Chapter 64 — Guarding the Purity of Hogwarts
"Oh, Merlin's socks, Fred, you've fallen so low—you want to become Minister of Magic…"
"George, you're mistaken. I'm not Percy…"
While the two continued their exaggerated performance, Douglas finally understood the real reason Angelina had come.
He looked at Fred and George and said calmly,
"Since you've put it that way, Miss Johnson can come directly to me in the future to report on the situation in your class.
Miss Johnson, from now on you will serve as the deputy class representative of your class. You will be responsible for supervising the completion of homework for everyone in your class…"
He paused slightly.
"I mean everyone."
Angelina's face brightened instantly.
"Thank you, Professor! I won't let you down!"
Standing beside her, the twins quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Since becoming class representatives, they had been overwhelmed with work.
Not only did they have to urge everyone to study, but they also had to collect homework and listen to their classmates recite their assignments.
As a result, they had almost no time left for their own ideas and experiments.
They would gladly let someone else take over the work.
Douglas seemed to see right through their thoughts.
He immediately adopted a serious expression.
"Fred, George, don't be disappointed.
Let me make one thing clear.
Miss Johnson is only the deputy class representative. She will not replace your position."
The twins froze.
Douglas continued,
"To prevent Miss Johnson from pushing you aside entirely, I will make an additional arrangement for your class to demonstrate my attention to you.
From now on, all fourth-year Gryffindor homework must first be reviewed by Mr. Weasley.
If you believe any assignment is unsatisfactory, simply return it for revision.
I only need to see one final satisfactory version.
Miss Johnson, you must cooperate with this arrangement."
Angelina had originally planned to explain that she had no intention of replacing the twins.
But after hearing Douglas's decision, the corners of her mouth slowly lifted into a smile.
She nodded enthusiastically.
She knew the twins extremely well.
This arrangement was… perfect.
Douglas himself was also very satisfied.
He knew the twins' abilities. If they truly focused, they were more than capable of reviewing their classmates' work.
And if they didn't take it seriously…
The classmates who had their homework returned for endless revisions would definitely make sure they did.
The twins stood there in stunned silence.
They looked at each other.
"You didn't want to be sidelined?"
"I thought you didn't want to be sidelined."
"Yes, we both wanted to be sidelined."
"It seems the professor disagrees."
"And Angelina doesn't seem to mind…"
"She's actually smiling!"
"She's corrupted! A corrupt bureaucracy!"
"I only wanted to hold office—not do any work!"
Fred and George mourned their fate internally.
Why had they tried to be clever in front of Douglas?
History—and personal experience—had proven that they could never outwit him.
Every time they tried, they ended up trapped by their own schemes.
Five years ago…
A familiar memory flashed across their minds once again.
Eight o'clock in the evening
Douglas glanced at the clock, stood up, and asked the twins,
"How is your memorization going? How much longer until you finish?"
George and Fred's eyes lit up.
The professor was about to leave.
If the time was long enough, today's detention might end early.
"Professor, it may take more than half an hour to finish memorizing!"
"And at least an hour to complete the dictation!"
Douglas nodded thoughtfully.
"Oh."
Then he pointed toward the door.
"You two can stand outside and continue reciting.
Write down what you've memorized."
Ever since the twins had swaggered into his office earlier with Angelina, helping themselves to snacks and tea, Douglas had become wary of leaving them alone inside.
The twins shrugged.
Standing in the corridor to recite their lessons didn't bother them much anymore.
After the last incident, they had learned their lesson.
To prevent the professor from throwing them out again, they always wore thick clothing when coming to detention.
They had also prepared a small invention—which finally had a chance to be used today.
Douglas walked out of the office with them, took a few steps down the corridor, then suddenly turned back.
He pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket.
"You two stay here quietly. Don't run around.
And don't forget—I have the Marauder's Map."
He paused.
"By the way, if you finish your dictation before I return, don't wait for me here. Just go back to Gryffindor Tower.
If I see you on the map, I'll come find you along the way."
Then he added one last warning.
"And let me emphasize something.
Don't even think about cheating.
You should know that there exists a type of magic capable of rewinding events from several hours earlier."
With that, Douglas left.
