Hogwarts's school rules contained many passages on school history, but the most important rule was nowhere to be found—
That was: all the rules above were invalid until you were caught.
Corridor.
Mrs. Norris leaped onto a step. Her body was gaunt and sharp, her dark gray fur gleaming beneath the moonlight.
Sean could hear his own heartbeat in the air, pounding against his eardrums like a drum, loud enough to wake the dozing portraits on the walls.
Moonlight slanted in through the narrow windows high above, casting patches of ghastly white light across the flagstone floor, as though several ghosts might burst out at any moment.
Nighttime wandering was expressly forbidden.
Though it had practically become a Gryffindor tradition, that did not mean the professors would not punish these mischievous little lions severely.
Sean remembered that after Harry and the others returned from the Forbidden Forest, Filch had caught them in the castle and informed Professor McGonagall. They had lost a full hundred and fifty points and received detention.
The reason was that students had no right to wander around the school in the dead of night. It was extremely dangerous.
For Sean, losing points was no great concern. He could earn them back soon enough.
But detention was another matter. Detention meant being assigned by professors to handle various odd jobs, which would undoubtedly take up a great deal of time—and time was what Sean lacked most right now.
So Sean's breathing grew heavier, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant—
If he got detention, the efforts he had made over the past month would almost go to waste.
But what could he do to escape this punishment?
The wind swirled in through the windows. Sometimes, a turning point came that suddenly.
After letting out