When they woke up the next morning, the wind and rain that had raged all night had finally subsided.
Breakfast in the Great Hall was not bad, and Vilan hoped Professor Flitwick could recruit enough House-elves as soon as possible.
He and Ron were drinking soup and studying their timetables together, while Hermione, still angry from last night, sat far away and ignored them.
"What's wrong with her anyway?" Vilan put away his timetable, truly unable to understand what Hermione was upset about.
"I don't know, but I have two Divination Classes this afternoon!" Ron sighed and put his timetable into his bag. "Since you, like Hermione, gave up Professor Trelawney's class and chose Arithmancy Class instead, why don't you just ask her this afternoon?"
"Good idea." Vilan agreed with his suggestion.
Suddenly, there was a rustling sound above them as a hundred owls flew in through the open windows, delivering the morning mail to everyone.
Normally, Vilan would just lower his head and continue drinking soup, because he knew there was no one outside Hogwarts who would think of him and send him anything.
But today was different. Last night, he borrowed Ron's owl, Pig, and wrote about the poisoning incident in a letter to James.
Now, he looked up at the group of owls, hoping one would fly to him and deliver James's reply.
Vilan strained his neck until it ached, but still didn't see Ron's excited little owl.
So he resignedly picked up his bag, ready to head to the greenhouses for Professor Sprout's Herbology Class.
Just as he stood up, at the Slytherin long table, a look full of malice pierced Vilan's eyes.
Vilan didn't recognize that Slytherin girl. Although her skin was pale and her features delicate, much prettier than Pansy Parkinson next to her, the unconcealed hostility and malice in her gaze towards Vilan made him instinctively dislike her.
Vilan pretended not to see the girl and walked through the long tables with Ron. Just as they reached the Great Hall's main door—Flap! Flap!
Another owl flew in through the window. He was smaller than the other owls, but looked more excited and active than them. Pig took a while to find Vilan. It kept flapping its wings and flew onto Vilan's hand, gently nipping Vilan's finger to indicate that he should take the letter from its leg.
"I knew it, he's not very good at delivering mail. He probably got lost in last night's storm!"
Ron waved his hand, sending Pig flying, and leaned over to look at the letter in Vilan's hand:
"It's Mr. Potter's reply! Open it quickly and see what he says about last night's poisoning case."
They walked towards Professor Sprout's Herbology Class greenhouse, opening and reading the letter as they went:
"Vilan, I generally understand what you're talking about. I personally believe Oni couldn't have done this alone; someone must have been subtly manipulating Oni to poison."
"Oni mentioned poisoning due to uncontrollable ambition and desire, which I think is worth considering, as some magic can indeed do these things. I'll help you look up information when I have time.
However, I might be very busy over the next few days. Something major happened early this morning; a high-born Wizard noble was found dead in his manor. I need to go investigate the scene with my colleagues now. I have a bad feeling—someone in the Wizarding World is planning a huge conspiracy.
Vilan, stay safe at Hogwarts. With Dumbledore's protection, it's the safest place at any time."
The letter was signed James Potter.
"Someone else died."
Vilan tightly clutched the letter, when someone suddenly pushed him from behind.
He lost his footing and nearly fell to the ground.
A sneer sounded, and Vilan looked up to see the arrogant nostrils of the Slytherin girl from the Great Hall.
"What's wrong with you?"
Ron stood up for Vilan.
"Shut up, Weasley, I'm really afraid your father, tainted with Muggle stench, will starve you to death."
The girl's words were disrespectful and her attitude arrogant. But Herbology Class was about to start, so Vilan stuffed the letter into his bag, not wanting to waste time on her:
"Although Mr. Weasley isn't a rich man, he has never let any child in his family go hungry."
"And you, miss, you should take a bath; even perfume can't hide the smell on you."
Vilan pinched his nose, as if smelling some extremely foul odor. Under the girl's furious gaze, he pulled Ron away.
They arrived at Greenhouse Three. Today's task was to squeeze Bubotuber pus and collect its liquid.
After helping Professor Sprout collect several bottles of pus, Herbology Class ended. They followed the gently sloping lawn towards Hagrid's hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
On the way, Hermione appeared beside Vilan at some point:
"You actually cursed Daphne Greengrass today."
Hermione giggled, looking completely un-angry: "Ginny and I have hated her for a long time."
Daphne Greengrass? Such a familiar name.
Vilan searched his memories of the original book for a while before remembering that her sister, apparently, was Draco Malfoy's future wife. And both she and her sister came from the noble Greengrass pure-blood family.
"What's her problem?" Vilan spoke quite rudely.
Hermione walked beside Vilan, snorting coldly: "Don't mind her, she's taking her anger out on you because of Malfoy, thinking you're responsible for Malfoy's disappearance."
"..."
As they spoke, they arrived at Hagrid's hut.
