Douglas stroked Mrs. Norris in his arms and said to Filch:
"Mr. Filch, leave these two to me!"
Filch stared at the twins with a strange grin plastered across his face and said without raising his head:
"No, Professor Holmes, you're innocent and kind. You have no idea how troublesome these two little brats are.
Leave them to me. I'll make sure they remember this lesson!
Trust me, haha!"
Douglas could not help frowning at the sight of Filch.
Then he looked at the twins, their faces full of despair, yet their eyes fixed hopefully on Douglas.
He truly could not understand what the twins had done over the past few years.
What could have made Filch treat them like this?
Even the worst troublemakers from his own school days had never received this much attention from Filch.
For the sake of all three people's physical and mental well-being, Douglas had to take a firm tone:
"Mr. Filch, I think you should understand that I was the one who caught them.
As a professor at this school, my authority to deal with them should take precedence over yours."
Ignoring Filch's resentful gaze, he turned to the twins and said:
"George Weasley, Fred Weasley, you violated school rules by leaving your common room to wander around at night at this hour, and when a patrolling professor discovered you, you actually attempted to attack him.
In accordance with school regulations, I will now deduct fifty points from Gryffindor for each of you, and I will subsequently arrange two months of detention for you both."
At Douglas's words, the Weasley Twins let out miserable cries of despair:
"No!"
"Professor McGonagall will kill us!"
At that moment, they truly regretted not fighting to go with Filch.
Although Filch was the castle caretaker, he had no authority to deduct points.
Whenever he caught students breaking the rules, Filch had to report them to their Head of House, who would then deduct points.
Accompanied by the twins' screams, inside the Four Houses' gem-filled hourglasses in the entrance hall,
all the gems in Gryffindor's hourglass, of which there had already been few, fell to the bottom.
Filch looked at the twins unwillingly.
But under the castle's rules, professors had authority over the caretaker.
If a professor was present, the caretaker had no right to punish students.
Still, Mr. Filch was pleased that the two little brats who had always given him headaches were finally being punished.
Looking at the twins, covered in excrement-yellow filth, and the considerable amount of that sticky stuff splattered along the nearby corridor,
Douglas had no choice but to wave his wand and use Scourgify to clean everything up.
Seeing what Douglas had done, the twins hurriedly gulped down great mouthfuls of air.
They had nearly suffocated just now.
Douglas handed Mrs. Norris over to Filch and said apologetically:
"Mr. Filch, I'll go deal with these two students first. I'll leave the rest of the patrol to you!"
Filch took Mrs. Norris from Douglas's arms and said reluctantly:
"Professor Holmes, other professors have punished these two little brats before, but they never learn.
I think my methods might be more... all right, what I mean is, if they still won't behave, I hope you'll hand them over to me!"
With that, he gave the two Weasleys a vicious glare.
Then he reluctantly turned and left.
Douglas removed his Bubble-Head Charm and found that the strange smell had already vanished from the air.
Looking at the dejected twins, Douglas said:
"You two, come with me!"
George asked unwillingly:
"Professor, you're not handing us over to Professor McGonagall, are you?"
Douglas snorted.
"Do you think Professor McGonagall won't notice the state of the points hourglass tomorrow morning?"
Fred nudged George and said with a look of relief:
"Good thing term only started a few days ago and nobody has many points yet. Otherwise, I don't think we'd even need Professor McGonagall.
Percy would tear us apart!"
George slung an arm around Fred. "Thanks, brother. That's wonderful news!"
Then they remembered the two months of detention Douglas had mentioned!
All sorts of pained expressions involuntarily crossed their faces. After all, Hogwarts' first term was only a little over two months long.
Douglas walked ahead while the twins followed behind, arms draped over each other's shoulders, talking quietly.
"George, did you hear Filch call Douglas innocent and kind just now?"
"Yes, Fred, you heard right. I think that old geezer Filch has been taken in by this fraud too!"
Douglas stopped and looked at them.
He had not expected them to still be in the mood for jokes, even now.
"I think the two Mr. Weasleys need another two weeks of detention!"
To his surprise, the twins looked at Douglas with the air of those who had nothing left to lose and readily accepted the suggestion.
Well, one more debt made no difference when you already owed so much.
Once they reached the office, before Douglas could speak,
the Weasley Twins obligingly sat themselves down, and Fred even helped himself to a sweet from Douglas's dessert tray and popped it into his mouth.
When Douglas looked over in surprise, George generously took a toffee from his own pocket and offered it to him.
"Professor, how about a trade?"
Had Douglas not remembered the Weasley Twins' peculiar talents from the original story,
he might actually have been fooled by these two consummate actors.
Still, he accepted the toffee and set it aside separately.
He did not expose their little trick.
"Hand it over!"
Douglas raised an eyebrow and looked at them.
George and Fred exchanged a glance, then each shuffled a step back.
Fred's mouth was still full of the treat he had yet to swallow.
Douglas gave them both a look, then said:
"The Marauder's Map! Why are you playing dumb now?
I've never seen such hopeless nighttime wanderers..."
Fred declared loyally, "I've never seen such a lousy professor either, using a Disillusionment Charm to patrol."
Despite the complaint, what was done was done, and George obediently handed over the Marauder's Map.
As for hoping that the other party would not discover the Marauder's Map's secret,
ha, forget it.
He even knew its name. He must have been secretly watching the whole time.
Douglas took the Marauder's Map, saw their indignant expressions, and snorted.
"I know what you're thinking. I wasn't spying on you the whole time. You two idiots hid right beside where I was standing.
Incidentally, this thing should originally have been in the hidden compartment of the confiscated items cabinet..."
At those words, George and Fred first looked surprised, then looked at Douglas with a sense of fellowship.
"Professor, are you Padfoot or Prongs?"
"Or Wormtail? Moony?"
Their excitement was beyond words. After all, the reason they had managed to avoid being caught by Filch over the past two years
was, to a large extent, the existence of the Marauder's Map.
Douglas shook his head and said:
"None of them. I once benefited from the Marauder's Map too. When I graduated, I put it back where it had originally been.
I hoped the next inheritor would find it."
Before you continue