Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 316 Ron's Despair and Scabbers' Misfortune

The castle was quiet and secluded in the dead of night.

Even the staircases in the atrium, which usually move around and annoy people during the day, seemed to be asleep, reducing their frequency of movement.

The corridors of the castle are crisscrossed like a spider web, and the figures in the paintings and tapestries hanging on both sides are fast asleep, just like the people.

Only the occasional whooshing sound of the cold wind passing by and the rustling of small animals passing by briefly made them turn over in their sleep.

"Squeak!"

A sudden noise startled the fat lady who was guarding the Gryffindor tower. She opened her eyes and looked around, only to find that the door to her picture frame was inexplicably open.

She quickly looked around, but in the eerie blue light of the fire pit's flames, she couldn't see a single person in the corridor.

The plump lady grumbled discontentedly, "Honestly, which mischievous brat is it again, the last one to enter the tower without closing the door—how many times has this happened? I'll have to have a good talk with Professor McGonagall during the day!"

She closed the door and murmured as she drifted off to sleep again.

Completely unaware, a very tiny, distorted ray of light slowly moved away from her, until it reached the depths of the corridor, where a sudden, suppressed breathing filled the air.

"My God, I never realized the fat lady could be so terrifying! It's so intense, I can almost feel the burning pain of her gaze on my skin!"

"Coward, if I hadn't covered your mouth, your teeth would have shattered!"

"Damn it, it wasn't me shaking, it was Ron, he was right next to me."

"It wasn't me, it was Neville!"

"I'm so sorry, I... I didn't mean to, I couldn't control my fear—"

"Hush - be quiet!"

With a hushed reprimand, the noise finally subsided, and amidst the rustling sounds, five furry heads huddled together suddenly appeared in the air.

It was Harry and his friends.

In the eerie blue glow of the distant demonic fire, the five people had different expressions. Simo and Dean, who had never broken the law at night before, were excited and curiously looked around.

The one who nearly caused the accident was pale and looked like he was about to faint.

Only Harry and Ron, the two habitual offenders, remained relatively calm, though they were still quite cramped. Ron, the tallest of the two, strained his neck as much as possible, muttering, "I never imagined this cloak could fit five people. It's definitely something special, Harry!"

Harry, not wanting to dwell on just how extraordinary the heirloom his father left him was, urged, "Alright, we're out of the tower now, Ron, what's next?"

Seamus and Dean looked down into the deep corridor. "The castle is so big, where are we going to find that cat?"

Upon hearing this, Ron forced a smile: "I have a way—"

"What method?"

Harry and his three friends looked on with curiosity.

Ron gestured for Harry to open his Invisibility Cloak. He stepped out and stood in the corridor. After a moment's hesitation, he slowly lifted his robe, revealing a small bag slung at his waist.

Upon seeing the bag, Harry immediately recognized it: "The bag Vaughn cast the Unseen Stretching Charm on?"

"uh-huh----"

Ron grumbled, "—I didn't steal it. It's one he replaced during summer vacation. I told him about it and promised to give him a new one later—"

He stubbornly explained.

However, Harry wasn't concerned about the bag's origin; he was more interested in what Ron's supposed method was.

Then, a minute later, when Ron finally hesitated and took something out of his bag, he almost instantly understood what Ron's so-called "solution" was.

Speechless with astonishment—

It was a very familiar iron cage, its design riddled with rough Muggle welding marks, seemingly made by a rather poorly skilled welder.

Inside the iron cage was a gray, hairless, fat rat that was struggling and squeaking frantically.

Surprised, Harry immediately understood Ron's plan: "Scabbers—you want to use it to lure Fruit Tea out?"

Ron lowered his head: "Yeah, Fruit Tea is a clever, cunning, and wicked creature, just like her owner. You can't find her by ordinary means unless it's something she's really interested in—you know, that wretched cat hates Spotty."

To be honest, Harry was very surprised.

In his memory, although Ron always complained that Scabbers was old and ugly, his friend actually cherished his only pet.

During his summer stay at the Burrow, Harry could hear Ron’s terrified roars every day, and whenever those roars sounded, Harry knew that Fruit Tea had reappeared around Scabbers.

Ron argued with Ginny, who was in charge of feeding the fruit tea, several times because of this—he originally loved his sister very much.

Unexpectedly, Ron, who loves Scabbers so much, is now willing to take the risk with it!

Harry was speechless for a moment.

Ron didn't wait for her to speak again, seemingly afraid that he might delay things if he couldn't bear it. He quickly put the iron cage on the ground, trying not to look at the fat rat struggling and screaming inside: "That bad cat has a very keen nose. When we were at home, no matter where Spotty ran, she could find it. She's just as vicious, evil, and powerful as her owner. I once dreamed of learning a magic that would make it impossible for her to find Spotty again. Now it seems I'm glad I didn't learn it."

He forced a smile, but his face was frighteningly pale.

Harry and the other three didn't know what to say.

No one could have imagined that Ron, who always talked badly about Vaughn behind his back, would be willing to make such a big "sacrifice" today.

