A Little Surprise for Filch

Charlie climbed out of his warm bed with light, careful movements.

His dormmates' snores rose and fell in waves; Ernie was still muttering something about Victoria's Secret in his sleep.

[Your Majesty out all night, Tyrant Points +1!]

The system's notification lifted Charlie's spirits.

He tiptoed to push open the dormitory door and slipped into the common room.

The warm yellow lights had already gone out, leaving only the faint flicker of flames dancing in the fireplace.

Charlie fumbled his way to the barrel entrance leading to the corridor and crawled out carefully.

He climbed the stone steps, planning to head straight for the fourth floor.

The more Dumbledore forbade it, the more Tyrant Points he'd earn by breaking the rules.

As for danger—if that place were truly that dangerous, would Dumbledore have let it exist all this time?

From Charlie's understanding of the teaching profession, all that talk of deadly peril was just scaremongering.

Just like teachers always said: if you don't study hard, you're doomed; if you don't do your homework, you're doomed.

(Students study hard and improve every day—this guy has a system, he's cheating.)

Even if there really was some danger, Charlie was confident he could handle it with the system's help.

But Hogwarts' staircases completely refused to follow the rules.

He'd barely reached the second floor when the stone steps beneath him began to shift.

Charlie startled and quickly grabbed the railing. The staircase slowly rotated, carrying him to a completely unfamiliar corridor.

"What the hell?"

Charlie frowned as he looked around.

The portraits here were all fast asleep; moonlight streamed through the glass windows onto the floor, making it eerily quiet.

He steeled himself and kept walking, trying to find a way to the fourth floor.

But as he went, he encountered another moving staircase.

This time it was worse—it dumped him straight into some corner on who-knows-which floor.

"Is this damn staircase cursed?" Charlie couldn't help complaining.

"Little wizard, not sleeping obediently, running around instead."

A voice suddenly came from beside him, startling Charlie.

He whipped his head around, thinking he'd been caught by a teacher, only to find a knight in a portrait on the wall talking to him.

The plump knight wore silver armor and was leaning lazily in his frame.

"Judging by your age, you're a newly enrolled little wizard. Out on your first night—definitely a Gryffindor student."

"I'm a H—"

Charlie had a flash of inspiration and put on a serious face.

"That's right, I'm a Gryffindor student."

"HAHAHAHAHA." The knight laughed heartily.

"I knew it. You little wizards from that house never follow the rules."

"But I like it—that's true knightly courage!"

Charlie seized the opportunity: "Then, honorable Sir Knight, how do I get to the fourth floor?"

The knight was pleased by Charlie's address and raised his hand to point at the left corridor: "Go that way. Take the stairs that turn right, and go straight when you see stairs turning left."

But mid-sentence, his hand paused, then shifted to point right: "No, no—it's that way."

Charlie didn't think much of it, just assuming the knight was a bit muddled.

After all, portraits—hung up for centuries, it was normal for their minds to be fuzzy.

"Thank you, Sir Knight."

Charlie waved at the knight and hurried off down the right corridor.

In the Headmaster's Office, Dumbledore was chuckling softly at the portrait on the wall.

"Little one, no one can enter that place right now. No one at all."

An old wizard in another portrait poked his head out: "Albus, if you don't want anyone going in, why mention it in the first place?"

Dumbledore stroked his long beard: "Because I only want a specific person to go in."

"Alright, alright, you're the headmaster." The old wizard shrugged.

"Of course you call the shots. Make the stairs turn however you want, lock whichever door you please."

A glint of cunning flashed in Dumbledore's eyes:

"Some things need to happen at the right moment."

Meanwhile, Charlie was still stumbling through Hogwarts' maze.

He followed the Fat Friar's directions, but the further he went, the more wrong it felt.

Why did this corridor look so familiar?

When he reached the end, Charlie was dumbfounded.

Ahead were those big wooden barrels, and beyond that, the Hufflepuff common room.

He'd gone in a full circle and ended up back on the first floor!

"Bloody hell!" Charlie couldn't help cursing.

"That fat ghost friar dared to mess with me!"

