Chapter 263

The next morning, freezing rain mixed with snowflakes fell from the sky, condensing into a smooth and transparent ice coating on the ground, and the young witches had to move carefully across the yard and open space.

“Ouch!”

Ron, who had just left the hospital wing, tripped and pounced straight to the ground, he struggled to get up, the ground is really slippery, luckily Harry pulled him up.

He watched enviously as the twins conjured up a pair of ice skates for themselves and nimbly made their way around the yard through the students.

“Wanna give a try, Ron.” Fred appeared in front of him and winked at him.

“No, thanks-” Ron muttered, he’d only fall worse when he uses that, “Don’t you guys have class?”

“Don’t be silly, of course, we have class,” Fred said, “Hey George, watch out–”

Harry watched as George slid over quickly, he waved his arms desperately, “Oh no–” and rolled with Fred, both of them diving headfirst into the snow, their clothes, cuffs, and collars covered in snow, even their eyebrows were dyed white, they pointed at each other with comical face and laughed.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other, “Let’s go, we have quite a few classes today.”

“Wait, Harry!” Fred caught up, his arm on Harry’s shoulder, as he whispered to him, “Listen, the secret passage is blocked …”

“What?” Harry exclaimed, and didn’t respond for a moment.

“The secret passage, the secret passage to Hogsmeade, Harry.” Fred gave him a meaningful look and Harry suddenly snapped out of it.

He stammered, “Then the map …”

“Nothing happened to the map, we tried to go to Zonko’s Joke Shop yesterday to get some goods, you know–” Fred squeezed his eyes at him, “Dungbomb, sparklers and such, only to have the one-eyed witch statue on the third-floor act like she is dead, and then Filch’s cat popped up, and we rushed off in a hurry.”

Harry snapped to attention, it is a chain reaction after Black’s attack, the professors are on guard against a sudden break-in at the castle, if this does happen, the castle’s protection will fail, and he or Ron is likely to be kidnapped from the dormitory.

“Harry–” Ron shouted from afar.

“Anyway, we can only hope to use that passage behind the whomping willow, George and I are ready to explore it, so wait for my good news,” Fred said and left.

“Don’t–” Harry reached out and watched the twins run away, he wanted to tell them that he had been banned from leaving the castle by Dumbledore, and that even Hagrid’s Hut is off-limits except for classes and occasions when a professor is present.

In the afternoon, the weather finally cleared up. After the trio had lunch, they emerged from the great hall as they breathed the fresh air.

“By the way, Harry, what did Fred said to you?” Ron inquired curiously.

Harry informed Ron and Hermione of what had happened, and Ron expressed his disappointment, “So you can’t even go to Hogsmeade with an invisibility cloak?” Hermione, on the other hand, is visibly relieved.

She said to Ron, “Don’t forget, you can’t either, Professor McGonagall told you personally that you and Harry are treated the same until Black is captured.”

Ron’s whole face twisted up, “I keep trying to forget that.”

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, they hadn’t told Ron about the rat speculation, and even though Ron kept complaining that scabbers isn’t being nice, Harry knew Ron treasured it quite a bit, he changed the subject, “Maybe we can check out the Ancient runes practical classroom this weekend, I heard it’s very popular, we hardly wandered around thereafter the last club test. ”

“Actually, I’d rather try your firebolt.”

Harry’s mood became gloomy, “Don’t think about it, Wood went to Professor McGonagall, it didn’t help at all, we had to wait till the end.”

Hermione immediately turned her head away, pretending to be interested in the distant scenery, but she suddenly pointed into the distance, “Oh my God, look what’s there -”

They were standing uphill in the clearing, and they could catch a glimpse of the corner of the Forbidden Forest. At the moment, the grumpy whomping willow wildly whipped its whip-like branches, and two small black dots came running over in a panic.

“It’s Fred and George!”

They rushed toward the whomping willow, falling a dozen times on the way because the road is too slippery, and when they arrived, wheezing, they found Professor McGonagall yelling angrily at the twins.

“I don’t know what you think – you never take your herbology class! How dare you tease the whomping Willow … Gryffindor fifty points off, plus a week of detention-at this time of year, can you save your breath-”

Professor McGonagall’s anger has not yet subsided, she turned her head, “And you, Potter, Weasley, Granger, why are you here again? I told you all to stay in the castle only yesterday.”

“Professor, Professor, we saw Fred and George in danger …” Harry said.

Professor McGonagall tightened his eyebrows relaxed a little, “Well, things happen for a reason, and I hope you won’t make similar excuses in the future. Come back with me–”

The Weasley twins dropped their heads and followed Professor McGonagall. As they passed the trio, Fred made an exaggerated gesture towards them.

Trap~trap~

It isn’t until the evening that they saw the unlucky twin brothers again.

Fred sat on his butt between Harry and Ron, completely free of the depression of being detained, and said with a raised eyebrow, “You can’t imagine what we have encountered today.”

“A crazy whomping willow tree?” Ron said in a deliberate speculative tone.

“Much more interesting than that,” Fred’s eyes glowed, “George and I were actually very cautious and ready to back off at a moment’s notice, and we saw an entrance near the roots of the whomping willow, very hidden, and George spotted something strange-looking green… …”

“I think it is a branch of some kind, it looks a bit familiar, but I didn’t see much for me to recognize it.” George said regretfully.

Fred followed up, “So we simply got a little closer and the whomping willow wriggled wildly, looking like a gnome that had eaten Pesticides, and we rushed away to wait for it to calm down. The result …”

“We got surrounded, and the professors fell from the sky.” George said with mixed emotions, “Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Hap, and of course, Professor McGonagall.”

Harry and the others listened dazedly, this is much more exciting than what they had, though.

Ron looked incredulous, “So you guys are still alive?” He reached up and lifted Fred’s arm, only for it to suddenly dangle, and Fred made a face at Ron.

George finally said, “Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Hap took one look and left, leaving Professor McGonagall to clean up the mess – that’s us, and I think she must have regretted becoming Head of Gryffindor at the time … ”

The twins quickly left, having got some information from Harry, such as that the Whomping Willow trap is probably aimed at Black, “Cool~” but they also took a rare moment of seriousness and focused on the dueling game that they had let slip just before the holidays.

“We could make a fortune while we’re at it.”

Ron stared at the backs of his two brothers and suddenly said, “I know what they want, a store in Diagon Alley, but the family can’t help them.”

Harry’s lips parted, and no words came out about borrowing money, he knew the twins wouldn’t take it.

The door to the common room opened and Neville walked in.

“Have you guys noticed that Neville isn’t quite like he used to be?” Hermione said thoughtfully.

” Has he?”

“I can’t describe it, maybe more energetic?”

Harry looked half-heartedly, he judged, “It should be more confident, I had a similar look after my special training.”

“Did Professor Hap have something to say to him? Only Neville got detention during today’s class.”

———-

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