Harry wanted to offer words of comfort, and even considered backing down, but considering Ron's wishes, no matter how carefully he chose his words, they seemed powerless.

In the end, all he could say was, "Luckily you brought the cage with you—at least Fruit Tea can't swallow the cage too, right?"

Seamus, Dean, and Neville also realized what was happening and chimed in, "Yeah, and we even brought our wands!"

"I can unleash an explosion to scare away Fruit Tea, you know, I'm very experienced with explosions!"

"I...I...I can protect Banban too."

Amidst the words of comfort from his friends, Ron's almost translucent white face finally regained some color, but he was too preoccupied to say anything more.

Making this decision was difficult for him.

But—although he was always very dissatisfied with his twin brother, they were, after all, brothers who had grown up together since childhood, blood relatives with the same red hair and the same surname.

In fact, even if Seamus hadn't brought up contacting Dumbledore with Fawkes today, he would have done so later.

Yesterday, when Malfoy spoke about the Board of Trustees in the Great Hall, he had already considered informing Dumbledore.

That guy Vaughn is arrogant and conceited. When things come to a head, he's still distracted by research and doesn't care about his career at all.

When that guy is arrogant and underestimates his enemy, as his brother, he has to do something.

Right?

Ron's thoughts were in disarray, a constant cycle of relief, anxiety, trepidation, and regret, until one moment he heard Banban's screams suddenly disappear.

Harry, Seamus, and the others who were talking to him suddenly choked up.

His chaotic thoughts froze in his mind. Ron turned around abruptly, and as he expected, in the depths of the corridor where only the faint glow of demonic fire flickered, two light bulb-like eyes appeared out of nowhere.

A huge cat, as majestic as a tiger, slowly and gracefully strolled out.

The five young wizards present never imagined that one day they would feel so oppressed by a cat.

But the truth is, when the fruit tea that Vaughn raised slowly emerged from the darkness, its large eyes, glowing with a faint, eerie light, kept glancing at them and then at the iron cage on the ground, their emotions unreadable.

All five people did feel parched and nervous.

They stared blankly as the cat leisurely strolled closer, swaying its enormous body, which had grown to about four feet long, and circled them a few times.

It almost felt like being targeted by a wild beast.

Fortunately, she quickly lost interest in them and, under Ron's tense gaze, squatted down in front of the iron cage containing the spotted creature, stretched out her huge front paws, and shook the cage violently.

"squeak--"

Banban, who had been so frightened that she lost her voice, finally came to her senses and let out a piercing scream.

"etc!"

Ron quickly spoke up to stop him.

Guoguocha stopped, but she looked very dissatisfied, because the eerie light in her eyes grew brighter, and the soft fur on her huge body seemed to stand up.

She turned to look at Ron, hissing like a snake in her throat.

Dean and Seamus, who had been watching the situation closely, instinctively drew their wands, but were immediately stopped by Harry and Neville.

These two guys were being clumsy, and Harry and Neville were worried they might actually use a spell—don't get me wrong, they weren't worried they'd hurt Fruit Tea.

Instead, they were worried that Guoguocha, who had cat-like blood and was wearing a garment that Vaughn had personally enchanted, might pull out some strange magical item from the pocket of the garment, which was also enchanted by Vaughn, and harm the two of them.

Moreover, Ron is making efforts to communicate with them.

"We lured you here to get your help, Fruit Tea," Ron said sternly, barely managing to control his trembling voice.

Inside the cage, Banban, who had just escaped death, looked tearfully at Ron, who, despite his trembling legs, still bravely stood up to protect him.

A warm feeling welled up inside me.

He almost forgot that he was brought out by Ron as bait.

He let out a soft sob, feeling moved and wondering if he should forgive the stupid and clumsy Weasley, when he heard the other person's loud voice negotiating with the vicious cat: "—You must help us before you can play with Scabbers!"

The spotted creature in the cage had stiffened.

Unfortunately, no one cared about a mouse's thoughts. Ron tried his best to show his sincerity: "We need Fox right now. I know you have its feathers, which Vaughn entrusted to you for safekeeping. Just burn them and you can summon it. Just give me one, and I'll grant you permission—"

Ron paused, glanced at Spotty, who seemed terrified in the cage, and felt a pang of heartache: "—I'll lend Spotty to you to play with, but of course, only in front of me, and only through the cage!"

This is the bottom line!

Ron said to himself, and apologized to Scabbers in his heart.

""

He felt that Banban would forgive him, after all, he had done the right thing.

His vision blurred, and through the haze, he saw Banban become active again in the cage, jumping up and down, squeaking and squeaking excitedly.

Oh—Banban, can you also feel my pain and the fact that I have to keep going like this?

"Squeak squeak squeak—"

Guoguocha looked at the fat rat strangely, then at Ron, whose lips were trembling and who was almost crying, and at Harry and the others who were staring at her with a human-like opening of their mouths. She felt as if she was having an illusion.

That cat—is it bursting into laughter? Or happy?

Yes, she did look very happy. The cat was lying on the floor, its thick limbs wildly thrashing and kicking at the cage, making panting sounds.