He ground his teeth in anger, turned around, and was about to go settle the score with that portrait.

If I don't tear its frame apart today, I'll write Harry Potter's name backwards!

But before he'd taken two steps, a door beside him suddenly swung open.

Two hands reached out and yanked Charlie straight inside.

"Shh!"

A familiar voice sounded. Charlie looked closely and saw it was the Weasley twins.

Fred and George were grinning at him slyly, their eyes full of excitement.

"I told you, Charlie would definitely sneak out in the middle of the night," Fred said smugly.

"Fine, you win. I thought he'd be tired enough today to turn in early," George shrugged helplessly.

Charlie asked in confusion, "What are you two doing here?"

"Came looking for you, of course. Remember, we talked about it on the train," George said, glancing at the direction Charlie had come from, puzzled. "Why were you coming from that way? The Hufflepuff common room should be the other direction."

Charlie spread his hands helplessly:

"Don't even mention it. I was trying to get to the fourth floor, but I got lost in the castle. I asked a fat friar portrait for directions, and that fatso pointed me completely the wrong way. I went in a full circle and ended up back here."

Fred and George exchanged a look and couldn't help laughing.

"Hahaha, the Fat Friar tricked you!" Fred slapped his thigh, laughing.

"Oh, that must be Sir Cadogan. That guy's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed," George explained. "But you wanted to go to that place on the fourth floor?"

"Yeah. The more Dumbledore says not to go, the more I want to see what's there." Charlie's eyes sparkled with excitement.

Fred raised an eyebrow:

"Great minds think alike! We wanted to check out the fourth floor too, but we hit a dead end."

"How so?" Charlie asked curiously.

George sighed:

"Every path to the right-hand corridor on the fourth floor has a door that won't open. Either it's magically sealed, or the stairs suddenly change direction."

Charlie froze.

Was there really something dangerous there?

That white-bearded old man Dumbledore was this sneaky?

[Your Majesty disrespects a teacher and slanders a tutor in his heart. Tyrant Points +1!]

Fine. You're sneakier, system.

[...]

The system chose silence. Charlie curled his lip, then turned to the twins: "So what are you two planning to do now?"

A mischievous gleam flashed in George's eyes:

"We're going to give Filch a little surprise."

"That caretaker?" Charlie recalled the figure lurking behind the professors at the feast. He'd heard the rumors—the guy had a terrible reputation.

"That's right!" Fred rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"Old Filch had it in for us all last term, blaming us for every bad thing that happened."

"Though, to be fair, we did do a lot of it..."

George picked up the thread.

"Even if we did find some good stuff in his office..."

"That doesn't mean we can't thank him properly with an Explosive Toilet Seat."

Charlie's eyes lit up instantly. "Count me in."

The three of them hit it off at once and set to work immediately.

Fred and George clearly knew the Hogwarts layout better, weaving through corridors with Charlie in tow until they soon reached the area near Filch's quarters.

"See that bathroom over there?" George pointed at a door across the hallway.

"It used to be a public restroom, but Filch always uses it himself, so no student wants to go near it anymore."

"So now it's basically his private toilet." Fred said with a vicious grin.

"Time to teach him a lesson."

Charlie nodded, and the three crept stealthily toward the door.

Fred pulled out a toilet seat from his robes that looked ordinary enough, but faint magical light shimmered across its surface.

"When someone sits on this thing, it'll blast out a rainbow of paint." George explained in a low voice.

"And that paint can't be washed off with normal methods—it takes at least a week to fade."

"Where did you guys get something like this?"

Charlie couldn't help but give a thumbs-up. A stroke of genius like this was practically a weapon fit for a tyrant.

"Fred and I developed it together." George said with immense pride.

This caught Charlie off guard. These two were still students, yet they could craft such ingenious prank toys. Give them another two years, and they'd be unstoppable.

They were practically His Majesty's Ministers of Works.

The three quietly pushed open the bathroom door. Inside, it was empty as expected.

Fred worked quickly, removing the original toilet seat and replacing it with their special one.

