Hogwarts: What wicked thoughts could a little wizard possibly have?

Chapter 29 Nighttime Travelogue

"60 points! How many questions do I need to answer in class to get that score?"

"Harry Potter! You didn't bump into Malfoy, you bumped into the House Cup! My God—"

"Who is God?" Ron muttered from the side.

Hermione glared at him fiercely.

Harry was upset, but the harrowing experience that afternoon and Professor McGonagall's hours-long reprimand left him still shaken and he dared not argue back.

Every Gryffindor student who passed by him would ask him with a smile:

"Porter, we lost 60 points! What did you do?"

"Harry, I heard you knocked Malfoy over? Good job, but how are you going to get your points back?"

Most people were just joking around, and few took it as seriously as Hermione—60 points is nothing compared to making Slytherin look bad!

Harry didn't want to answer, so he buried his face in the long table and ate the now-cold pie.

He was starving.

Ron swallowed hard and couldn't resist picking up a piece of pie, only to be smacked by Hermione with her wand.

"This is Harry's; didn't you already eat it?"

"I see Harry is eating very well..."

Hermione ignored him.

Throughout Harry's meal, she kept chattering, but once they returned to the Gryffindor common room, she started worrying again: "You and Malfoy are going to be in solitary confinement together? Where are you going?"

"The trophy room, go wipe the trophies," Harry mumbled.

"Is it just the two of you?"

"And there's Lady Lorris, who's in charge of monitoring us."

Mrs. Lorice is Filch's cat; she's very intelligent.

He often roams around Hogwarts at night, catching little wizards who sneak out at night.

Even Hermione, a cat lover, was a little afraid of it because it looked rather frightening.

It is extremely thin, with dark gray fur and bulging large eyes; at first glance, you might even think you've seen a ghost.

Ron shivered and couldn't help but hug Banban tightly in his arms.

His summer experiences instilled in him a fear of cats.

"Maybe we shouldn't go, Harry," he said. "Or we could talk to the professor and find another place, somewhere we can make sure you're not with Malfoy."

Hermione nodded repeatedly, agreeing. Malfoy was so cunning, how could Harry possibly outmaneuver him!

"I want to go..."

Harry said sullenly, "Professor McGonagall said that my dad used to be a Quidditch player, and there's still his trophy in the trophy room. I want to go see it."

The two friends fell silent and stopped trying to dissuade them.

But when Harry finished his homework that night and was about to go to the trophy room, Ron and Hermione followed him silently.

"What are you doing following along?"

"I'm afraid you'll get bullied by Malfoy," Ron said loyally.

Hermione, with a stern face, said, "I'm afraid you two will start fighting again, and if Gryffindor's points keep going down, they'll be at rock bottom."

Harry was very touched.

He knew that his two companions were worried about him!

Harry didn't want to refuse them, so he said, "Then you have to be discreet. Don't let Filch and Mrs. Norris see you, and don't let Malfoy see you either. That guy will definitely yell and accuse you of going out at night."

The two agreed.

Harry walked ahead, holding the lamp, with Hermione and Ron tiptoeing behind him. The group went up to the third floor, where they could see the lights of the trophy display room in the distance.

Filch stood in the doorway holding a torch, and Hermione and Ron quickly ducked around the corner, listening to his hoarse, high-pitched voice shout, "Harry Potter, come here right now! Don't even think about escaping your solitary confinement! You should be thankful that solitary confinement wasn't this gentle before; it involved using torture devices... Hand over your wands!"

Then Malfoy yelled in exasperation, "Here you go, you old codger! Watch your wand! If there's even a scratch on it, I'll have my dad kick you out. He's on the school board!"

The trophy room was noisy, and soon Filch came out limping and walked in another direction, leaving Mrs. Lorris at the door.

Hermione and Ron waited at the corner of the corridor, peeking around and keeping a close eye on the other side.

They were ready to rush in and rescue Harry as soon as they heard any unusual noise.

But they were first startled—

A voice suddenly came from behind them: "What are you doing?"

Ron clutched his chest with both hands, looking like a female singer about to hit a high note in an opera, his mouth agape in terror.

"Without a sound!"

The curse struck him precisely, rendering him mute.

Hermione, on the other hand, immediately covered her mouth and turned around to look at the person behind her with surprise—

Vaughn!

In the dim light of the corridor, Vaughn was wearing a wool pajama set, with Guoguocha sitting at his feet.

He was also holding a rope in his hand, the other end of which was floating in mid-air, tied to... Mischievous Ghost!

Peeves seemed to be under some kind of spell, baring its teeth and glaring, but unable to move at all, floating around Vaughn's head like a balloon.

"Van, what are you doing here? And Peeves too—"

"I'm taking Peeves for a walk..."

Vaughn explained with a smile.

"Last time I changed the words on the door of the Slytherin common room, and this guy went around telling everyone he was causing me trouble. I thought he might have some misunderstanding about me, so I've been communicating with him these past few days. Now, we're friends, right, Peeves?"

As he spoke, he tugged at the rope, causing the mischievous creature to nod up and down and roll its eyes.

This scene caused Ron to press his back tightly against the wall, trying to minimize his presence and afraid of being noticed by Vaughn.

Hermione was speechless for a moment.

Peeves is the most hated guy by all the students, yet they can't do anything about him. He is neither a ghost nor a living thing, but a "non-existent" entity, existing between life and death.

Many spells have little effect on this peculiar spirit.

Hermione's eyes began to sparkle; she really wanted to ask Vaughn how he had done it.

Vaughn seemed to know what she was thinking and smiled at her: "I found it in the library. I'll teach you when I have time, but we need to deal with another problem first."

As they were talking, a furtive cat-like figure slithered past Ron's feet, its bulging eyes scanning the group back and forth.

It is Mrs. Lorris.

This ugly cat, as sinister as a skeleton, is repulsive to anyone who sees it.

But Hermione and Ron saw that Vaughn didn't seem to mind at all, taking a small dried fish out of his pocket and handing it to Mrs. Lorris.

"Meow—"

Mrs. Lorris let out a chilling scream.

Just as Hermione and Ron were worried that it would turn around and run away to find Filch, they were surprised to find that the cat was obediently lowering its head and munching on a small dried fish.

Only Fruit Tea wagged its tail in dissatisfaction.

Seeing this, Ron frantically waved his arms, and Vaughn glanced at him before helping him break the spell.

"Merlin's beard!" Ron exclaimed excitedly, his freckles turning red. "Vaughn, how did you do that? Teach me!"