Midnight Terror

Brook was stuffing the last piece of yorkshire pudding into his mouth when he saw Harry sit down beside Ron with an excited look on his face.

Brook gave Hermione an I told you so look.

But Hermione ignored him, pricking up her ears with a thoroughly gossip-hungry expression.

She wanted to know exactly what Professor McGonagall had done to Harry.

Before long, Draco arrived with his two lackeys—Goyle and Crabbe.

He swaggered over with a smug look on his face.

Making sure everyone noticed him.

Brook quietly pricked up his ears as well.

How could he pass up gossip?

But after listening for only a moment, he found it terribly dull.

So they were just arranging a fight?

Why arrange one?

Why not just start fighting?

Couldn't they let him enjoy the gossip properly?

"Um... excuse me." Hermione finally couldn't hold herself back any longer.

Harry and Ron both looked up at Hermione.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

With Brook watching from the side, Hermione did not come across as annoying as she had in the original story.

Although Hermione usually liked meddling in other people's affairs, her tone was much gentler now.

"I accidentally overheard your conversation with Malfoy earlier."

"If you overheard it, then you overheard it," Ron muttered under his breath.

Hermione ignored Ron completely. "If you get caught wandering around at night, Gryffindor will lose a lot of points."

"That's none of your business." Harry was somewhat annoyed.

He had already become enemies with Draco on the train.

This was the perfect chance for him to defeat Draco face-to-face.

There was no way he wanted to miss it.

"Hermione, a man has to keep his word. Let them settle this themselves," Brook advised.

"But..."

"Gryffindor has plenty of points anyway. Losing a few isn't a big deal."

Hermione watched Harry and Ron get up and leave, then helplessly closed her mouth.

But she was not about to give up that easily.

At eleven thirty.

Harry and Ron quietly got out of bed.

To their surprise, Brook got up as well.

"Brook, are you here to talk us out of it too?" Ron asked doubtfully.

Brook spread his hands with a helpless expression. "I'm here to help you deal with a little problem."

"A little problem?" Harry asked, confused.

"Enough. You'll know once we get outside." Brook did not explain further and took the lead out of the room.

The Gryffindor common room was pitch-black, with only a few dying embers remaining in the fireplace.

"I knew you'd be waiting here." Brook looked at a dark figure and spoke.

A lamp lit up, revealing Hermione in a pink nightgown.

"B-Brook, why are you here too?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Of course, because of you." Brook rubbed Hermione's little head.

A faint blush immediately spread across Hermione's face. Like a kitten caught sneaking candy, she looked especially adorable.

"I'll go with them. My Space Gate can bring them back at any time and make sure they don't get caught."

Brook was not getting involved merely to put Hermione's mind at ease.

He was actually interested in Wizard Duels too and wanted to watch the drama unfold in person.

"This is against school rules," Hermione said with a frown.

"You only break school rules if you get caught."

Seeing that Hermione still wanted to argue, Brook continued, "If the professors really didn't allow students to roam around at night, they could just seal off the common room entrances after curfew. So this is actually something they tacitly allow."

"You and your twisted logic," Hermione huffed. "Then I'm going too."

"Sure!"

Brook was quite surprised that Hermione had voluntarily decided to join their rule-breaking group.

Harry and Ron were instantly speechless.

They were supposed to be the stars of this duel, weren't they?

Shouldn't someone ask for their opinions?

But after carefully comparing the strengths of both sides—

They were two poor students, while the other side had two top students.

They immediately chose to follow their hearts.

"We should get going. Otherwise, we'll be late," Harry urged.

The four of them crawled out through the portrait hole one after another.

Bright moonlight streamed through the high windows and cast mottled shadows across the floor.

Hogwarts was especially quiet at night.

Brook wore a relaxed, cheerful expression as he strolled down the corridor at an unhurried pace.

It was his first time sneaking around at night, and it felt pretty good.

Hermione, on the other hand, looked nervous. Her eyes kept darting around, her ears perked high as she carefully listened for even the slightest sound.

"Relax, Hermione," Brook said softly.

"Shh!" Hermione hurriedly motioned for Brook to be quiet.

Brook could not help but laugh at how tense she looked.

He leaned close to Hermione's ear and whispered, "Hermione, do you see those portraits?"

Hermione looked puzzled.

What was wrong with the portraits? Hadn't they always been there?

A mischievous smile appeared on Brook's face. "Those portraits are all the professors' spies. They discovered us a long time ago."

Hermione was instantly startled. Just as she was about to scream, Brook covered her mouth with his hand, having anticipated it.

"Stay calm, stay calm."

Hermione pulled Brook's hand away, looking nervous.

"W-We should go back quickly!"

"No need. As long as we aren't deliberately causing trouble, they won't tell the professors," Brook explained.

"Really?"

"Really. You believe me now, right? The professors may not support students wandering around at night, but they won't deliberately restrict little wizards who are skilled enough not to get caught."

Their luck was fairly good.

They ran into neither Filch nor Peeves along the way.

They arrived safely at the trophy room on the third floor.

The trophy room contained rows of crystal display cases.

If you enjoy this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you do not lose it next time.

They gleamed with a soft light beneath the moonlight.

