Night Exploration of the Fourth Floor

After his stomach was full, Charlie set down his fork and looked over at the Gryffindor table.

The Weasley Twins were over there chatting with classmates, their faces animated.

Charlie stood up and walked toward them. The twins had taken him on their night-time escapades for so long, and now that he knew how to deal with Fluffy, of course he had to bring them along.

"Fred, George!" Charlie reached the Gryffindor table and lowered his voice. "Fancy something big tonight?"

Fred's eyes lit up. "How big?"

"Going to the Chamber of Secrets on the Fourth Floor."

George's eyes went wide. "You know how to get past that three-headed dog?"

"That's right."

The twins exchanged a glance, their eyes gleaming with eager anticipation.

Just then, Harry leaned in, his eyes full of excitement. "Charlie, Hermione told me you're going to the Fourth Floor's Chamber of Secrets."

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Want in?"

"Of course!" Harry nodded without hesitation. "Someone at school must have bad intentions toward what's inside—you know what it is. I want to see if it's been properly protected."

Ron overheard everything. Though his stomach churned with nerves, seeing his friend and brother both joining in, he steeled himself. "Count me in."

"Of course." Charlie clapped his hands. "Eleven o'clock tonight, Fourth Floor corridor."

After the feast, the students returned to their dorms.

In the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry and Ron spread out their homework and started frantically catching up. They'd had too much fun over the holidays and completely forgotten about their assignments, so they wanted to finish before their night-time trip.

"Damn it, I haven't written a single word of the Potions essay." Ron grabbed his hair, looking utterly hopeless.

Harry wasn't much better off. His desk was covered in parchment, dense with unfinished work.

Hermione sat nearby. Though she didn't want to let them copy, she patiently explained the key points. "The key to Transfiguration is focusing your concentration and imagining the process of the object changing..." She marked notes on the parchment as she spoke.

Harry looked at her gratefully. "Hermione, you're a lifesaver."

Just then, Hermione noticed the Diary on Harry's desk. Its cover felt familiar—identical to the one Charlie had given her.

Hermione frowned, reached over, and picked up the Diary, flipping it open. The content, the handwriting, even the page layout were exactly the same as hers. "Harry, how did you get this?"

Harry jumped, startled, then explained. "It was a Christmas gift from Charlie."

"A Christmas gift?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded matter-of-factly. "Great notes, but honestly, some of it I can't really understand."

Ron looked up too, pulling an identical Diary from his bag. "I've got one too. Charlie said it's his special study notes."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "One for each of you?"

That lying cheat!

Soon, it was eleven o'clock. Everyone in the common room had gone back to their rooms to sleep.

Harry closed his homework and stretched.

"Finally done."

Ron put down his quill too, shaking his sore wrist.

"I swear, next holiday I'm not leaving my homework to the last minute."

That kind of talk was about as reliable as a fart.

The two were about to sneak out when Hermione suddenly stood up from behind the sofa.

"Wait."

Harry and Ron jumped, staring at her in confusion.

"I'm coming with you," Hermione said.

Harry's eyes went wide.

"What?"

Ron's jaw practically dropped.

"Hermione? Voluntarily coming on a night-time stroll with us?"

"She's not possessed by Peeves, is she?" Harry muttered under his breath.

Hermione's face flushed slightly, and she explained awkwardly, "I'm just afraid you'll get caught and lose house points. Gryffindor's already lost plenty because of you two."

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, both feeling something was off about Hermione today. But since she was volunteering, they had no reason to refuse.

Harry pulled out his Invisibility Cloak—the one Dumbledore had given him at Christmas. He'd used it plenty during the holiday to sneak around at night. Ron was used to it by now, but it was Hermione's first time seeing it. Though her face showed surprise, she said nothing.

The three slipped out of the common room, draped in the cloak as they walked down the corridor. On the Fourth Floor, Charlie and the Weasley Twins were already waiting.

Harry lifted the cloak, appearing before the three of them.

"Harry, what's that?" Charlie asked, startled. A head suddenly popping out of nowhere—and just a head, at that—would startle anyone.

"Invisibility Cloak. An heirloom my father left me," Harry explained.

Charlie eyed the cloak with envy. As expected of a pure-blood family—so many good things. If he could ransack all those pure-blood houses, how much treasure would he get?

Harry had no idea about Charlie's dangerous thoughts. He took off the cloak and put it away. Only then did Charlie notice Hermione and Ron trailing behind Harry. What caught his attention more was the resentful look Hermione was giving him.

"What's up with her?" Charlie whispered to Harry.

Harry shook his head. "No idea. She's been like that ever since she saw the diary you gave her."

Charlie understood immediately. She'd figured out she'd been tricked.

With a pained expression, he walked up to Hermione. She thought he was about to apologize, so she turned her head away, playing hard to get.

Charlie said, with a look of pity, "So, when are you jumping off the Astronomy Tower?"

Hermione suddenly remembered what she'd said on the train. Her face flushed bright red as she spun around to glare at Charlie.

"Charlie White! Don't you have a conscience?"

Charlie grinned. Me? Have one of those?