Ta…ta…ta…
A series of shuffling footsteps echoed throughout Hogwarts Castle, starting in the foyer and going up the stairs to the eighth floor.
And when the footsteps lingered at the door of the Gryffindor common room for a while, they turned a corner and followed the corridor towards the Ravenclaw common room at the other end.
After the owner of the footsteps turned around again, his direction changed again, and he followed the spiral staircase near the corner back to the first floor.
Obviously, the person who was wandering around Hogwarts late at night was undoubtedly the school's janitor Filch.
Tonight, after he patrolled the grounds of the castle regularly as usual, he prepared to return to the stairs behind the foyer and sit there to continue taking a nap.
But who knew, when he slowly rushed back to the foyer, he happened to see a figure running cautiously towards the stairs.
Filch, who had long been used to seeing students wandering around at night, reacted quickly. He realized almost reflexively that it was a student who had sneaked out in the middle of the night. But the one who was faster than him was the skinny cat he raised named Mrs. Norris.
Before Filch was about to shout loudly, Mrs. Norris, who had been following him, jumped out, looking unusually fast.
But Filch's cry came only after his cat rushed out...
okay! In fact, he still couldn't shout out, because the moment he wanted to open his mouth, he was shocked to find that his mouth and tongue had been firmly stuck together at some point.
Immediately afterwards, Filch felt an extra hand on his shoulder.
"Don't be nervous! It's me, McClain."
Suddenly, a voice sounded softly from behind him. It was not very loud, but it penetrated his ears accurately in this quiet night.
"Don't make any noise, just leave that student to me... Oh, the locking tongue and throat sealing spell will be automatically lifted soon. You can continue patrolling!"
Before he finished speaking, Filch pursed his lips and looked at the figure that came out from behind him without looking at him again, and quickly threw it towards the stairs and disappeared.
"Um!"
Filch hummed hard, but because his entire tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth, he couldn't even make a loud hum.
When he thought that the person he was talking to just now was Maka McClain, he quickly had to complain silently in his heart and then gave up - there was no way, who could have let it be Maka McClain? .
…
At the same time, Maka on the other side passed by on the stairs leading to the basement, and in a blink of an eye, she caught up with the skinny cat who had taken the first step.
At this time, he could see that the figure in the foyer at the beginning was actually very close.
"Ms. Parkinson, how's your evening?"
However, Maka's voice did not make the other party stop - she didn't even turn her head, but ran a little faster than before.
Seeing her quickly passing by the tapestry in front, without stopping, she had reached the wall behind which was the Slytherin common room.
But just as she spoke tonight's password, the armor that had been standing quietly on both sides of the wall suddenly moved, crossing the ax gun in her hand to block the gradually revealed doorway.
The next moment, Filch's Mrs. Norris caught up with the figure first, and shouted at the opponent at the base of the wall as if to demonstrate.
"Ms. Parkinson," Maka then stood behind her and continued calmly, "I already called your name, why do you keep running? You know, no matter whether you get back to the dormitory or not, the result will be It’s all the same.”
Probably the other party was in a very nervous state just now, so he didn't think of this at all, let alone being able to identify who the person behind him was.
At this moment, she turned around suddenly and realized that under the dim torch light, the not tall silhouette turned out to be Maka.
"M-McLean...Professor?"
"Oh, yes, that's right!" Maka looked at the girl in front of her who was about the same age as herself and nodded calmly, "Although I am still in the state of resignation, there is nothing wrong with you calling me that."
It can be seen that the girl standing in front of him at this time is the Slytherin girl who has a crush on Draco Malfoy - Pansy Parkinson.
I saw Miss Parkinson holding the hem of her robe, lowering her head and being silent for a while, then suddenly whispered:
"I'm sorry, Professor MacLean."
"Oh?" Maka said with great interest, "Why do you want to apologize to me?"
When Parkinson heard this, he pursed his lips and held it in for a while, then said:
"Yes, it's because... I didn't sleep well at night and ran out secretly."
Maka immediately nodded again and continued to ask:
"So... Miss Parkinson, where were you running so late at night?"