Just then, a sharp, piercing laugh rang out.

"Hahaha! Little wizards up to no good! Little wizards up to no good!"

Peeves popped out of the ceiling, pointing at the three and shouting loudly.

"Damn it!" Fred's face twisted.

"That bastard Peeves!" George panicked too.

But Charlie reacted fastest, his wand appearing in his hand in an instant.

"Tongue-Tying Curse!"

He had no idea if the spell would work on this sudden apparition, but it was worth a shot.

A blue light shot toward Peeves, hitting him square on.

Peeves opened his mouth to keep yelling, but found he couldn't make a sound.

He clutched his throat in terror, flipping a somersault in the air.

Fred and George looked overjoyed.

"Nice one, Charlie!"

But Charlie's face was grim.

"That noise definitely woke Filch up. We need to get out of here now!"

Sure enough, Filch's furious shouts and hurried footsteps echoed from afar.

"Which little brat is causing trouble? Stop right there!"

The three bolted out of the bathroom, tearing through the halls under Fred and George's lead.

"This way!" Fred pointed at a side corridor.

They charged into the narrow passage, then took a series of sharp turns.

Charlie was completely lost, just following the Weasley brothers as they ran for their lives.

Luckily, the two knew the castle's layout like the back of their hands, and they soon left Filch far behind.

Only when they were sure it was safe did they stop to catch their breath.

"We did it!" George pumped his fist in excitement.

"Tomorrow, the moment Filch sits on that toilet, it's going to be priceless!" Fred's face was full of anticipation.

Charlie imagined the scene and couldn't help but laugh.

[Your Majesty teased the Imperial Guard and vandalized public property. Tyrant Points +2!]

The system's prompt made Charlie's mood even brighter.

But the big one still had to wait until tomorrow when Filch triggered the bomb.

After this collaboration, the bond between the three had clearly grown closer.

"Charlie, that spell you used earlier was really good," Fred praised.

"Not at all, not at all. Next time there's something like this, remember to call me."

"Already looking forward to the next time, huh? You've got quite the appetite, kid."

"Don't worry, we'll do our best to satisfy you."

The three chatted a bit longer, and Fred and George took Charlie around to show him the castle's various secret passages and shortcuts.

Charlie carefully memorized every location—this information would be very useful for his future night outings.

Time slipped by unnoticed, and when a faint morning light appeared on the horizon, the three realized it was almost dawn.

"Time to head back. If we don't get to the dorm soon, we'll be caught," George said, glancing out the window.

Fred patted Charlie on the shoulder:

"Had a great time tonight. If there's anything fun in the future, remember to call us."

"No problem." Charlie nodded with a smile.

"You too—don't forget me if you find anything interesting."

The three parted ways at a corridor fork, each returning to their own house's dormitory.

Entering the Gryffindor common room, Fred sighed:

"Charlie really should be in Gryffindor."

"Exactly. The Sorting Hat must be going senile—how did it put him in Hufflepuff?"

"If you ask me, the one who should really be in Hufflepuff is Ron."

The two exchanged a look and burst out laughing.

Charlie crept quietly back into the Hufflepuff common room, then returned to his dorm.

His roommates were still fast asleep; Ernie was even talking in his sleep.

Charlie took off his outer robe and slipped into the warm covers.

"Little System, start the draw!"

"Draw them one by one for me."

[Your Majesty, drawing one by one is very tiring. We can do consecutive draws.]

"I don't want to. Just draw them one by one for me."

[Tyrant Points +1.]

"Are you cursing me?"

[This humble one wouldn't dare.]

"Hurry up and draw for me."

[Congratulations, Your Majesty. You've drawn Levitation Charm Proficiency +20.]

[Congratulations, Your Majesty. You've drawn Flock of Birds Proficiency +100.]

Accompanied by the system's voice, Charlie gradually drifted off to sleep.

So much so that he didn't hear what he drew afterward.

[Congratulations, Your Majesty. You've drawn Animagus (Self-Selected Form).]

I'm going straight for ten thousand words! Use your encouragement to whip me hard—don't treat me like a human!