Harry's Mischief

Draco looked utterly disheveled; he stood there, soaking wet and covered in food stains.

Her once-exquisite hair now resembled a bird's nest, her robe was rumpled, and the ground beneath her feet was a mess.

Most interestingly, he was also unconsciously clutching a half-soaked fragment of a paper with the word "Snape" written on it.

Silence fell again, followed by even louder laughter.

Draco turned his head stiffly, his gaze precisely locking onto Ron was still laughing heartily.

He didn't even need evidence; his intuition told him it was definitely Weasley's masterpiece.

"Weasley!" he spat out the three words through clenched teeth, his voice trembling with anger.

He abruptly pulled out his wand, not even bothering to clean the filth covering his body.

Seeing that things were going badly, Ron quickly jumped to the side and drew his wand at the same time.

Just as they were about to make their move, a voice suddenly rang out.

"What are you doing, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy?"

It's Professor McGonagall.

Harry quietly turned off the phone that was recording the video and put it away.

"It's him!" Draco pointed at Ron indignation. "He's playing a prank on me! Professor—look, a sudden tornado! He definitely did it on purpose!"

Professor McGonagall didn't entirely believe Draco's words and turned to Ron.

"Weasley, you speak!"

"Well----"

Ron was in a bind. He knew Professor McGonagall's strict and uncompromising nature; if he told the truth, he would definitely be in trouble.

"It's his brother's new product, it just arrived." Seeing his good friend unsure how to answer, Harry decided to help him be brave. "He wanted to test it out, so he chose Draco— "

He didn't say anything more.

After all, he couldn't very well take sides; simply stating the facts was enough.

"Is that so?" Professor McGonagall swept her gaze sternly over Ron.

Ron didn't speak, his gaze drifting to the area beneath Draco's chair.

Professor McGonagall strode forward, took out a small metal box with a knob pointing to a skull from under her chair, examined it closely, and pursed her lips into a thin line.

"Mr. Weasley," her voice was icy, "For openly using a dangerous magical item in the Great Hall, you're confined for a week! You must report to Filch every night."

After saying that, she looked at Draco again, her expression softening.

"Now, Mr. Malfoy, you should go to the Hospital Wing immediately to have Madam Pomfrey check you for injuries, and then clean yourself up."

She glared at Harry and Hermione again, and although she didn't punish them, her look clearly said, "You're also responsible."

"As for this dangerous item," Professor McGonagall looked coldly at Ron, "Confiscate it. Gryffindor will deduct thirty points for your prank!"

After these words were spoken, several Gryffindor finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't because of the "three thousand points," but because it had been almost half a year since Weasley had lost a lot of points for pranks, which made him feel a bit unaccustomed to it.

Now, finally, a Weasley stepped forward to take responsibility for the points deducted for his prank. The Gryffindor students felt no resentment, only comfort.

With the Weasley twins, who used to be major contributors to Gryffindor's scoring, now Gryffindor's points are far ahead, and the other houses can't even come close.

Think about it, even when the two of them are at school, Gryffindor is still ahead, let alone when they're not there.

Draco glared at Ron fiercely, then turned and walked out of the Great Hall, Pumpkin Juice still dripping from his clothes.

Colin only then realized what was happening. He picked up his camera to take a picture, but Harry subtly pressed it down.

Young man, the waters here are too deep; you can't handle it.

Hermione sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I knew this would happen—"

"Fred and George's product demonstrations are always so effective," Harry said with a shrug.

"I think if Ron had known this thing would be so powerful, he definitely wouldn't have used it on Malfoy," Seamus said from the side.

"Oh, that's not necessarily true." Hermione sneered repeatedly. "Given Ron's personality, if he had known it would have such a big effect, he would definitely have continued to target Malfoy!"

It seems Hermione really knows what her boyfriend is like. Harry shrugged and didn't reply.

"But that's not the problem," Neville said in a low voice. "I think this will probably make the Weasley twins ' product even more popular— Harry, did you save all the videos?"

"Saved." Harry took out his phone and waved it. "Of course I saved it. What, do you want to make a copy?"

"Oh, I mean you could post it on video websites," Neville said with a grin. "I think it'd get a lot of attention."

"Let's forget about it," Harry shrugged. "Draco was made such a mess of things. If it were filmed and posted online, he probably would never forgive Ron."

"It's hard to say," Hermione said softly. "If Ron supports Draco pursuing Ginny, then this matter will definitely be over."

Harry suppressed a laugh but didn't say anything.

It seems that's indeed the case.

However, when Draco returned to the Great Hall in the afternoon, he faced off against Ron again.

The moment the two met, sparks flew. They pulled out their wands and unleashed a flurry of curses, creating quite a spectacle.

In the end, Professor McGonagall arrived just in time.

"The consequences are extremely serious!" she stammered. "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy —for openly using dangerous magical items in the Great Hall and attempting to fight, each of you will be confined for a month! Mr. Filch will be more than happy to 'host' you every Wednesday evening."

Ron smugly put away his wand. He didn't feel bad; after all, what was originally a one-person confinement had become a two-person one.

That's great.

Did you suffer a loss?

Back in her seat, Hermione asked with concern.

"It's nothing," Ron waved his hand and said, "Young Malfoy, you won't be able to do anything to me."

Control it!

"Let's think about Wednesday," Seamus said. "Just imagine, on Wednesday you and Malfoy will be going to Filch's for solitary confinement. I can hardly imagine what you two will end up with—"

"Probably going on night patrol in the Forbidden Forest?" Ron thought for a moment and said, "You see, something similar happened back in our first year, right? I remember Harry was one of them, and he even encountered the Dark Lord."