Hagrid stood outside his hut, holding the collar of his giant dog Fang, and waving to them.
On the ground around the wooden hut, several wooden boxes lay open, with faint crackling sounds coming from inside.
"Blast-Ended Skrewts."
Vilan's heart sank slightly.
As Vilan expected, this Care of Magical Creatures class, "Feeding Blast-Ended Skrewts," could be described as torture.
Although Hagrid was their good friend, this couldn't stop the grayish-white, slimy Blast-Ended Skrewts, which looked like shelled lobsters, from stinging their fingers with their tails.
By the time the class ended, Seamus's entire right hand was swollen and red.
"I never want to take that giant's class again!"
He complained loudly, and the others were not much better, their hands covered in scars.
Hagrid scratched his big, shaggy head, seemingly not having anticipated such a situation.
When the other students had left, Vilan chose to stay and advise Hagrid:
"Hagrid, you need to get rid of these things as soon as possible. They are very dangerous and cannot be used for teaching."
Vilan knew all too well how destructive adult Blast-Ended Skrewts could be.
"But they're still babies..."
"Even young Blast-Ended Skrewts are already so difficult to handle. When they grow up, they will hurt the students."
Hagrid sighed, pounding his chest and stamping his feet, but in the end he still begged Vilan to observe them for a while longer.
Seeing that he couldn't convince him, Vilan decided to persuade Hermione to chip in with him to buy a pair of thick leather gloves—
Although 【Silverlight Protection】 healed his hand injuries faster than others, it did not lessen his pain in the slightest.
At noon, they ate in the Great Hall. Hermione sat next to Vilan again.
Vilan remembered yesterday's events and still couldn't resist his curiosity:
"So, Hermione, what was the reason you were angry yesterday?"
"Oh, you mean that."
Hermione looked light and joyful, her brown curly hair almost floating with her mood:
"I thought between you and Luna, haha, never mind, I'd better not say it."
Hermione was delighted, and Vilan had no idea why she was so happy. He only watched as Hermione devoured the food on her plate like a whirlwind, then turned and rushed to the library.
In the afternoon, Vilan had two Arithmancy Classes, just like Hermione.
He also couldn't bear to waste the precious study time at a magic school on the unreliable Divination Professor Trelawney.
That kind of Divination Class, as Vilan understood, was something that relied heavily on natural talent and bloodline.
However, Vilan spent one class realizing that he had no talent for it at all, so he chose, like Hermione, to decisively give up this course and take the more complex, but more logical and less spiritual, Arithmancy Class.
The Arithmancy Class Professor was Professor Septima Vector. Due to the need to handle a large amount of complex calculations, very few students chose this class.
Vilan, however, was in his element in this difficult course—the advanced mathematics and linear algebra he had learned in his previous life were now being put to use in a magic school in this life.
After classes in the afternoon, Hermione was gone again. Vilan returned to the Gryffindor common room and saw Ron scratching his head over his homework.
"Don't do your homework yet, Ron, we have something more important."
Vilan pulled out a piece of parchment from his bag, dipped a quill in ink:
"We need to write an announcement for the establishment of the detective agency and pin it on the bulletin board in the Gryffindor common room. Our business has to start, doesn't it?"
"Isn't this Hermione's task?" Ron loudly exclaimed, "Where is she again? The library?"
"I guess she's busy with something related to House-elves."
Vilan thought as he wrote the large title "Costa Detective Agency Officially Established" at the top of the parchment.
"Hermione has already solved the most troublesome funding problem for us. It's just an announcement, it won't take long to write, at most the handwriting will be a bit ugly."
Vilan and Ron discussed and deliberated, quickly wrote the announcement content, and pinned it on the bulletin board in the Gryffindor common room.
When they returned after dinner, they were greeted by the surprised and admiring gazes of many classmates.
"Weilan Costa, so he was the one who investigated yesterday's poisoning incident—Merlin's beard, why didn't I get a good look at his face yesterday?"
"It's hard to imagine he's only in fourth year and already has such a brilliant mind. Next time Ravenclaw calls us brutes, I'll use Vilan as an example to retort."
"Can I ask him to help me find my toad, Leffy? It went missing again during class today."
"Hmm, probably. Their announcement said that for lost items, it's 3 sickles, and if it's a living creature, an additional 3 sickles. If it's dangerous, the fee starts from 1 Galleon depending on the danger."
A sweating Neville blocked Vilan and Ron in front of the spiral staircase leading to the boys' dormitory.
"Please, help me find my toad, Leffy. It escaped from my pocket as I passed through the Great Hall and ran towards the Potion Class classroom."
"I'm really afraid Snape will dismember Leffy and use him as an ingredient for Potion making!"
Although Vilan didn't think Snape would use Leffy as a Potion ingredient, after Neville paid a 2 sickle deposit, Vilan and Ron both decided to help the poor boy find his toad.