One morning, as Harry was involved in consuming his cornflakes, a hundred owls swooped into the Great Hall.

"Post's here," Ron said unnecessarily.

A screech owl dropped a Daily Prophet newspaper into Hermione's plate of sausages and took off, narrowly missing a midair collision with Hedwig. The snowy owl hooted indignantly and came to land by Harry.

"Hi, Hedwig, got something for me?" Harry asked her hopefully. The owl let an envelope fall into his lap, then dipped her beak into his pumpkin juice and flew off the Owlery.

"Look, Harry," Ron said with unconcealed envy. "Malfoy's got another package of sweets! It must be his third this week. Don't his parents ever run out of money?"

Sure enough, at the Slytherin table Malfoy was unwrapping a parcel of assorted confections.

"Don't let it bother you," Harry said to Ron. "Just concentrate on how spotty Malfoy'll be after he's eaten all that chocolate."

"And he'll have so many cavities that he'll have to get all his teeth pulled," added Hermione, whose parents were dentists. "And people with false teeth can't smirk too well."

"Still," sighed Ron, "it would be nice if someone sent me something once in a whi- OUCH! Hey!"

A giant box had just smacked Ron on the head. Two eagle owls released the parcel from their claws, and it landed in the middle of the Gryffindor table. Everyone stared at it. The box was gift-wrapped and tied up in a huge red bow.

"What is that?"

"It's probably for Harry Potter."

The sight of the gift seemed to lower Ron's spirits further. "A present from one of Harry's fans, no doubt," he grumbled, rubbing the side of his head.

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "Look at the tag, Ron! It's for you!"

"What?" cried Ron, bolting upright. "I don't know anyone who would send me this. My parents can't aff- I mean, they're not the type of people to send extravagant gifts."

"It's not from your parents," said Harry, taking the card that came with the gift. He read aloud, " 'Darling Ron, you may not know me, but I have been watching you for some time and I simply worship you. Please accept this gift as a token of my affection, but know that none of these candies are as sweet as you. Love always, your Secret Admirer.' Ugh, that was rather saccharine."

Ron goggled. "This has to be a prank. It's Fred and George! This is a joke and these are joke sweets."

"There's only one way to find out," said Harry. "Let's eat some."

They pulled off the red bow and ripped off the gift-wrap. When they opened the box, a shower of heart-shaped confetti exploded from within. As the clouds of confetti cleared, Dean Thomas peered inside.

"Hey, there really is candy in here! Loads of it!"

"Who'll eat first?" asked Hermione worriedly.

"I'll sacrifice myself," volunteered Seamus eagerly. He opened a package of Chocolate Frogs and, after a brief inspection, ate one. Suddenly he clutched his chest and fell off his chair, and lay motionless on the floor.

"Seamus!" cried Harry. "Wake up! Say something!"

Seamus immediately opened his eyes. "Yum, chocolate! Did I scare you?"

The candy did indeed appear fit for human consumption, so Ron shared it around with his friends.

"I do wonder," he said later to Harry, through a mouthful of Honeydukes chocolate, "who my Secret Admirer could be."

"It's a mystery," Harry said, watching Ron's eyes darting around. "Whom do you suspect?"

"No one," said Ron, too quickly. "I don't suspect anyone. I have no suspicions at all. Why, do you have inside information?"

"Sorry, no. If I did know, I'd tell you."

"Thanks, Harry. I'd tell you if I heard anything about. well, you know."

"What?" said Harry. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well. about, ah, Cho. I mean, Cho Chang. I- I thought you fancied her a bit."

Harry coloured, feeling annoyed for some reason. "I don't need inside information about her, Ron. And maybe I don't even like her."

"Don't like Cho?" Ron seemed surprised. "Are we talking about the same girl?"

"Ron, there's more than one girl in the world."

"That's not how you were acting last year," Ron retorted.

Harry frowned. "A lot of things happened last year, if you'll remember. It's just a bit awkward with Cedric and all. I suppose I don't feel like talking to Cho anymore."

Ron was still looking at him askance. "Well. all right. if you say so." And he turned back to his sweets.