"Oh right." Harry nodded, it seemed that was indeed the case; he had given Voldemort a Harmless Minor Curses and left him with a bright green "X" mark.

It was quite impressive.

Voldemort: I remember it vividly too! Very vividly! Who would have thought that a first-year wizard could unleash a Cruciatus Curse with a mere flick of his wrist! I want to see Dumbledore!

"Why?"

Seamus suddenly grinned mischievously. "I have a nasty idea."

"What are you thinking?" Ron instinctively felt it couldn't be anything good.

Seamus suddenly shook his head seriously. "Oh, I was wrong, it's alright."

"Really?" Ron was a little suspicious, but he didn't take it seriously and continued to play with his phone.

Seamus, on the other hand, furtively took out his phone and sent Harry a message.

"Harry, how about we play a prank together on Wednesday?"

"Oh?" Harry asked, "Tell me about it."

Seamus quickly replied, "Look, just letting them patrol the Forbidden Forest like this isn't exciting enough, is it? I think we need to add some excitement, don't you think?"

"What kind of stuff?" Harry asked.

"It's like—like Magical Creatures or something—basically, we can't let them patrol too smoothly," Seamus replied.

Harry thought about it, and the idea was indeed feasible.

Patrolling alone is indeed not very interesting, and if we conduct surprise training under these circumstances, we can also test their ability to deal with emergencies.

"Sure, it's not impossible." Harry's fingertip paused for a moment on the smooth screen of the Mphone. "Be more specific. Magical Creatures? You don't mean to release those modified versions of our training equipment, do you?"

"Like the Blast-Ended Skrewt?" Seamus said. "But wouldn't the Blast-Ended Skrewt be too obvious? We need something more common in the Forbidden Forest, something that doesn't stand out too much—like the Acromantula?"

"That's certainly a plan, but one is a bit too few." Harry thought for a moment. "I need to think of a way to let them experience what visual impact truly means."

After sending the message, Harry asked, "What about Filch? He won't like this surprise—you know, he's a Squib, it wouldn't be good to scare him."

Seamus chuckled slyly, "Don't worry, I checked. Mrs. Norris seems to have caught a cold recently. Filch is taking it to Madam Pomfrey for a check-up on Wednesday night. He'll most likely just leave Ron and Malfoy at the entrance to the Forbidden Forest and let them walk around the route on their own before coming back. They won't follow them the whole time—after all, they're sixth-year students now, not first-year wizards. We have plenty of time to prepare."

Since Seamus had already investigated so thoroughly, Harry felt it wouldn't be right not to make arrangements for Ron and Draco.

Besides, having the two face danger together can also bring them closer.

"Then we need to be fully prepared, ensuring their safety while also giving them enough dread." Harry paused, then said, "Here's the arrangement: I'll stay invisible and follow behind them the whole time. If anything unexpected happens, I'll intervene—and you, you'll come along too, to help ensure their safety."

"Of course! I swear in the name of my wand! (Though it's not always so obedient)." Seamus replied with a grin.

Wednesday arrived quickly, and in the meantime, Harry made ample preparations.

He obtained a Potions recipe from Professor Snape to attract spiders and made it into a spray, which he then gave to Seamus.

As night fell, Ron and Draco arrived at Filch's office as agreed.

Filch sat in his office, the dim light casting an unpredictable shadow on his face, which screamed "I'm not happy."

Just as Seamus had predicted, Mrs. Norris curled up listlessly in his arms.

"Listen," Filch said in his hoarse voice to Ron and Draco, his tone filled with undisguised disgust, "you're sixth graders now. I don't need to take you to the Forbidden Forest. Don't try to slack off, and don't cause me any trouble! Otherwise—" He brandished a Scabbers, unidentifiable metal object menacingly, "You'll be sorry!"

He placed two crumpled Parchment maps on the table, glared at them fiercely, then stood up with Mrs. Norris in his arms, facing out of the office, muttering words about "discipline" and "punishment."

Draco and Ron exchanged a glance, then turned their heads in unison and let out a "humph."

They've grown somewhat tired of each other.

Unbeknownst to them, two invisible figures were waiting for them outside Filch's office.

Seamus rubbed his hands together excitedly. People never feel tired when they're doing bad things, and they don't know what sleepiness or fatigue is. Even after spending a whole day Potions, he still felt mentally abnormal.

"When do we begin?" Seamus asked in an almost inaudible whisper.

"We have to wait until they get out, right?" Harry said with a grin. "Shh—they're coming out!"

Sure enough, Draco and Ron came out of Filch's office.

As they walked, the two kept elbowing each other, a move characteristic of the Lakers.

Man!

They carried the dim oil lamps and left the castle, with Harry and Seamus following behind, keeping a safe distance so that the two of them wouldn't overhear anything.

When we reached the Forbidden Forest, the entire forest was shrouded in an unnatural silence. The forest looked like it was going to devour us, and even the usual chirping of insects was much quieter.

Their patrol started off uneventfully; aside from being startled by Pixie suddenly darting by or having their robes snagged by a low-hanging branch, nothing unexpected happened.

The two stopped elbowing each other and stopped talking to each other.

"How so?" Seamus asked in a low, excited voice.

"Wait a little longer," Harry replied softly. "We're not in a hurry—let them go a little further. We're still on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. What's the rush? Wouldn't it be boring if we could escape anytime?"

Seamus thought about it and realized it made sense; that was indeed the case.

If you see a spider and then run back dozens of steps to get out of the Forbidden Forest, then it's really not very interesting.

Let's wait and see, until they've gone a little deeper into the relationship!