Regarding Maka's question, Parkinson obviously remained silent for a longer time, to the extent that even a completely unaware person would feel hesitant.
Then, she hesitated and said:
"I went to the astronomy tower... to look at the stars. You know, there were two shooting stars that were really beautiful recently."
"Oh, um..."
Hearing what she said, Maka immediately shook her head, then turned to look down at her feet.
"Mrs. Norris, you can go back - Filch is waiting for you!"
As he spoke, he pointed in the direction of the stairs at the other end of the corridor, signaling the smart, skinny cat to return to her owner.
Mrs. Norris quickly understood what Maka meant, and saw her blinking her faintly fluorescent eyes, then turning around and disappearing into the shadows when she came.
After pushing the cat away, Maka glanced at Parkinson again—perhaps she now had a deep understanding of the situation and knew that she would never escape from Maka's grasp, so she would He seemed very honest and well-behaved.
After Maka glanced at her, she casually moved her hand and said:
"Come with me! I think we should talk."
Having said that, Maka didn't care about anything else - he didn't even worry about the other party running away, but turned around and took the lead to move forward along the slightly sleepy corridor.
When Parkinson saw it, he only hesitated for a moment, and followed him obediently in the blink of an eye.
"Professor Maclean, you...will you punish me?"
Maka's pace was not fast. After the two of them walked for a short distance, he suddenly heard Parkinson behind him ask something like he was worried.
After thinking for a moment, Maka walked and said without looking back:
"Of course not! As I said just now, I am currently resigned... What's more, even if I am still employed, your punishment should be decided by the dean of your college, Professor Snape."
"Then...are you taking me to his office?"
"...Ah, yes."
…
In fact, Maka originally planned to choose a classroom at random. After all, he just wanted to "discuss" some issues alone with Pansy Parkinson.
Moreover, those "problems" have to be said to be quite serious matters, and it is not suitable to let more people know about them at the moment.
But when Parkinson asked if he wanted to go to Snape's office, although Maka knew very well that she said that out of some temptation, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was actually better to go to Snape's office. good.
So not long after, he took Miss Parkinson, who was following behind him, to the Potions Professor's office, which was also located in the underground corridor.
Of course, since Slughorn did not have an exchange office at the time, it has now automatically become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office as Snape's position changed.
After Maka reached out and knocked on the office door, Snape did not let them wait outside for too long. Soon there was a familiar impatient response from inside.
"who?"
"Professor Snape, it's me - Maclean!" Maka said, "Oh, there is also the sixth grader of Slytherin House, Miss Pansy Parkinson."
"Um?"
Snape inside heard a slightly confused snort at first, but the next second, the office door automatically opened a crack.
"Come in."
As soon as she opened the door and entered, Maka immediately saw Snape standing near the desk. But they saw that his clothes were neatly dressed, and even the belt of his outer robe was well tied, which made people doubt that he had been sleeping at all before.
However, his hair, which was messier than usual, finally exposed the fact that he had only just gotten up from the bed temporarily.
"Sorry, Professor! Being so late may have disturbed your rest..."
Although Maka has been Snape's colleague for a long time, his names for these professors have never changed. It can be seen that in his heart, these people are still professors worthy of his respect.
"Hmph, just tell me if you have something to say!" Snape tilted his chin and looked at Parkinson behind Maka, "Did Miss Parkinson violate the school rules and you caught her?"
This time, before Maka could speak, he heard Parkinson take the initiative:
"I'm sorry! Professor Snape - I shouldn't have been running around at night. I know I was wrong."
However, this time Maka no longer dealt with her casually. With a wave of his backhand, the office door suddenly closed with a bang, leaving a magic spell on it to prevent others from opening it.
Then, he instantly lost his expression like Snape, and just said calmly:
"Professor, I'm sorry! Miss Parkinson violated more than just school rules this time... I think she may be taken to the Wizengamot for trial soon, and she will be given a new room in Azkaban. A cell where straw can make a bed.”
Maka's slightly inappropriate humor was in sharp contrast to what he said. At least Miss Parkinson didn't find it interesting at all at this moment.