Filch led the twins to his office, muttering incessantly about the various gruesome punishments he would love to inflict upon them.

  Despite his threats, none of these punishments could actually be used on students, as Dumbledore had long abolished such practices.

  Eda trailed them at a distance, deg to follow and observe. If the twins were assigned some form of bor as punishment, she could help them out.

  O the caretaker's office, Filch roughly shoved Fred and Gee inside, smming the door shut with a loud bang.

  The twins stood ihe office, uhey were all too familiar with this room, its gleaming s and handcuffs no longer intimidating them. They khe pce almost as well as Fild his cat.

  A lone oil mp hung from the ceiling, casting a dim light that made the room feel even smaller.

  The office smelled of burnt fish, and along the walls stood filing ets filled with records of student infras.

  On Filch's desk was a drawer beled "fiscated Items – Highly Dangerous."

  "See those s and handcuffs?" Filch said menagly. "I'd love to hang you two up there, just like a pair of fish. Leave you there for a few days, and you'd learn to behave."

  "Too bad you 't actually do that," Fred replied, his tone unbothered.

  "If I were you, I'd keep those well-oiled. You never know when you might get the ce to use them, dear Filch," Gee added, even daring to joke with the caretaker.

  Filch's eyes narrowed at the twins' insolence, but he khey were right. With a frustrated grunt, he turned away from them and began rummaging through his desk drawers, perhaps searg for something else to threaten them with.

  Outside, Eda pressed her ear to the door, trying to hear what was happening.

  She was ready to intervene if necessary, but for now, it seemed the twins had everything under trol, handling Filch's threats with their usual bravado.

  "You two will be the first to experies wrath," Filarled. "Let me think about how best to punish you! The Forbidden Forest sounds good. Believe me, you'll be scared stiff!"

  The twins remained indifferent to Filch's threats. In fact, they hoped Filch would actually send them to the Forbidden Forest—it recisely what they wanted.

  "But before that, I'll report this to Professonagall," Filch tinued, scribbling his punishment reendation on a piece of part.

  At the mention of Professonagall's he twins' expressions finally ged.

  Despite their bravado, they had a healthy respect for her. However, Filch, engrossed in his paperwork, didn't notice their rea.

  A meow sounded from the doorway.

  Filch quickly opehe door and scooped up Mrs. Norris, who tio meow insistently.

  Filch then remembered something he'd fotten in his excitement.

  "Speak up! Where's the third person? Who is it?" Filch demanded, gring at the twins. "Is it that dark-haired boy who's always with you?"

  The joy of catg the twins had made Filch temporarily fet there was another person involved. Seeing his cat reminded him.

  "You've got it wrong."

  "It's just the two of us."

  "There wasn't a third person," the twins said in unison. "Maybe it was a student from another house. Your cat 't talk, after all."

  Filch's face twisted in frustration.

  "You two are lying!" Filch shouted at Fred and Gee.

  Filch didn't bother interrogating the twins further. Instead, he rushed out the door to check, but there was no one in sight.

  "Who's there? Show yourself!" Filch called out, taking a few steps forward, but he still saw no one. His shouting was more of a bluff. Mrs. Norris leaped from his arms, letting out a sharp meow.

  As soon as Filch left the office, Gee quickly opehe drawer beled "fiscated Items" and began rummaging through it. Fred used his body to block Filch's view as much as possible.

  Filch, having found nothing outside, hurried back to his office, worried that if he stayed away too long, the twins would wreck the pce.

  He first sed the office to ehing was damaged.

  Seeing the twins standing obediently where he had left them, he said, "You two e with me. We're going to see Professonagall."

  Meanwhile, Eda had been hiding nearby, eavesdropping ever since Filch took the twins into the office. The office had been eerily quiet.

  A while ter, Mrs. Norris reappeared, fronting Eda. However, instead of aandoff, the cat merely started meowing at the office door.

  When Filch brought her inside, Eda could hear his harsh questioning. Realizing she could do little to help the twins at this moment, she decided to slip away quietly.

  On her way back to the on room, Eda made a detour to the fourth floor to retrieve the evidence she had left behind.

