Detention

When Loren and the others pushed open the door, Professor McGonagall was drafting a formal document.

Loren quietly tiptoed and craned his neck, and could vaguely see the words "Hogwarts," "authority," and "jurisdiction" at the top of the document.

That's so rude! Hermione pulled him back and warned him with her eyes: behave yourself in front of Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall was no longer as angry as she had been the night before. Her gaze swept over the group. "I have no interest in what secrets you are hiding. Everyone has their share of outrageous behavior during their student days."

"I also do not believe that you would raise Fire Dragon or seek out Dark Arts."

"But whatever you are doing, remember, do not hurt yourself, and do not hurt others."

"Professor McGonagall, we will," Hermione said sadly.

Everyone knew that Professor McGonagall cared more about them than she was angry.

"You have violated school rules. Each of you will have 30 points deducted, plus a week of confinement."

They were laughing and joking on the way here, but when the executioner's blade actually fell, they still found it hard to bear.

"Goodbye, Professor McGonagall." Loren said politely, pulling the bewildered group out of the office.

In the hall, many young wizards gathered around the hourglass that recorded the scores of the House Cup.

Loren and the other three were prepared to be scolded. Ron's legs were trembling as he wondered how he was going to go over and take responsibility for the 120 points.

The young wizards quickly noticed the mournful expressions on the faces of the group, realized who was responsible for the point deduction, and swarmed around them.

"Hey, that's a huge loss. We traded 120 points for 60 points from Slytherin." Seamus said, though he couldn't help but laugh.

Malfoy and Crabbe also counted as night owls, each receiving 30 points.

"Well done, I say!" Dean cheered.

Harry and his friends were dumbfounded; why were they actually happy about this?

"Why are you all so happy?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

"They still want to keep it from us..." Seamus rattled off their deduced conjectures.

The four of them weren't in their dorms last night, and Malfoy and Crabbe also got points deducted. Given the two schools' irreconcilable differences, it's easy to imagine a fight, a midnight duel, or something like that.

With four against two, Gryffindor must have given Slytherin a severe beating.

"Ah, this—" Loren was speechless. Whatever you say, that's fine; this wonderful misunderstanding doesn't necessarily need to be clarified.

"We definitely won't be able to win the House Cup now, aren't you sad?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, still upset about the House Cup.

"You've brought Slytherin down!" Seamus exclaimed excitedly.

Snape always finds opportunities to deduct points, and even by the end of the term, they might not be able to win the championship. This time, the group of friends, like water ghosts, dragged Slytherin down with them. For most of the young Gryffindor wizards, this was more satisfying than winning the House Cup.

Only a select few knew the truth, and they instantly became among the most popular and respected figures in the school. Everyone except the Slytherin students regarded them as heroes.

The Hufflepuff students were extremely pleased, even showing off. Gryffindor and Slytherin had failed, and now they were in first place, leading the House Cup.

Whenever they passed by Loren, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, they would clap, whistle, and cheer, saying, "Thank you, you are the pride of Hufflepuff."

It sounded strange for Hufflepuff to say such things to a few Gryffindor; Ravenclaw found it awkward. Therefore, Loren and the others tried to avoid appearing in public.

Hermione devised a detailed study plan for the group to keep them occupied.

But the effect was not ideal; Loren would always lie down and sleep next to Hermione as soon as he finished his homework.

He plans to make a small bag, or something even smaller, using a cooling material, something more convenient than a suitcase. With the experience from the previous suitcase, he should be able to make it larger next time.

In fact, only he himself could see the silver light entering the Fantasy Book. Whether for reviewing or acquiring magical storage equipment, the Fantasy Book was the better choice.

"The Library is not a place to sleep!" Hermione said in a low voice, her hands tugging at Loren's arm, trying to prevent him from resting his head on it.

"I have completed the review goals you set for me yesterday."

The two wrestled over their arms. Her excuse to study was blocked, and she wasn't as strong as Loren, so the little Witch eventually lost and couldn't do anything to him.

Loren lay down again, Hermione sighed, unconsciously turning the pages of the book more gently.

Harry laid the book down in front of him, glanced at the sleeping Loren, and said in a voice only Hermione and Ron could hear, "Yesterday afternoon, I heard Quirrell agree to Snape's demands in an empty classroom. He gave in."

Yesterday, he left a book in the Library and went back to get it. While alone in an abandoned classroom, he overheard Snape and Quirrell talking.

Quirrell kept sobbing; he must have given in.

"Oh!" Ron covered his mouth. "So Snape is finally going to succeed."

"We have to stop him." Harry's eyes gleamed with the fire of justice.

Hermione interrupted them, "We can't afford to lose any more points, let's not cause any more trouble. Let's go find Professor McGonagall, or Headmaster Dumbledore."

Professor McGonagall had already disappointed her because of the Fire Dragon incident. She didn't want to make the same mistake again.

Harry countered, "We have no evidence, Quirrell certainly wouldn't dare to testify against Snape."

Unable to reach a solution, the matter was temporarily shelved.

The next morning, Loren, Hermione, Harry, and Ron all received notes at the breakfast table.

Professor McGonagall informed them that the lockdown would begin that evening and that they should come to the Entrance Hall to see Mr. Filch at 11 p. m.

Confinement was not unfamiliar to them; after the Troll incident, Snape's confinement led them to unexpectedly discover Harry's Parselmouth.

If it's another snake this time, then we're really lucky. But finding Filch's confinement obviously has nothing to do with snakes.

When the Twins learned that they were going to find Filch Confinement, they skipped breakfast and came over to share their experiences with them.

Who has dealt with Filch the most?

"We've been outsmarting Filch since first grade."

George and Fred's eyebrows twitched incessantly, almost flying off.

"His office has many chains that can hang your thumbs off and suspend you from the ceiling."

"Remember, when you're being whipped, the more you scream, the better. If you don't make a sound, he'll just keep hitting harder."

Ron was so startled that he dropped the cookies he was holding onto the plate. It wasn't until he saw the happy expressions on the Twins' faces that he realized it was all a scare tactic.

Ron's face turned red, and he yelled that he would actually hang them up and whip them.

After 11 p. m., the group went downstairs to the Entrance Hall with trepidation.

Malfoy and Crabbe were also there; they had almost forgotten that these two were also night owls and were receiving the same punishment as them.

Filch forbade anyone to speak, except to listen to him constantly reminiscing about the days when he could physically punish students.

"Work and hardship are the best teachers. In the past, we could hang students like you up for days on end."

Loren and the others followed Filch the whole way, completely unfazed by his threatening words, a stark contrast to George and Fred.

After traversing the dark grounds, Filch finally handed them over to Hagrid.

Thank you to readers 20181230172621290, I like Xiao Ai, Jing Xiaolou a, and Kopcn for their donations.

Thank you to Birch Grass, Orange Icy Cool, Habitual, Diving, Book Friend 20191005164911399, and Guardian Knight of Sky and Earth for your monthly tickets.