Nighttime Wandering

"Finally finished!"

"I'm really looking forward to tonight!"

"Before that, let's rest for a while first... yawn~"

George and Fred headed toward the Gryffindor common room with dark circles under their eyes, yawning nonstop as they walked.

They had stayed up for two nights preparing this prank.

Rushing to finish it, they had finally completed this "Dungbomb Hammer" before the agreed time.

Now all that remained was to install it in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom tonight.

Ron spotted his two brothers approaching from afar and instinctively edged aside.

He really did not want to be pranked by them again.

But the Weasley twins did not even look at him. After greeting Harry in perfect unison, they headed for their dormitory.

That somehow left Ron feeling empty. He had not been pranked, yet he still felt strangely upset.

How ridiculous.

"Oh, look, they're here."

A first-year student who had been waiting in the Gryffindor common room called out anxiously when he saw George and Fred.

Two more students immediately crowded around, all talking at once.

"Do you still have those maps? We came specifically to buy one!"

"Give me one, quick! I've already been late three times this week! Merlin's beard!"

"Those damned staircases. Even Peeves isn't as annoying as they are!"

With customers at their door, George and Fred immediately perked up.

"One map, eight Sickles. It lasts at least two weeks. If that isn't enough, you're welcome to come back and buy another."

"Eight Sickles? That's way too expensive!"

Clutching his money pouch tightly, one young wizard said with a pained expression, "And it doesn't even last forever!"

Fred did not care in the slightest. With a faintly threatening tone, he said:

"Think about it, friend. One day, you're on your way to Professor Snape's Potions class, about to be late. But you can't find the right route no matter what you do. At that moment, you'll realize just how worthwhile today's eight Sickles were."

The moment they heard Snape's name, the young wizards' expressions changed.

A large part of why they wanted the maps was because they did not want to be late for Potions.

Professor Snape was simply too terrifying.

"Eight Sickles isn't cheap, true, but you can buy one together with your friends." George chimed in from the side, taking the opportunity to add fuel to the fire. "Once you buy it, you can copy it yourselves. That way, you can use it forever."

The two worked seamlessly together, one threatening while the other coaxed.

A few words were all it took to talk those young wizards into it.

"What are they selling?" Harry raised his head and looked at them curiously.

Ron curled his lip and said somewhat enviously, "Maps showing the routes from the Gryffindor common room to classrooms and other places. They've made a fortune lately. Neville has one too..."

"I'm buying one too."

Harry did not wait for Ron to finish before running up the stairs.

He had not been late these past few days, but only because he had been getting up early. He had been sleeping much less and dozing off in class all day.

If he had a map, things would be much easier.

As for money? He had plenty of it in his pockets.

After selling the last map to Harry, George and Fred returned to their dormitory, collapsed onto their beds, and quickly fell asleep.

The night at Hogwarts was so quiet, so quiet~

Silan had a wonderful sleep, and when he woke up, it was already curfew.

That worked out perfectly.

After all, if it was not past curfew, could it really be called nighttime wandering?

After leaving the Room of Requirement, Silan discovered that Hogwarts was utterly silent at night. Not even a ghost was in sight.

Most of the torches on the thick stone walls had gone out. A little moonlight filtered through the patterned glass, scattering bizarre shadows across the floor.

Being in this tranquil ancient castle made one instinctively lower their breathing. Yet the tension rising from the depths of one's heart also made it feel thrilling.

No wonder students throughout the ages had enjoyed sneaking around at night.

Silan followed the walls toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

It was already very late, and the portraits on the walls were all asleep. As Silan passed by, some light sleepers were startled awake, muttered a few complaints at him, then turned over and continued sleeping with their backs to him.

Halfway there, Silan took out the Marauder's Map, intending to check Filch's whereabouts.

But the moment he activated the map, Silan saw Mrs Norris's name at the corner ahead of him, with Filch's name close behind.

If he had not happened to open the map, he probably would have run right into them.

"Tsk... they're coming for me."

"Is that cat a dog? Its nose is that sharp?"

Seeing Mrs Norris's name racing toward him on the map, Silan quickly scanned it. When he noticed a secret passage behind him, he hurriedly turned around and flicked his wand.

"Revelio!"

Empowered by the [Extreme Speed] effect, the spell was swift and rapid.

A hidden glimmer flashed and vanished. A deep, secluded passage immediately appeared in the wall that had previously been empty.

Silan hurried several steps into the passage.

To avoid making any noise, he had no choice but to deliberately lighten his footsteps.

Once he entered the passage, the wall instantly returned to normal.

The next second, Mrs Norris arrived.

Filch, following close behind her, soon arrived as well.

But aside from the faint, tranquil moonlight, there was nothing here.

The man and cat stared at each other, but found nothing.

After lingering there for a while, they were drawn away by some other disturbance and hurried off.

After winding through the passage for a while, Silan emerged from another exit.

After leaving the passage, he walked for quite some time before finally reaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

But there was no one at the door.

Ever since hiding in the passage, Silan had been keeping an eye on Filch and Mrs Norris's movements. They seemed to have passed by the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom just now.

George and Fred must have hidden themselves.

Silan checked the map. Only after confirming that Filch and Mrs Norris were not on this floor did he carefully push open the door.

"Creak..." The doorframe suddenly groaned.

A sound that would usually have been barely noticeable seemed especially loud at night, making Silan tense as well.

"George, Fred. I'm here."

Silan called their names, but the instant he slipped inside, someone grabbed his wrist.

A small ball of light suddenly flared to life.

The abrupt brightness in the darkness made Silan narrow his eyes slightly.

"Shh," said a voice on the left.

"Did you get lost? We were just about to look for you," said a voice on the right.

"Filch came by, so we had to hide first."

The two voices rang out at once, turning mono into surround sound.

After taking a moment to adjust to the light in the classroom, Silan finally said, "Bad luck. Mrs Norris nearly spotted me earlier, so I was delayed."

"Oh, that scrawny old cat always jumps out like a ghost when you least expect it. I really want to turn invisible and give it a hard kick."

Fred glanced outside. After confirming that no one was there, he gently pulled the door shut.

"All right, enough chatting. Let's get started."

George was already growing impatient.