The two returned to the castle along the same route, and as soon as they reached the third floor, George and Fred prepared to take a shortcut back to the Gryffindor common room.
Before coming out of the secret passage, the two had already determined their next route and confirmed again and again that their number one "enemy" of the overnight tour was still resting in his room.
“Ah, ah…”
Seeing that George was about to sneeze, Fred quickly reached out and covered George's mouth to avoid making too much noise.
"It's okay, my nose is just a little itchy." George rubbed his nose with his hand and covered a yawn. He began to miss his soft bed.
"Maybe he caught a cold!" Fred looked at his twin brother sympathetically, "Go back!"
The two walked up the stairs to the fifth floor, preparing to go directly to the eighth floor through a secret passage.
"Meow."
A strange cat's meow.
Fred froze in place, raised his wand and reached forward. A dark figure walked out from the corner. The two of them looked carefully and found that it was Filch's Mrs. Norris.
The cat saw the two and turned and ran away.
Fred and George looked at each other and suddenly laughed happily. They both knew what the cat had done. Filch would soon be looking for them all over the castle.
However, Fred and George didn't care because they had already returned to the lounge by then.
Fred and George were in a very good mood when they thought of Filch, who had a cold, getting up and messing around in the middle of the night.
"Let's go. I want to go back to bed early." George yawned frequently.
The two of them came to the eighth floor through the secret passage on the fifth floor, walked through the dark and silent Gryffindor corridor, and came to the portrait of the Fat Lady.
However, the painting in front of them was empty, which made their happy mood suddenly fall to the bottom.
The Fat Lady went out to visit friends late at night.
At this moment, Fred and George both realized that they were locked out of the Gryffindor common room.
"What should we do?" Fred's face looked unhappy. They didn't know when the Fat Lady would come back. Besides, Filch had already gotten up and was on his way to the fifth floor with his cat.
The guy took a shortcut through the secret passage and was faster than the two had expected.
"Albert is such a bad-mouthed man," George said helplessly. "I don't want to stay here overnight. I'll definitely catch a cold. How about we find a place to rest first?"
Looking for a place to rest
Rather than continuing his night tour and risking a possible run-in with Filch, it would undoubtedly be better to find a place to stay and wait for the Fat Lady to come back.
Where is the right place to stay
The answer is a secret passage.
There were several secret passages on the eighth floor, but Fred was not sure which ones Filch knew. Through the Marauder's Map, both of them saw that Filch had reached the fifth floor through the secret passage and began searching for students who were wandering around at night.
"Let Filch find it!" George pouted.
"Be careful, or the boat will capsize," Fred warned.
He didn't want to be caught by Filch at all. If he was caught, the outcome would definitely not be good.
Not only do they have to face Filch's annoying face, but they also have to face Professor McGonagall and Percy. Moreover, after having a large number of points deducted, the Gryffindor students will not look at them well.
Now, all they could do was hope that Filch would give up the search soon, and that the Fat Lady would come back soon.
On the fifth floor, in the portrait corridor, Filch was patrolling with an oil lamp. He was in a terrible mood, having caught a cold by accident today, and his head was still a little dizzy, so he couldn't rest well even if he wanted to.
No, no, and still no.
Filch swept through the abandoned classrooms with an oil lamp in hand, and pricked up his ears to carefully distinguish the sounds around him. His pet Mrs. Norris was also helping to search for the target, but he still failed to catch the student who was wandering at night, and he didn't even hear any other movements
"Run away?" Filch murmured. "No, that's impossible!"
It had taken less than a few minutes for him to get here from the time Mrs. Norris sounded the alarm; there was no way those pesky little devils could have run so fast.
"They can't get far. I will definitely catch them!" Filch believed that no one knew all the secret passages of Hogwarts Castle better than him, and no one could escape from his hands.
However, Filch didn't know that his actions were completely seen by the twins. They stared at the ink dot on the Marauder's Map that symbolized Filch, watching it move through the secret passages on various floors of the castle, and watched Mrs. Norris separate from Filch and search for their whereabouts separately.
"Filch is indeed very familiar with the castle's secret passages. It would be difficult for ordinary students who wander around at night to avoid being caught by him." George sighed.
"Now is not the time to feel sentimental. We can't stay here any longer. Filch may know this secret passage. We must find a place where Filch doesn't know to hide." Fred immediately realized that their situation was not good.
"Why don't you go see if the Fat Lady is back?" George suggested. If they could get into the common room, they wouldn't have to worry about Filch.
"Let's go check it out," Fred agreed.
They left the secret passage again and came to the portrait of the Fat Lady at the end of the Gryffindor Corridor, but the result was still disappointing; the Fat Lady still hadn't returned.
"We have to go. If Filch searches the eighth floor, we won't be able to hide. I don't think Filch knows the passage to the knight's armor on the seventh floor. As long as we hide there, he won't be able to find us."
However, there was Madam Norris patrolling the seventh floor, and if one was not careful one might get caught.
The two planned to go to other floors through the secret passage with the griffin carving on the eighth floor, but they found that Filch was actually coming towards the eighth floor along this secret passage.
"Run!" Fred shouted in a low voice, and quickly quickened his pace. When the two of them reached the seventh floor along the stairs, Filch had already walked out of the griffin sculpture and immediately heard the sound of running.
"I've found you. Don't try to get away!" Filch muttered. He held the oil lamp and chased towards the seventh floor. Mrs. Norris immediately ran over to meet him and led the way, taking him to find the guy who was wandering around the castle at night.
"No, Filch is coming this way!" Fred didn't try to open the knight armor statue because Filch moved very fast.
If the secret passage is not closed in time, it is likely to be discovered by Filch.
This was definitely not a scene the twins wanted to see. Moreover, with the Marauder's Map in their hands, they could easily go around in circles with Filch in the castle.
Got caught
Can you see the opponent's movements clearly through the live map, and still be caught
Does not exist.
At this moment, George sneezed suddenly. The sound echoed in the corridor and immediately attracted Filch's attention.
"Hurry up, Filch is coming this way." Fred looked at George speechlessly and urged him.
"What should we do now?" George followed quickly.
"What else can we do?" Fred shrugged helplessly. "He chases us, and we run."
A game of cat and mouse has officially begun.