After a while, she slapped the iron cage so hard it rolled in front of Ron, stood up, shook her head, signaled the others to follow, and then turned and walked into the depths of the corridor.

Ron quickly wiped his eyes, picked up the iron cage, and soothed Scabbers, who was still squeaking inside: "Merlin, you must be terrified, but don't worry, look, I've already talked to Fruit Tea, you just need to play with her to keep her entertained—"

Banban jumped around energetically in the cage, looking extremely excited.

Seamus stroked his chin and whispered to Harry, "Why do I get the feeling that this rat—is swearing?"

Before Harry could respond, Dean scoffed, "How could that be? It's just an old, ugly, fat rat, not some rare magical creature. It doesn't have the brains for that—Alright Ron, that cat's already gone far off. After we finish our business, I'll go with you to keep Scabbers company. Now, let's hurry up and catch up!"

The group quickly tidied themselves up, put their invisibility cloaks back on, and followed Guoguocha deeper and deeper into the corridor.

The castle at night has a completely different side from that during the day. It seems that under the cover of darkness, the castle's millennia-old weight and gloom have emerged.

That feeling made the air stagnate, seeping into your very bones.

The silence of everything made it so that the group could clearly hear even their own carefully shuffling footsteps.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Dean couldn't take it anymore: "Ron, are you sure you've reached an agreement with her?"

"I'm sure, she's not Banban. She's smarter than you think."

"So where exactly is she taking us?"

"It might be where she hides her feathers, I'm not sure, but for now we can only follow her. Or do you have a better way to help us understand a cat?"

"Hey buddy, you don't have to take it out on me."

"—Okay, sorry, I—"

Ron tried to soothe Scabbers the whole way, but it was almost all in vain. Ron, who was in a bad mood, was apologizing when Harry suddenly covered his mouth and interrupted him.

"Shh"

Harry lowered his voice, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

Ron, Dean, and the other three looked in the direction they were looking, and saw that Guoguocha, who had been leading the way, had brought them to an unfamiliar corridor.

All around were murals depicting forest landscapes, unlike anything I'd ever seen before. There were no people in them.

They connect the floor and the ceiling, their shapes are stretched and twisted, with a wild beauty that is unrestrained, disorderly and unruly.

Where the light of the demonic fire illuminates, the entire corridor appears to be a passageway running through the forest, giving one the illusion of walking through a dark woodland.

Of course, that's not the point. The reason Harry covered Ron's mouth to remind them to be quiet was a door deep in the corridor that seemed to be surrounded by countless "forest" murals.

The fruit tea shop was parked right in front of the door, which was slightly ajar, with a sliver of bright light shining through.

Along with it came faint, slightly echoing, and somewhat muffled sounds of arguing: "—Don't even think we'll agree to these so-called requests, Minerva McGonagall, Felius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout, and you, Severus 99."

"Alector Caro, the professors of Hogwarts are not your servants. You should at least show them basic respect, instead of calling us by our first names and pointing fingers at us."

"Yes, there are three people here who once taught you, child."

"Sigh, I still remember you and your brother sitting in the classroom, me teaching you how to make teacups dance. Back then, you two—"

"Shut up, you old man!"

The familiar cacophony from inside the half-open door was interrupted by a scream from someone named Alecto Caro.

Under the invisibility cloak, Harry and the others exchanged glances.

"Are they four deans?" Dean asked in a low voice.

"Thank you for reminding me, Dean. We all heard it." Seamus used a playful tone to ease the eerie atmosphere, while the muffled voice coming from behind the door contained a sharp and malicious undertone.

But this had no effect; Neville's face was as white as the snow outside the castle.

He trembled as he tugged at Harry's robes: "Harry—can we go back? The professors are inside, what if we get caught?"

He seemed to be imagining the terrible future of being penalized, publicly executed, and isolated and ostracized by the angry crowd. His round face became even more miserable, and he was almost about to cry.

Ron quickly covered his mouth.

"The fruit tea is in," Ron said.

Harry quickly turned around and saw Fruit Tea glance in their direction before using its massive head to open the door and leisurely walk inside.

Inside the invisibility cloak, the five people looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Uh—" Harry grinned dryly, "Should we follow them, or wait here?"

Before he could finish speaking, Dean exclaimed, "Of course we should follow! Jesus Christ, aren't you curious about what's happening inside? A strange witch arguing with the Headmasters in Hogwarts Castle in the dead of night! I won't be able to sleep if I can't get involved—I mean, if I can't see for myself what's going on!"

His eyebrows drooped pitifully.

Unfortunately, the corridor was dimly lit, and he was very dark, so no one could make out his expression.

"Let's go in," Seamus, who hadn't said much until now, suddenly said. "Have you forgotten what Malfoy said yesterday?"

His father is holding a school board meeting; perhaps this is the meeting place?

That's right!

Harry's eyes suddenly lit up as he hesitated.

Everyone couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and ran out, covering Neville's mouth and Ron sacrificing Scabbers. Now they've run off somewhere in the castle and don't know how to get back. They say it's to contact Dumbledore, but in essence, aren't they just trying to find out how the Board of Governors will deal with the Duel Club?