Professor Sprout arrived soon after receiving the news, her face blazing with anger. It was the first time anyone had seen the usually gentle professor lose her temper so completely.
"This is outrageous..."
"You Gryffindors have gone too far!"
Silvan and the Weasley twins hunched their necks, doing their utmost to make themselves inconspicuous.
But her second remark was clearly aimed at McGonagall, who instinctively looked somewhat guilty herself.
In fact, what she had said earlier was not a groundless guess, but born from experience. More than a decade ago, students had done the same thing. Coincidentally, they had also been Gryffindors.
Back then, however, the Whomping Willow had only recently been planted and was nowhere near as aggressive as it was now. So when she saw the branch in Silvan's hand, she could not help feeling a little shaken.
They had to be punished!
McGonagall's face hardened again.
Seeing her expression, and seeing that the Whomping Willow's main trunk had not been damaged, Professor Sprout said no more. She glanced at Silvan and the Weasley twins before hurrying away.
"You..." McGonagall had wanted to say something else, but she was interrupted by a harsh shout.
"Get over here, hurry up! Stop dawdling. You won't get away this time."
The voice came from the staircase.
It was Filch, with three dejected-looking students trailing behind him.
Harry, Ron, Hermione...
"Professor McGonagall, I caught three students wandering the corridors at night," Filch said excitedly, completely failing to notice that McGonagall looked as though she was about to faint.
This night had been far too stimulating for her. No fewer than eight students had been caught out after curfew, and seven of them were Gryffindors.
McGonagall felt the room spin. She swayed a few times before managing to steady herself.
"Thank you for