As for that final spell he mentioned…
Well, the magical world was vast. No one could claim to know every type of magic.
Inventing one or two fictional spells to scare students was perfectly possible.
There was indeed a wand-revealing spell that replayed previously cast magic—but that was something entirely different.
George and Fred watched Douglas disappear down the corridor.
They whispered to each other.
"Does that spell really exist?"
"I think there's something like a flashback spell… but I'm not sure how it works."
"Ah, George, you really are knowledgeable.
So are you going to take that thing out?"
"Fred, the professor only told us to come outside. He never said we had to stand."
"The Marauder's Map doesn't care whether you're standing or sitting."
The two high-fived happily.
At that moment, Douglas's voice suddenly echoed from the staircase.
"What are you doing?
Why is there no sound at all when you're reciting?"
The twins jumped in fright and hurriedly opened their textbooks, mumbling loudly.
Once Douglas had truly left, each of them pulled a thick wooden stick from his waist.
They tapped it lightly with their wands.
The wooden sticks unfolded into three-legged stools.
The seats were made from pieces of an old bedsheet they had found.
They tested them.
Unless someone deliberately shook them, the stools were perfectly stable.
This was a compact and well-concealed stool they had designed after seeing a folding stool in Douglas's Muggle home during the holidays.
Originally, they had planned to turn it into a fake wand capable of casting a small fire-starting charm.
After lighting a fire, it could transform into a stool so someone could sit beside the flames.
Unfortunately, they had never found the time to finish developing it.
While patrolling the castle, Douglas encountered Mrs. Norris, who was also making her nightly rounds.
Douglas took a small dried fish from his pocket and offered it to her.
Mrs. Norris accepted the fish, rubbed affectionately against Douglas's trouser leg, and then wandered off.
If Hogwarts students had seen this scene, they would have been astonished.
Mrs. Norris—the relentless spy of Argus Filch—was behaving like a spoiled pet.
Douglas continued walking slowly through the castle.
Whenever he encountered students lingering in the corridors, he urged them to return to their dormitories.
Eventually he reached a quiet corridor.
After confirming no one was nearby, Douglas pulled out the Marauder's Map.
He tapped it with his wand.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Ink dots appeared across the parchment.
Douglas looked down at them and murmured softly,
"I didn't lie to you.
For those students, what I'm about to do certainly isn't a good thing.
But as a professor, I must do what a professor ought to do."
First, he checked the bathroom he had been monitoring.
Nothing unusual.
The twins were still standing outside his office.
Filch was patrolling the dungeons.
Then Douglas spotted what he was looking for.
"Ah… one Gryffindor and one Ravenclaw. How unfortunate."
Without even looking at the map again, Douglas walked confidently to the door of an abandoned classroom.
He coughed twice—loudly.
Then he pushed the door open and lit a candle with his wand.
In the candlelight stood a boy and a girl, both red-faced.
Douglas let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Fortunately, nothing too serious had happened.
He recognized them.
The girl was a sixth-year Gryffindor.
The boy was a fifth-year Ravenclaw.
"Wandering the castle at night without permission from a professor.
Twenty points from Gryffindor.Twenty points from Ravenclaw.
I will inform Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick regarding the details of your detention.
Why are you still standing there?
Return to your dormitories immediately."
The two students fled the room in embarrassment.
Douglas watched them leave and sighed.
During his own time as a student, there had once been an incident involving a secret relationship.
A seventh-year boy had gotten a sixth-year girl pregnant—just two months before she turned seventeen.
Pregnancy was rare among wizards.
Although Hogwarts did not expel them, the girl had taken leave to give birth and never returned to finish her studies.
After that incident, the castle's night patrols became far stricter.
Once, Douglas himself had been caught during a nighttime adventure with Bill and Charlie Weasley.
Two professors had blocked the exit of an abandoned classroom.
The three of them had received very long detentions.
Since that day, whenever they had free time, the three of them would sneak out at night again.
Their reason was simple—
They were protecting the purity of Hogwarts.
Using the Marauder's Map, they would locate unlucky couples wandering the castle.
Two of them would block the door.
The third would quietly guide Filch to the location.
Once the students confirmed that Peeves wasn't responsible…
Things became very interesting.
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