Punished Yet Again

Last Saturday night was dark and overcast. Muya pulled Draco along as they hurried to Hagrid's hut.

Harry and the others were already there. Norbert had been put into a large crate by Hagrid and seemed ready to go.

"I've packed him some brandy and plenty of mice, I think that should be enough for him to eat on the way," Hagrid said, looking fondly at the crate in his deep voice. "I've put his teddy bear in there too, so he doesn't get lonely."

Then, a tearing sound came from the crate. It seemed the teddy bear was in grave danger.

"Goodbye, Norbert!" Hagrid said, sniffling. "Your mother won't forget you!" Harry and Hermione covered the crate with the invisibility cloak and then crawled under it themselves. Draco, still surprised, was pushed in by Muya. "I'll keep an eye on things out here and use the Levitation Charm to lighten your load a bit."

Harry and Hermione looked at Draco, who had suddenly appeared. Although they were unhappy, they had more important things to do, and so did Draco.

Muya drank the invisibility potion Theodore had given her, and then they set off.

Under Muya's reconnaissance, they walked through dark corridors, slowly ascending floor after floor, until they finally reached the second-highest level.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of footsteps ahead. Muya told everyone to hide in a corner.

It was Professor McGonagall, wearing her pajamas. It seemed she was patrolling tonight to catch students out of bounds.

Everyone held their breath, afraid Professor McGonagall would discover them, leading to point deductions and detentions.

When Professor McGonagall went downstairs, they breathed a sigh of relief. They continued upwards, and only when they felt a cool breeze did they lift the invisibility cloak. Muya also dropped her invisibility.

"Oh, that really scared me," Draco said, walking up to Muya.

"Charlie's friends should be here soon," Harry said.

About ten minutes later, four broomsticks descended from the night sky.

Charlie's friends were all familiar faces. After chatting for a while about Norbert, they tied several ropes to the crate so they could suspend Norbert between them. They worked together to securely tie Norbert to the ropes, shook hands with them, and offered many words of thanks.

Norbert was finally gone, and they no longer had to worry about Hagrid being sent to Azkaban.

They went downstairs feeling lighthearted. As they walked into the corridor, they saw Filch's face immediately. Unfortunately, Harry had forgotten the invisibility cloak on the tower top.

"Look at this, so many students out for a stroll at night. I should take you to Professor McGonagall," Filch said with a smile. Muya and the others couldn't smile.

Filch led them to Professor McGonagall's study on the second floor. They sat there, not saying a word. Hermione and Draco were trembling. Harry rapidly thought of many excuses and reasons to defend himself, even concocting lies to get away with it, but found they were all flimsy. Muya was thinking about how to gently tell Cedric and the others how house points would be deducted. No matter what excuses they gave, Professor McGonagall wouldn't forgive them for sneaking around the school in the middle of the night and climbing to the highest astronomy tower, which was off-limits except for regular classes.

"I can't believe it. You are all from different houses, yet you went to the astronomy tower together, and it's already one in the morning." Professor McGonagall's eyes widened when she saw the four of them, from three different houses.

"I will deduct 50 points from each of you. Miss Granger, I thought you would have had a clearer head. Mr. Malfoy, I thought you wouldn't stoop to such things. Mr. Potter, I thought you valued Gryffindor's honor greatly. Miss Muya, it seems this matter will require your guardian, Headmaster Dumbledore, to be informed. I believe his guidance may be lacking." It would be best to hand Muya over to her.

The four felt like the sky had fallen. Gryffindor had lost a full 100 points. Muya felt as if all her strength and means had been drained. This terrible news would have to be delivered to them first thing tomorrow morning, and she hoped they could handle it.

The next morning, Muya told her friends early about being caught for being out at night and losing 50 points. However, they didn't seem to react much and kept asking if she was injured anywhere. She had, her index finger had been accidentally scraped.

Harry, however, became the target of everyone's criticism. With the 100-point deduction, even though he was the famous Savior and the hero of two Quidditch matches, he couldn't stop some students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff from giving him dirty looks.

Muya and the others comforted him, saying it wasn't entirely his fault. "But they are all disappointed in me. I... I don't know what to do. Maybe I should go find Wood and quit the team," Harry said dejectedly.

"No, Harry, that won't shut them up. They're just a bunch of useless jealous people who can't earn points and are jealous of others' fame," Muya said, stunning Harry, the others, and the surrounding Gryffindor students.

However, upon further thought, they realized Muya was right. All the people criticizing Harry were students who had never earned any points for their house.

"In this world, there are many people who dislike you. They care more about you than themselves. Once you do something wrong, they will swarm you with ridicule, even if you have no connection to them," Muya comforted Harry.

Harry's spirits lifted, and he nodded.

The four of them had earned a lot of points for their houses. Even after deducting 50 points, they still had points left. Thinking about it this way, they had essentially added the points they lost.

They quietly began further revision. One night, Filch summoned them to the castle entrance, saying he had arranged their punishment.

Muya met Draco on the way and waited with him at the entrance for Harry and Hermione.

When everyone had arrived, Filch held up his lamp and said, "Follow me. It's a shame they've abolished the old ways of punishment... hanging you by your wrists from the ceiling for days." He glanced at the four of them. Even though Muya had given him some fruits and vegetables, giving him a slight good impression, he treated the midnight-wandering wizards equally.

The four walked along a familiar path, finally stopping before the Forbidden Forest. They saw Hagrid, holding Fang and carrying two lamps.

"You will be accompanying Hagrid on his patrol of the Forbidden Forest," Filch said.

Draco stopped abruptly upon hearing this, his voice trembling slightly. "We can't go into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night! I heard there are werewolves in there!"

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