Never Anger the Librarian
Dumbledore nodded, ignoring Filch's earnest "accusations."
He looked around, first examining the damaged gate, then went inside to check the missing Potions.
After a moment, he asked seriously, "Who was the first to arrive at the scene?"
Professor Tywin stepped forward and said, "It's me, Headmaster, but I didn't see the attacker; they ran very fast."
Dumbledore squinted, tapping his middle finger with his index finger, and after a few seconds of thought, chuckled, "It seems Hogwarts has nurtured some quite capable students."
Professor McGonagall asked, "What should we do?"
Dumbledore said gently, "Blocking out the common rooms should find quite a few students out late at night. It's too dangerous for them to be wandering around so late. I'll deduct some points as a warning."
As for Snape's medicine storage room... I'll lock it up for now until Snape returns."
William and his group were still standing in the corridor on the fifth floor.
"All the professors have been alerted. We must hurry back to our respective lounges, or we'll definitely be exposed," Charlie said with great experience.
"Then how am I supposed to get back? The professors are all on the first floor, and the ghosts will be patrolling too." Cedric said with a mournful face.
The others, if they took a less traveled route and drove quickly, might be able to get back before the professor blocked the roads.
But the Hufflepuff Common Room is on the first floor! If Cedric goes down there, won't he get caught red-handed?
"How about trying the Disillusionment Charm?" Qiu suggested.
"Using the Disillusionment Charm in front of Professor Dumbledore is no better than just walking right down the aisle," Charlie replied.
William for a moment and asked, "Could the Room of Requirement create three secret passages leading directly to the common room?"
"William, you're a genius." Cedric put his arm around William's shoulder, wanting nothing more than to kiss him.
William pushed him away in disgust.
The four entered the Room of Requirement again. Fluffy had woken up and was frantically tearing apart the blanket Hagrid had made for him.
One of the dog heads, its eyes darting around, was eyeing a large medieval wooden bed carved with the head of Gryffindor.
This thing is excellent for grinding your teeth!
William closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "I need three secret passages leading directly to the common room!"
As William expected, the Room of Requirement responded to their request, and three passageways appeared in the wall, leading to the common rooms of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor Common Room!
"See you tomorrow!" The group then headed off to different exits.
Fluffy saw Bobocha and wanted to go with it to the Ravenclaw tower, but William kicked him back.
After the group left, the secret passage disappeared. Professor Flitwick had not yet arrived at the lounge, and William and Cho quickly headed towards their dormitory.
Just as Charlie had said, the professors came to the common room, took attendance, and then conducted a thorough search.
Dumbledore stood at the window, gazing at the deep moonlight, and remained silent.
Professor McGonagall stood behind him and asked, "Professor, this wasn't done by a student, was it?"
"Well, the student has no chance of breaking through Snape's defenses; he's set up quite a few interesting spells."
Professor McGonagall asked worriedly, "Has someone broken into Hogwarts?"
"There are some guesses, but nothing is certain yet," Dumbledore said gently. "Search carefully, and strictly forbid those students from going out at night recently; it's too dangerous."
"Okay, I understand." McGonagall turned and left.
The four colleges were very efficient and quickly identified all the students who were out at night.
Three Gryffindor were caught, Ravenclaw and a Slytherin couple were caught on a date in the woods, and two Hufflepuff students were caught red-handed sneaking a midnight snack in the kitchen.
Those caught this time suffered a terrible fate; each person had 50 points deducted from their score and was also confined to Filch's place for two weeks.
Filch was somewhat disappointed that he didn't manage to catch the Weasley Brothers.
The next day, the whole school was abuzz with the news that Snape's medicine pantry had been robbed.
Everyone was extremely excited, speculating about who had done such an earth-shattering thing.
The prevailing opinion is that it's the Weasley Brothers!
It is common knowledge that Snape had a feud with Gryffindor and was even more so with the Weasley Brothers.
Just a few days ago, the two of them were talking about how they would sabotage Snape's office while he was away.
It's not the office that's been vandalized, but Snape's most vulnerable medicine storage room, so it's not a big deal, is it?
This is very problematic!
During this time, George and Fred have been behaving themselves for a long time in order not to lose points for Gryffindor.
They even temporarily canceled activities like nighttime strolls, which were considered above lowbrow entertainment, let alone a nighttime raid on Snape's medicine pantry.
Most importantly, is the room where Snape keeps his most precious treasures even a second-year wizard like them?
Why are they being blamed for everything?
And what makes Filch so certain that he smelled them? Is that a dog's nose?!
It's just that talking big is fun for a moment...
Sitting on a chair in the library, George angrily clutched a book, speaking ill of Filch in a voice so loud that it attracted the attention of many young wizards.
William, Cedric, and Fred all turned away, trying to indicate that they did not recognize George.
Sure enough, Madam Pince appeared silently behind George, holding a feather duster.
She grabbed George by the ear and dragged him out!
William and his two companions exchanged a wicked glance, then stood up, gathered their books and ink, and followed them out.
As Fred walked out of the library, he looked at George lying on the ground and laughed loudly, "How come you have such a bad memory!"
George rubbed his bright red ears, looking annoyed. He had been too excited and thought he was in the Gryffindor Common Room.
Madam Pince was a strict, rule-abiding Hogwarts librarian.
She almost always stayed in the library, guarding the books she cherished, while keeping an eye on the students who used them.
Madam Pince was very strict with students who broke the rules of Hogwarts; she could not tolerate any violation of the rules.
Even Dumbledore, when in the library, had to obey Madam Pince's management.
William never dared to anger Madam Pince.
Librarians are not to be trifled with; isn't this just asking for trouble?!
(P. S. 2nd update. Happy New Year! There will be a third update this afternoon. Please vote!)
(P. S. 2: Some readers may wonder, can the Room of Requirement conjure up secret passages leading to other schools?)
The Room of Requirement is more powerful than you think. [Part 7, Chapter 29] Neville hides in the Room of Requirement. At first, there was only one hammock, but as more and more D. A. members joined, it automatically expanded.
When Neville was very hungry, a passageway leading to the Hog's Head automatically appeared in the house.
This house truly grants all requests.