Harry and Ron both drew their wands and nervously stared at the doors on either end of the room.

It was as though Draco might suddenly appear at any moment and cast an evil curse on them.

Brook, however, was more interested in the trophies, medals, shields, and statues that gleamed gold and silver.

He wandered around the display cases by himself.

"James Potter... Harry, come take a look. Is this your dad?" Brook said as he looked at a trophy.

Harry was already on edge, and Brook's call made him jolt violently.

"What?"

"Come look at this." Brook beckoned to him.

The other three were drawn over and all looked at the trophy Brook had pointed out.

"This cup is awarded in recognition of James Potter, Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, for his outstanding contributions to the team. (1972–1978)"

Harry touched the glass case, lost in thought.

Ron shouted excitedly, "Harry, your father was a Seeker! No wonder you're so amazing..."

Just then, a voice came from the room next door. "I heard something. It's over there, hurry!"

"Oh no, it's Filch." Harry's expression changed. "Run!"

Ron charged out first.

Hermione hurriedly grabbed Brook's hand and ran after him.

Brook had not expected Hermione to be so strong. "Sigh! Why are we running?"

Filch's footsteps grew closer and closer behind them, like the drumbeat of death.

The four of them fled wildly through the corridors like headless flies.

Brook raised his hand, preparing to open a Space Gate ahead of them.

But then he frowned.

A spatial disturbance.

It was not his.

Suddenly, Harry slammed heavily into a door. It was locked.

"It's over! We're finished!" Ron stared at the door in despair, his face filled with fear.

"Move." Hermione roughly shoved the two boys aside, snatched Harry's wand, and pointed it at the lock.

"Alohomora!"

With a click, the door opened.

They rushed inside in a swarm and quickly shut the door.

Then they pressed their ears tightly against the door, listening carefully to the sounds outside.

Brook suddenly felt a chill run down his back.

He turned around.

A dog nearly five meters long was staring at them with three heads and six vicious eyes.

Brook immediately summoned a Space Gate behind him and gave Hermione a push.

"Hermione, go."

Hermione had seen the huge dog too. She seemed frightened stiff and stood there without moving.

Just as Brook was about to pull Hermione away, he heard her say, "Are you Fluffy?"

Fluffy's three heads tilted as it looked at Hermione.

Its fierce expression instantly turned silly and adorable, losing all of its earlier intimidation.

It had only wanted to scare them away in the first place.

After all, its orders were to stop people from entering, and it could only frighten little wizards, not hurt them.

So when it heard someone call its name, it immediately put away its ferocious look.

"We're Hagrid's friends."

Hermione looked calm, but her fingers were still trembling nonstop.

Brook also took another look at Fluffy. He recalled Hagrid seeming to have mentioned that he kept a Three-headed Dog.

But he did not lower his guard in the slightest.

The Space Gate remained open, and he tightly held Hermione's hand.

The moment Fluffy did anything suspicious, he would drag Hermione into the Space Gate.

When Fluffy heard Hagrid's name, it relaxed even more.

It slowly lay down, resting all three heads on its front paws.

But its six large eyes continued to stare at them curiously.

"W-We should leave!"

Although Harry and Ron could tell that Fluffy would not attack them for the moment, they were still scared.

Brook strongly agreed.

If he were alone, he would have been interested in playing with Fluffy for a while.

But Hermione was with him, so it was better not to take risks.

Brook kept his eyes fixed on Fluffy. "Harry, Ron, you go first."

"O-Okay."

As though granted a pardon, Ron dragged Harry into the Space Gate.

Brook waved at Fluffy.

"Sorry for disturbing your rest. We should go now. I'll bring you something tasty when I have time."

He tugged on Hermione, only to find that the little girl was staring blankly at Fluffy's paws.

With one hard pull, he dragged Hermione directly into the Space Gate.

Was this little girl simply thick-nerved, or was her courage truly through the roof?

It could only be said that they truly lived up to Gryffindor.

When they returned to the Gryffindor common room, they found Harry and Ron waiting for them.

"Thanks, Brook," Harry said at once.

If Brook had not been there tonight,

they would either have been hurt by Fluffy or caught by Filch.

Neither outcome would have been pleasant.

"It was nothing." Brook waved a hand.

"Why do you think they're keeping something that terrifying in the school?" Ron complained.

"Fluffy was probably guarding something," Hermione murmured. "I saw a trapdoor beneath its paws just now."

Brook suddenly understood. So Hermione had been looking at the trapdoor just then!

"Are you satisfied now? Sneaking out at night, huh!" Hermione glared at Brook again, cheeks puffed with anger. "Don't copy them. You're not allowed to sneak out at night again."

With that, she huffed and turned away.

Ron stared at her retreating back. "Brook, how do you put up with her?"

Brook patted Ron on the shoulder. "You'll understand when you're an adult."

Ron scratched his head and looked at Harry in confusion.

Harry gave him an equally bewildered look.

(Anti-Quibbler: Why wasn't Neville at the door? Because Brook saved him, so he wasn't injured and was sleeping soundly in his room.)

(These two chapters were a little difficult to split into pages. I hope everyone's eyes won't get too tired. I'll try to divide them better later.)