft sofa was covered with a blanket, and on it lay Weilan's favorite magic novel.
From then on, no matter how far the mountains or rivers, no matter the rain, snow, or wind, there would always be a door forever open for Weilan. That would be his home, his sanctuary, his soul's lighthouse. The homeless child would finally have a place to belong, never again having to worry about being thrown out one day.
Putting down his quill, Weilan neatly folded the papyrus and put it back deep into his suitcase.
In the darkness, Ron turned over with a grunt. Neville's snores were loud, covering the snores of Seamus and Dean. Harry's bed was empty, only the sound of a raging storm coming through the window next to the bed.
Extinguishing his wand and sitting back on the bed, Weilan stared at the outline of the bed hangings, his consciousness drifting back to the distant past.
With a sharp pain in his forehead, Weilan, now awake, understood what had happened.
After 14 years of transmigration, he was homesick again.