Nighttime Wanderings (Part 1)

"Sixty points! How many questions would I have to answer in class to earn that many points?"

"Harry! Potter! You didn't knock into Malfoy, you knocked into the House Cup! Good Lord—"

"Who's God?" Ron muttered beside him.

Hermione shot him a furious glare.

Harry was upset, but the terrifying encounter that afternoon, along with Professor McGonagall's hours-long scolding, had left him shaken. He did not dare argue back.

Every Gryffindor student who passed by him asked with a grin:

"Potter, we lost sixty points. What did you do?"

"Harry, I heard you knocked Malfoy over? Nice one, but how are you going to earn those points back?"

Most of them were only teasing. Few took it as seriously as Hermione did—sixty points were nothing compared with making Slytherin suffer a setback!

Harry did not want to answer. He hunched over the long table and took huge bites of the pie, which had already gone cold.

He was starving.

Ron swallowed and could not help picking up a piece of pie as well, only for Hermione to smack him with her Wand.

"That's Harry's. Didn't you already eat?"

"Harry looks like he's enjoying it so much..."

Hermione could not be bothered with him.

While Harry ate, she kept chattering away. But when they returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, she began worrying again. "You and Malfoy have to serve Detention together? Where?"

"The Trophy Room. We're going to polish trophies," Harry answered vaguely.

"Just the two of you?"

"And Mrs. Norris. She's in charge of watching us."

Mrs. Norris was Filch's cat, and she was very clever.

At night, she often prowled through every corner of Hogwarts, catching Young Wizards sneaking around after curfew.

Even someone like Hermione, who loved cats, was a little afraid of her, because she looked far too frightening.

She was skin and bones, with dull gray fur and bulging eyes. At a glance, you might even think you had seen a ghost.

Ron shuddered and hugged Scabbers tightly against his chest.

His experience that summer had left him afraid of cats as well.

"Maybe you shouldn't go, Harry," he said. "Or talk to a professor and ask to change locations. At the very least, you can't be together with Malfoy."

Hermione nodded repeatedly. She agreed too. Malfoy was so cunning—how could Harry possibly outmatch him?

"I want to go..."

Harry said gloomily, "Professor McGonagall said my dad used to be a Quidditch player too. His trophies from back then are still in the Trophy Room. I want to see them."

The two friends fell silent and stopped trying to dissuade him.

But that night, after Harry finished his homework and prepared to head to the Trophy Room, Ron and Hermione silently followed him.

"What are you two following me for?"

"In case Malfoy bullies you," Ron said loyally.

Hermione, however, said with a stern little face, "I'm afraid you two will start fighting again. If Gryffindor loses any more points, we'll be down to nothing."

Harry was deeply moved.

He knew his two friends were worried about him!

Harry did not want to refuse them, so he said, "Then be careful. Don't let Filch or Mrs. Norris see you. And don't let Malfoy see you either. That guy will definitely start shouting and accuse you of sneaking around at night."

The two agreed.

Harry walked in front holding a lamp, while Hermione and Ron followed behind him on tiptoe. They made their way to the third floor, where they could see the lights of the Trophy Room from afar.

Filch stood at the door holding a torch. Hermione and Ron quickly ducked behind the corner and heard his hoarse, shrill voice calling, "Harry Potter, get over here! Don't think you can escape your Detention. You should count yourselves lucky—Detention used to be far less gentle. They used torture devices... Hand over your Wands!"

Malfoy's furious shout followed: "Here, you old fool. Be careful! If there's even one scratch on my Wand, I'll have my dad throw you out. He's a Governor!"

The Trophy Room was full of noise. Before long, Filch limped out and headed in another direction, leaving Mrs. Norris at the entrance.

Hermione and Ron waited at the corner of the corridor, peeking around it and keeping a close eye on the room.

The moment they heard anything unusual, they were ready to rush in and rescue Harry.

But they were startled first—

A voice suddenly came from behind them. "What are you doing?"

Ron clutched his chest with both hands, like an opera singer about to hit a high note, his mouth hanging open in terror.

Silencio!

The spell struck him accurately, turning him mute.

Hermione, meanwhile, had covered her mouth immediately. She turned around and looked at the person behind them in delighted surprise—

Vaughn!

Under the dim corridor lights, Vaughn wore wool pajamas, with Guoguo Tea sitting by his feet.

He was also holding a rope. The other end floated in midair, tied to... Peeves!

No one knew what spell had been cast on Peeves. He bared his teeth and glared, yet could not move at all. Like a balloon, he drifted back and forth above Vaughn's head.

"Vaughn, why are you here? And Peeves—"

"I'm taking Peeves for a walk..."

Vaughn explained with a smile.

"Last time, I changed the words outside the Slytherin Common Room. This guy spread it everywhere and caused me trouble. I thought he might have some misunderstanding about me, so I've been communicating with him these past few days. Now we're friends, aren't we, Peeves?"

As he spoke, he tugged the rope. Peeves was yanked into nodding up and down, his eyes rolling back.

The sight made Ron press his back tightly against the wall, trying his best to make himself less noticeable, afraid Vaughn might notice him.

For a moment, Hermione could only stammer wordlessly.

Peeves was the person every student hated most, yet no one could do anything about him. He was neither a Ghost nor a living creature, but a "nonexistent" entity somewhere between life and death.

Many spells had little effect on such a peculiar spirit.

Hermione's eyes began to sparkle. She desperately wanted to ask Vaughn how he had done it.

Vaughn seemed to know what she was thinking and smiled at her. "I found it in the library. I'll teach you when I have time, but first, we need to deal with another problem."

As he spoke, a furtive figure slipped past Ron's feet. Its bulging eyes swept back and forth over them.

It was Mrs. Norris.

This ugly cat was as sinister as a skeleton, unpleasant to look at.

But Hermione and Ron saw that Vaughn did not mind her in the slightest. He took out a piece of Dried Fish from his pocket and offered it to Mrs. Norris.

"Meow—"

Mrs. Norris let out a chilling cry.

Just as Hermione and Ron worried that she would turn and run off to find Filch, they were astonished to see the cat obediently lower her head and gnaw on the Dried Fish.

Only Guoguo Tea swished her tail in displeasure.

Watching this, Ron waved his arms urgently. Vaughn glanced at him and lifted the spell.

"Merlin's beard!" Ron's freckles turned red with excitement. "Vaughn, how did you do that? Teach me!"