  Returning to the on room, Eda didn't ght to bed. Instead, she settled into an armchair by the firepce, waiting for the twins to return.

  After a short nap with her eyes closed, Eda heard someone ing in. Opening her eyes, she saw the twins walking in.

  "Did Filch give you a hard time?" Eda asked, ed.

  The twins had serious expressions and gave Eda a bitter smile, leaving her puzzled.

  "I k was you!" an angry female voice echoed above Eda.

  It rofessonagall! Eda looked up and indeed saw Professonagall standing behind the twins, her face stern.

  As it turned out, when Professonagall brought the twins back, she had them ehe on room first. After they went in, she followed, expeg to catch Eda i.

  "Professonagall, let me expin..." Eda tried to protest, hoping to salvage the situation.

  "Hmm?" Professonagall looked down at her with an imposing gaze. Eda swallowed the lie she had quickly cocted.

  Seeing that Eda did not try tue, Professonagall tinued, "You three are truly the pride of Gryffindor!"

  Professonagall, dressed in pajamas with a cloak over them, still exuded her usual authority.

  The three of them stood in a row before her, heads bowed, receiving her reprimand.

  "I am extremely angry! Roaming the corridors in the middle of the night instead of sleeping—do you know what time it is? Do you uand how dangerous this is?"

  Despite keeping her voice low, her anger alpable.

  "You, Miss Twist, I expected better judgment from you. What were you thinking? And how did you promise me you'd behave in my office?"

  Eda felt deeply embarrassed. It had been a long time since Professonagall had called her "Miss Twist," highlighting just how furious she was.

  Moreover, Eda was almost g over her own foolishness for walking into a trap. She exged gnces with the twins, Fred and Gee, who had not "betrayed" her.

  "Mr. Weasley, you will pay for your dangerous as. Thirty points will be deducted from Gryffindor! Each!" Professonagall annouhe punishment, effectively eliminating Gryffindor from the House Cup petition for the year.

  "And as for you, Miss Twist, even though Filch didn't catch you, you still must be held atable for your foolishness," Professonagall paused. "From now on, you will plete double the amount of homework for every css, with no duplicated tent. Every single subject!"

  The three of them sat in the armchairs in utter sileer Professonagall had left, leaving them to face the sequences of their as alone.

  "We didn't expect you to be waiting in the on room," Fred said, aowledging Magall's cleverness.

  Professonagall had acted as if she believed the twins while in her office, but once ba the on room, she had swiftly exposed Eda.

  "And to thirusted her," Gee said incredulously, realizing they had all been outsmarted.

  "It was my own stupidity. If I had just gone back to the dormitory, none of this would have happened. Even if I had just hidden oaircase, I might not have been caught," Eda reflected, taking responsibility for her as.

  No matter how ing a fox is, it 't outsmart an old hunter! Magall had years of experience, while Eda, even tiwo lives, had only lived a fra of that time.

  pared to Magall, Eda wasn't even a fox yet.

  Tonight's lesson taught her two things: First, breaking school rules is fine as long as you don't get caught—if you aren't caught, it's as if you never broke them. Sed, she realized her own shortings. She couldn't let herself be outmaneuvered by Magall again.

  Since acquiring the system, Eda had believed that she just o y low and survive until the end. But now she saw that she o adjust her mi. pared to these old foxes, she was still very green and had much to learn.

  "Gee, show us what you found in Filch's office. It's the only thing worth celebrating tonight," Fred said, trying to lighten the mood.

  "Sure, just a moment." Gee reached into his pocket and pulled out a prized item. "Here it is!"

  Gee produced a rge, square piece of part. It was very worn and appeared bnk.

  "I don't know what it does." Gee scratched his head and said awkwardly, "But it was indeed in the drawer. Maybe we just haven't discovered its magical use yet..."

  Eda ohought that Gee had taken the wrong piece of part, but now it seems that this piece of part is the treasure that Gee took from Filch.

  That's it! That's it! That's it! That's just fug it?!

  Eda roared silently in her heart.

  ______

  12 Advance Chapters—Patreon./Dragonel