Boom!
The sound of bookshelves collapsing was loud enough to wake up the entire castle.
At this moment, Fred and his brothers, who were playing their cat-and-mouse game with Filch on the third floor, were also startled by the noise. They stopped in their tracks, listening carefully to the sounds around them.
Similarly, Filch, who was still chasing after them, also halted in surprise, looking towards the direction of the noise.
"The sound seems to have come from the fifth floor," Filch mumbled to himself, turning around and rushing towards the library.
"What was that sound just now?" George couldn't contain his curiosity.
"I'm not sure. Maybe it was Albert who caused it. Let's go back to the common room before the professors arrive," Fred quickly decided, "We need to hurry before they find us."
"Quick!" George shouted, and the three of them started running full speed along the corridor. They had to return to the Gryffindor common room before the professors arrived. Albert had warned them that Hogwarts professors had the ability to see through their Disillusionment Charms.
Running through one corridor after another, the trio took a secret passage next to the corridor to the seventh floor. Halfway through, Lee Jordan asked, "Shouldn't we go to the meeting point? What about Albert?"
"That guy must have already run ahead of us."
"Let's go directly back to the common room."
In fact, their decision was correct. Not long after the noise occurred, several professors in the castle were awakened and came to investigate.
The portraits in the corridors were also running back and forth, trying to figure out what was happening.
By the time Filch checked the fifth floor, Albert had already fled the scene of the incident, and his actions were faster than the Weasley twins.
Before leaving, Albert remembered to close the entrance to the library.
Due to this, Filch couldn't find the scene of the incident for a while. He only vaguely knew the direction where the sound came from, but when he checked the area, he found nothing.
The mastermind behind all this was now hurrying back to the Gryffindor common room.
Albert tried to make as little noise as possible, but the portraits had been awakened by the recent noise. When they heard faint footsteps, they turned their faces curiously, trying to see who was walking along the empty corridor.
Once upstairs, Albert walked halfway down the corridor, then lifted a tapestry on the wall, revealing a narrow staircase leading up. This was a shortcut that led to the eighth floor.
As for Fred and his brothers, they had the Marauder's Map with them, so they shouldn't get caught. Albert wasn't worried about their safety at all.
When he arrived near the entrance of the common room, Albert didn't dispel the magic on himself, but instead waited for Fred and the others outside.
A few minutes later, the three of them rushed over, looking puzzled at Albert, who was still waiting outside. They couldn't understand and asked, "Why aren't you coming into the common room?"
"When we're invisible, the Fat Lady won't open the door for us," Albert reminded them, "Follow me. Let's rest in the Room of Requirement. To be safe, let's avoid being seen."
Fred and the others were puzzled, but they still followed Albert to the Room of Requirement. Under the circumstances, they were willing to trust Albert's judgment. After all, Albert's brain was much better than theirs, so there had to be a reason for what he was doing.
Meanwhile, Filch was patrolling the library. The sound he heard earlier did resemble the noise of collapsing bookshelves. However, when he entered the library, he found no trace of any bookshelves collapsing, even in the restricted section. It was as if the sound had never occurred.
At this moment, Filch realized that he had been played. Yes, he had been played, just like the helmet stuck to the floor on the fourth floor, the damned dungbombs thrown in the corridor, and the noise in the library. They were all someone's doing to mock him.
Yes, he had a vague idea of who it might be—those two troublemakers from Gryffindor. Although he had no evidence, Filch had a strong hunch that it was the Weasley twins who were responsible.
"Filch? What happened?"
Severus Snape, wearing a grey shirt-like nightshirt, walked into the library with a gloomy expression.
"I just heard a noise, so I came to check. I think it's likely some students deliberately caused it," Filch turned to look at Snape and whispered, "I was just chasing after them. There were several students wandering around the castle in the middle of the night, Professor."
"Students, good. We will catch them," Snape scanned the library and then stepped into the Restricted Section to check, but he found no signs of collapsed bookshelves.
"What's going on?" Professor McGonagall came in quickly. She was wearing a checked dressing gown with a hairnet and looked around the library with a serious expression. She also thought that the noise just now sounded like the collapse of bookshelves.
"Somebody was in the library, in the Restricted Section," Filch immediately said, "I was looking for some students wandering around the school at this time. They seem to be a group, and they're likely... Gryffindor students."
"Do you have any evidence?" Professor McGonagall frowned and asked.
"What's happening here?" Professor Smith appeared outside wearing a bronze-colored nightshirt. "Is it time for a pajama party?"
"Someone made a loud noise here, Professor. We suspect it was caused by students. Several students were wandering around the school tonight," Filch whispered, rarely speaking loudly in front of the professors.
"Filch, did you just say it might be Gryffindor students?" Professor McGonagall asked, pressing further. "Do you have any evidence?"
"We can ask the Gryffindor portrait guardian," Snape suddenly suggested. He was more than happy to see Hogwarts students getting into trouble and losing house points.
"Yes, that's a good idea," Filch nodded.
Professor McGonagall frowned slightly but ultimately didn't object.
The professors all headed towards the eighth floor and found the Fat Lady, the guardian of the Gryffindor entrance.
"Madam, did anyone enter the common room just now?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"No," the Fat Lady replied.
"Did any students leave?" Snape asked.
"Yes," the Fat Lady answered.
"Who are they?" Filch couldn't wait to ask.
"I don't know. They were invisible," the Fat Lady said.
"Just check who's not in the dormitory, and we'll know who was wandering around the castle just now," Snape suggested with malicious intent.
"That would wake up the students who are still asleep," Professor McGonagall obviously disagreed with this approach.
"Only older students are likely to use the Disillusionment Charm," Professor Smith suddenly reminded, "I think if they didn't enter the common room, they must still be somewhere in the castle. We'll find those mischievous students."
Professor Smith also opposed waking up the other students, but in reality, a large number of students had already been awakened by the recent noise.
"I'll find them," Filch gritted his teeth.
However, after searching the castle with the other professors several times, even the secret passages, they found nothing.
Well, well!
In fact, two scapegoats were found.
A Ravenclaw girl and a Hufflepuff boy were used as scapegoats. They were actually having a secret rendezvous in a hidden passage when they were caught red-handed by Filch, who had suddenly barged in.
Each lost fifty points for their respective houses.
But after questioning them, it was clear that they weren't the ones Filch was looking for.
As for the group of Gryffindor students Filch wanted to find?
Even after the professors had turned the entire castle upside down, they still couldn't find any trace of the Gryffindor students.
Well, no one knew that there was a concealed room on the eighth floor of the castle called the Room of Requirement.
*Vote Plz*
You can read +138 advanced chapters on my P@treon page for just 4$ !!
P@treon.com/young_sunlight
Check out my Other Projects Too:-(Advanced chapter on P@treon)
=>The most wasteful fruit among pirates(**New**)
=> Marvel: All the famous scenes were exposed by me
(End of this chapter)