章 79: Chapter 79: The Attack of Mrs. Norris
George and Fred retraced their steps back to the castle. Just as they reached the third floor, they planned to take a shortcut to return to the Gryffindor common room.
Before emerging from the secret passage, they had already planned out their route and confirmed that their number one "enemy" for the night, Filch, was resting in his own room.
"Ah, ah..."
Seeing George about to sneeze, Fred quickly reached out and covered George's mouth to prevent too much noise.
"It's okay, just my nose itching a bit." George rubbed his nose and stifled a yawn. He began to miss his soft bed.
"You might have caught a cold!" Fred sympathetically looked at his twin brother. "Let's head back!"
The two of them climbed the stairs to the fifth floor, intending to take a secret passage from there directly to the eighth floor.
"Meow."
An unfamiliar cat's meow.
Fred froze in place, raising his wand to investigate. A black figure emerged from around the corner, and as the twins focused their attention, they were surprised to see Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat.
The cat turned and ran as soon as it spotted the two of them.
Fred and George looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter. They both knew what the cat was going to do—Mrs. Norris would soon be searching the castle for their whereabouts.
However, Fred and George didn't care because they had already returned to the common room long ago.
The thought of Filch catching a cold and wandering around in the middle of the night made Fred and George quite pleased.
"Let's go. I want to go back and sleep early." George yawned frequently.
The two of them used the secret passage on the fifth floor to reach the eighth floor. They crossed the dark and silent corridors of Gryffindor and arrived in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.
However, the painting in front of them was empty, leaving their previously cheerful mood suddenly dampened.
The Fat Lady had gone out for a late-night visit.
At this moment, both Fred and George realized that they were locked outside the Gryffindor common room.
"What should we do?" Fred's face didn't look good. They didn't know when the Fat Lady would return, and Filch had already woken up. He and his cat were on their way to the fifth floor.
That guy was using the secret passages to take a shortcut, faster than the twins had anticipated.
"Albert really has a knack for bad luck," George said helplessly. "I really don't want to spend the night here. We'll definitely catch a cold. How about finding a place to rest for now?"
Finding a place to rest?
Compared to the risk of continuing their nighttime adventure and possibly running into Filch, it was undoubtedly more suitable to find a place and wait for the Fat Lady to return.
Where would be a suitable place to stay?
The answer was the secret passage.
There were several secret passages on the eighth floor, but Fred wasn't sure if Filch knew about them. Using the Marauder's Map, both of them saw that Filch had already arrived on the fifth floor through a secret passage and had begun searching for the wandering students.
"Let Filch search!" George shrugged.
"Let's still be cautious to avoid any mishaps," Fred reminded.
He definitely didn't want to get caught by Filch. Once caught, the consequences would not be pleasant.
Not only would they have to face Filch's annoying face, but they would also have to deal with Professor McGonagall, Percy, and the wrath of losing a significant amount of points. The Gryffindor students would not look kindly upon them.
For now, they could only hope that Filch would give up the search soon, and the Fat Lady would return early.
On the fifth floor, in the portrait corridor, Filch was patrolling with a lit oil lamp. His mood was absolutely terrible at the moment. Having caught a cold today, his head felt dizzy, and he couldn't find a moment's peace to rest.
No, no, still nothing.
Filch scanned the abandoned classrooms with his oil lamp and even perked up his ears to carefully discern any sounds around him. His beloved Mrs. Norris was also helping in the search, but they still hadn't caught any of the wandering students or even heard any other commotion.
"They escaped?" Filch murmured to himself. "No, that can't be possible!"
From the moment Mrs. Norris sounded the alarm to his arrival here, it couldn't have taken those annoying brats more than a few minutes to flee.
"They can't have gone far. I will definitely catch them!" Filch believed that no one knew the secret passages of Hogwarts Castle better than him. No one could escape from his grasp.
However, Filch was unaware that his actions were being observed by the twins. They stared at the ink dot on the Marauder's Map symbolizing Filch, watching it move through the castle's various levels via the secret passages. They watched as Mrs. Norris and Filch went their separate ways, searching for the twins' whereabouts.
"Filch is indeed familiar with the castle's secret passages. It's going to be difficult for any nighttime wanderers to avoid him," George sighed.
"Now is not the time to reflect on that. We can't stay here. Filch might know about this secret passage. We need to find a place where he won't find us," Fred immediately realized their precarious situation.
"Why don't we check if the Fat Lady has returned?" George suggested. If they could enter the common room, they wouldn't have to worry about Filch.
"Let's go check," Fred agreed.
They once again left the secret passage and arrived in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady at the end of the Gryffindor corridor, but it was still disappointing. The Fat Lady hadn't returned yet.
"We have to go. If Filch searches the eighth floor, we won't be able to hide. Let's go to the passage near the knight's armor on the seventh floor. I don't think Filch knows about that one. As long as we hide in there, he won't find us."
However, there was Mrs. Norris patrolling on the seventh floor, and they could accidentally get caught.
The two planned to use the secret passage behind the painting of the lion-headed eagle on the eighth floor to reach another floor, but they discovered that Filch was actually coming towards the eighth floor along that secret passage.
"Run!" Fred whispered, picking up the pace. By the time they reached the seventh floor, Filch had already emerged from the painting of the lion-headed eagle, and they immediately heard the sound of footsteps chasing after them.
"I've found you! Don't even think about escaping!" Filch muttered as he carried the oil lamp, stepping toward the seventh floor. Mrs. Norris immediately ran over to join him and led the way ahead, guiding him to find the troublemakers wandering the castle at night.
"No, Filch is coming this way!" Fred said, realizing that opening the statue of the knight's armor was not an option because of Filch's fast movement.
If they didn't have time to close the secret passage, Filch might discover it.
This was definitely not a scenario the twins wanted to see. Moreover, they had the Marauder's Map in their hands, which allowed them to run circles around Filch within the castle.
Get caught?
Being able to see the opponent's movements on the Marauder's Map and still getting caught?
That's impossible.
At that moment, George suddenly sneezed, and his voice echoed through the corridor, immediately catching Filch's attention.
"Quick, he's coming this way," Fred said, looking at George in disbelief and urging him on.
"What do we do now?" George asked, keeping up with Fred's fast pace.
"What else can we do?" Fred shrugged helplessly. "He chases, we run."
The game of cat and mouse had officially begun.
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(End of this chapter)
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