George and Fred still had lingering smiles on their faces when they jumped off the broom, but they immediately wiped those smiles away when they saw Professor McGonagall's expression.
Neville stood in the crowd, his school uniform collar turned up, but he wasn't injured.
Hugo sat on the grass, hugging her arms, her forehead beaded with cold sweat from the pain. Ron En squatted helplessly beside her.
Professor McGonagall's gaze swept across the crowd, then settled on George and Fred, and stopped.
Her gaze shifted from a grim expression to a more dangerous coldness, and her voice lowered slightly. " Mr. Weasley, what are you two doing here?"
I gave you special permission to take the brooms from the broom shed for the experiment, not so you could cause trouble for the first-grade students.
George's smile vanished completely, and Fred also dropped his nonchalant expression. The two exchanged a glance.
George spoke first, "Professor, we just... stopped by after finishing our tests."
"Look?" Professor McGonagall's tone didn't rise, but the oppressive feeling only intensified. "Look at how you've turned the entire Flying Class into an aerial brawl?"
In addition to the points deduction and inspection, you two will be put in solitary confinement and report to Filch's place on Saturday night.
George and Fred both lowered their heads, but Herman noticed that the corner of George's mouth twitched briefly the moment he lowered his head, as if he were secretly pleased, thinking the punishment was perfectly acceptable.
Fred did seem to admit his mistake, but Herman thought the twins' "apologies" were always just for show.
Because the chaos completely ruined the Flying Class, Madam Hooch had to take Hugo to the Hospital Wing and dared not let the students study on their own anymore, for fear that there would be another one lying on the ground when she returned.
She asked everyone to hand in their flying brooms and then hurriedly announced the end of get out of class.
After the crowd dispersed, George and Fred whispered to each other for a while. Then George strode over to Professor McGonagall, who was helping to tidy up the brooms. His playful smile had vanished, replaced by an expression that said, "I have something serious to say."
"Professor, we have something else to report. We've discovered something."
McGonagall glanced at him, her expression still serious, but her tone softened slightly. "What did you find? If it's about the test reports on your pile of silver components, you can save them for the next Quidditch meeting."
"It's not a test report," Fred continued, "It's about the Quidditch team. We've found a great Hit Wizard prospect, exceptionally talented, you should see him for yourself."
Professor McGonagall's gaze swept back and forth across the two faces, as if assessing the credibility of their words.
Then, following the direction the two indicated, she looked towards the departing crowd in the distance.
Neville was carrying Hugo on his back, following behind Madam Hooch, while Ron was supporting Hugo's arm.
Neville's school uniform collar was askew, and his hair was messy, but he looked quite energetic, showing no signs of the dishevelment that came from the aerial battle. Instead, he looked more like a victorious general.
McGonagall glanced at Neville for a few seconds, roughly guessing who George was going to recommend, then looked away and said to George and Fred, "You two come with me, we'll talk as we walk."
As the professors left, the students began to disperse.
However, the aftermath of the melee was clearly still ongoing. Some people were rubbing their sore shoulders, some had grass clippings all over their robes, and some were blaming each other for who had bumped into whom.
Draco stood with her hands on her hips for a while, her tone tinged with regret for missing out on a good show. "I should have known better than to talk back to the teacher. This is much more interesting than regular classes."
Harry didn't reply, and turned to walk towards the castle.
Herman followed behind, still wondering to himself if his favorability towards Snape had dropped again.
A few minutes before ten o'clock, there was a knock on Herman's door.
The knocking wasn't loud, but it had a hurried, eager rhythm, as if the person knocking couldn't wait for a response and wanted to push the door open and come in.
Herman put down his Transfiguration notes and got up to open the door.
The door had barely opened a crack when Draco squeezed in sideways, moving as fast as a cat slipping through a crack, as if afraid someone outside would see her in the hallway at this hour.
She wore a loose-fitting nightgown made of a dark green silk that looked expensive, with silver embroidery along the edges. The cuffs and hem were trimmed with a delicate lace trim, and as she moved, the fabric rolled up to reveal a thin slip underneath.
The neckline of her robe wasn't low, but because the fabric was so soft, it would occasionally sway to one side as she turned, revealing a small patch of skin below her collarbone, causing Herman's eyes to unconsciously follow it.
Before Herman could say anything, Draco had already circled the room, muttering to herself, "Your room is so shabby! The desk is so small, the chair is made of wood, and there's not even a cushion. It's so much worse than where we live."
She sat down on the edge of the bed, then bounced up again, "The mattress is so hard, how did you even fall asleep?"
Herman stood in the doorway, watching her wander back and forth in her room. The hem of her silver nightgown swayed gently like water as she moved, subtly outlining the lines of her calves.
Herman hesitated for a moment, then walked to the door and opened it halfway.
At least leaving the door open gives you some leeway, but if it's closed and someone sees it, they could easily pin the blame on him again.
I've already taken the blame enough lately, and I don't want Snape to add another charge of "luring a Pure-blood girl into the house to see goldfish."
Kidnapping Draco is one thing, but the real problem is that Snape might worry that he'll target Harry next, which would be a much bigger issue.
He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "You came to see me at ten o'clock, were you planning to sit in my room until midnight?"
Draco stopped and turned to look at him, her excitement still lingering. "It's my first time exploring at night, I can't sleep. Aren't you excited? Exploring the third-floor corridor at midnight, that's a place the principal has strictly forbidden, and Professor Quirrell has been there before, like there's some treasure hidden there."
As she spoke, she walked around the room again. "My father always said that good things often go where the school forbids you from going."
It seems Draco isn't entirely unfounded; the problem lies in her upbringing.
After internally ranting, Herman watched Draco continue wandering around the room and suddenly thought of another problem.
Leaving the door open doesn't seem Snape either. What would Snape think if he walked down the hallway right now and saw Draco in a bathrobe pacing back and forth inside?
It probably wouldn't seem like "these two students are discussing their Transfiguration," but rather more like "researching Human Transfiguration," with the main research focus being on material hardening and softening.