When the four left the kitchen, their bellies were full from cream cakes and milk tea, and their robes contained pockets filled with egg and milk cookies and pies given to them by house-elves.
"Curfew starts in ten minutes, we'd better hurry back to the lounge."
As soon as they passed through the foyer, they were spotted by the caretaker's cat. Not long after Mrs. Lorris ran away, Filch appeared in front of them.
For some reason, Fred and George felt inexplicably guilty when they saw Filch coming this way.
Fred instinctively reached into the right pocket of his robe, where the Marauder's Map they had stolen from the warden's office lay.
"You two…" Filch called out to the Weasley brothers, grinning with a malicious smile, "Your detention is tomorrow night at seven o'clock. The task is to wipe all the trophies in the trophy room. Hopefully, this lesson will give you some sense of house pride. By the way, Gryffindor's grades have fallen to last place again."
None of the four spoke; they stood there quietly, listening to Filch finish speaking.
Of course, the fact that someone had a piece of pie in their mouth seemed to spoil the mood a bit.
"Now, go back to your lounges. Don't let me see you loitering around the castle after curfew, or it won't be as simple as just being locked up." Filch said this threateningly before turning and leaving.
"What a nasty old man." George made a rude gesture toward Filch's departing figure.
"I remember you were planning to teach us the Cleansing Charm," Fred said, turning to look at Albert and winking.
"It's too late. You can't possibly learn the Cleansing Charm in a day." Albert took out his pocket watch again to check the time and walked toward the moving stairs.
"Don't worry, you're just wiping down the trophies in the trophy room. It's better than washing chamber pots, right? Think about poor William. And there are two of you, so you'll be done in no time," Li Jordan said, patting George on the shoulder to comfort him.
However, the tone of his voice sounded somewhat gloating.
"Get lost, you bastard!" Fred glared at Lee Jordan, then turned to Albert and said, "Could you use a cleansing spell to help...?"
"Transformation Club," Albert suddenly interrupted.
"What?" Fred didn't understand for a moment.
"He means the Transformers Club is tomorrow night, also at seven o'clock." Lee Jordan put his arm around Fred's shoulder to comfort him, "So, give up the futile struggle!"
As they spoke, the four of them reached the third floor via a movable staircase, and then, after passing through several secret passages, they made their way through the castle to the eighth floor.
While turning a corner, he nearly bumped into Professor Bard Brod, who was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Good evening, Professor Brod," Albert greeted him first.
"Good evening, Mr. Anderson." Professor Broad's gaze swept over the four of them, then fell on Albert, scrutinizing him for a moment before continuing, "Curfew is approaching, I suggest you return to the lounge as soon as possible."
"Professor Brod actually knows you!" Fred looked at Albert in surprise after the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor left.
Professor Brod is quite old, yet he was able to remember Albert in such a short time, even though they had only met a few times.
"I'm not quite sure either." Albert glanced suspiciously at the Room of Requirement. He seemed to have just seen a slight change in the wall.
Moreover, Professor Bard Brod looked at me strangely just now, as if he was scrutinizing something.
"Speaking of which, there's no secret passage behind this tapestry." Li Qiaodan pointed to the tapestry of the giant stick beating Banaba and said to the three of them, "I even looked through it at noon, but I didn't find anything."
It's not surprising that Li Qiaodan would have such thoughts; there's no way around it, since most of the tapestries at Hogwarts have hidden passageways behind them.
In fact, Lee Jordan's guess was correct. The tapestry did indeed hold a secret, but not behind the tapestry itself; rather, it was on the wall opposite the tapestry, where the Room of Requirement was located.
However, most students are unaware of its existence.
When they arrived at the portrait of the plump woman at the end of the corridor on the eighth floor, they were surprised to find that the woman was humming a song softly.
"Nonsense," George commanded.
The plump lady didn't open the door, but continued humming. Was she planning to make the four of them her free servants?
"Nonsense," Fred continued.
The plump lady glared at them with displeasure, seemingly annoyed at being disturbed, and reluctantly opened the entrance to the lounge.
"I dare say she has absolutely no talent for singing," Albert couldn't help but mutter as he entered the dressing room.
At this time, there were still a few people doing their homework in the lounge.
"Where did you guys go?" Charlie, wearing pajamas, walked over and said to the group. "There's Quidditch practice tomorrow afternoon. You can go to the Quidditch pitch after 6:30. I'll give you half an hour for intensive training."
"I'm sorry, Charlie, we're afraid we can't go," George said with a helpless expression.
"Why?"
"We need to be put in solitary confinement at Filch!" Fred said, looking utterly dejected.
"And what about you?" Charlie looked at Lee Jordan, thought for a moment, and sighed softly. "Never mind, you can practice together next time! If you want to officially join the Quidditch team next year, you should seize the time to practice hard so that you will have an advantage over others in becoming players."
Not long after Charlie left, Percy arrived; he had just finished his homework.
"Stop nagging Percy, Charlie already told us that," George said to his brother irritably.
"We're leaving now," Albert said to Lee Jordan, and they headed towards the stairs.
"Don't provoke Filch, it won't do you any good!" Percy Weasley glared at Fred and George. "You've put us in last place..."
"…If you keep acting like this and dare to wander around the castle during curfew, I'll write to Mother." George disguised his voice as Percy's and told his roommates this in a teasing tone.
"As far as I know, Gryffindor hasn't won the House Cup for several years, and they're acting like it's all our fault for losing points."
"Isn't it normal that Gryffindor didn't win the House Cup?" Albert said seriously.
"Wow, so you thought so too." George smiled at Albert, giving him a look that said, "You really understand us."
"Don't look at me like that, it's the truth!" Albert couldn't help but roll his eyes and said, "Unless we can win three Quidditch matches, the House Cup is a long way off."
"You make a lot of sense," George nodded in agreement.
"Percy must know that he just wants an excuse to teach us a lesson!" Fred snorted dismissively.
Albert glanced sideways at the newly appeared mission prompt:
The glory of Gryffindor.
Gryffindor has missed the House Cup for five years. It's time to show your true colors and help Gryffindor win one.
Reward: 1 skill point.
Albert's lips twitched as he read the task. Was this really a task for someone else to complete?
Hmm, it seems there's no time limit.
Albert could have waited until the savior Potter appeared and then simply slept it off.
That's a good idea.