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"Who's there? Come out!" Hagrid stopped near them with a dim oil lamp in his hand. "I see you!"
Behind Hagrid, the black hound Fang also came.
It lowered its head and sniffed the ground, moving closer and closer to where Kyle and the others were hiding.
For a moment, everyone's heart was in their throat, and they all covered their mouths with their hands, trying hard not to make any sound.
Yaya came closer and closer, and soon the distance between them was less than one meter. Kyle could even clearly see its small black eyes and the saliva dripping from its mouth.
"Did you find anything?"
Hagrid also noticed Fang's strangeness. He walked over with an oil lamp and shouted, "I don't care who you are, but this is Hogwarts, not a place where people like you can come casually!"
"Leave quickly before I lose my temper. If I catch you, you'll be in trouble!"
Somehow, after hearing Hagrid's voice, Fang hesitated for a while and then suddenly changed direction and walked towards the depths of the Forbidden Forest.
Hagrid followed closely behind it, passing by Kyle and others.
Time passed bit by bit, until the footsteps completely disappeared, Kyle and the others finally relaxed, lying on the ground gasping for breath.
"How exciting!" Cedric said with a flushed face, "Merlin's beard, I just touched Hagrid's shoes, and he almost stepped on my hand!"
"Oh, damn." Fred, who had just gotten up from the ground, suddenly screamed, looked at the sticky liquid on his hand, and said with a bitter face: "I think I touched the dog's saliva."
"You should be thankful that you only touched saliva." George said with lingering fear: "Hagrid looked so scary at the time. If he caught us, it might not be as simple as being put in solitary confinement."
As he said this, George shuddered.
It was the first time he saw Hagrid so angry, and the overwhelming feeling of oppression made him shudder just thinking about it now.
"Thanks so much to you this time." Kyle patted Fred and George on the shoulders.
If they hadn't carried a lot of Moon Maniac Beast feces to confuse Yaya's sense of smell, they wouldn't have gotten away so easily.
After this accident, the few of them didn't dare to delay any longer. While Hagrid was still in the Forbidden Forest, they packed up their things briefly and ran quickly towards the castle.
The people who came to the exit of the secret passage did not rush in, but took out the Marauder's Map. After confirming that Filch's location was not on the first floor, they passed through the secret passage one after another and returned to the castle.
Because it was not on the way, they separated after leaving the secret passage.
Perhaps they were frightened by what had just happened. On the way back, they looked very nervous.
Cedric felt his heart beating fast and couldn't help but say, "Kyle, you said we won't be caught, right?"
"It's okay. If we're discovered, we'll just run separately." Kyle whispered, "This way he won't know who to chase."
"But..." Kanna said with a trembling voice: "I, I run slowly, what should I do?"
"I see, that's indeed a problem." Kyle thought for a moment and said, "How about this, if you are discovered, just run upstairs."
"Won't we get caught if we run upstairs?" Kanna asked puzzledly.
"No, it's not safe to run upstairs..." Kyle shook his head and explained, "But then Filch will chase you, and Cedric and I can take the opportunity to run back to the common room."
"..."
???
Kanna's eyes gradually became dull, and then turned into anger in a very short time.
But Kyle knew nothing about this, and he was still whispering: "Catch one and run away with two, it's a good deal."
Kanna gritted her teeth and said, "Then why was I the one who was arrested?"
"Hmm...it's simple." Kyle thought for a moment and said, "If someone has to be hurt, why can't it be you?"
Somehow, Kanna was no longer nervous. She silently took out her wand and looked up and down Kyle's back, as if trying to find a suitable place to poke.
The most prominent feature of the serpentine wood wand is its hardness. According to Ollivander, in some extreme situations, the serpentine wood wand can even be used as a close-range weapon.
Kyle felt a chill on his back and subconsciously quickened his pace.
……
Without any accidents, the three of them returned to the common room smoothly.
Definitely.
Kyle had noticed as early as when he was looking at the Marauder's Map at the entrance of the secret passage that the professors were all sleeping in their rooms, and Filch, the night patroller, was also on the eighth floor.
The distance from the Great Hall to the Hufflepuff common room is not far, and it will only take a few minutes if you walk quickly.
There's not enough time for Filch to run down there.
Therefore, Cedric and Connor's worries along the way were completely unnecessary.
"Good night, see you tomorrow." Kyle yawned and went back to the dormitory.
He had originally planned to go to the kitchen to find something to eat when he came back, but as soon as he entered the common room, he couldn't hold on any longer.
My eyelids started to droop and my head felt dizzy. I just wanted to have a good sleep.
"Good night."
"Hmph~~"
……
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 73 The First Snow at Hogwarts
Over the next period of time, Kyle became more and more interested in night walks, which were beneficial to his physical and mental health. In recent weeks, he had been going out every night, more frequently than Fred and George.
This may also be related to the twins' recent experiences.
As expected, the pile of Moon-crazy Beast feces that they had brought back with great effort ended up in their hands.
No one wants it among the little wizards.
The shops in Diagon Alley don't accept it.
But the twins were unwilling to let it go, and in the end, for some unknown reason, they ran to the greenhouse and tried to sell the goods to Professor Sprout at a low price.
As expected, their night tour was discovered, and the consequences were very serious.
Professor Sprout only took one look and knew where the things in their hands came from.
With such a large number, they could only have come from the Forbidden Forest.
Professor Sprout was naturally very clear about the time to collect the Moon Maniac's feces.
It would be fine if he went for a night stroll in the forbidden forest, but he actually had the guts to show off in front of the professor?
Even a gentle Professor Sprout could not stand this blatant provocation and took them directly to Professor McGonagall's office.
Although the twins tried to explain that they found it near Hagrid's pumpkin patch, no one believed them.
Because Hagrid had been busy with other things at that time and hadn't taken care of the pumpkin patch for a long time.
Professor McGonagall was disappointed and angry, so she made them clean the bathroom for a week.
Filch even wanted to move his office next to Gryffindor Tower so that he could keep an eye on them all the time.
But this makes things convenient for Kyle.
After Mikel and Ryan fell asleep, Kyle quietly got up from the bed and tiptoed out of the common room.
After putting on the silver-green scarf as usual, Kyle took out his wand and tapped it lightly on his forehead.
"Phantom."
A cold feeling quickly spread from the top of the head, as if a basin of ice water was poured on it.
Then, Kyle's body began to show patterns of the same color as the wall behind him.
Illusion spell.
Kyle had been studying this spell since returning from the Forbidden Forest.
Although the invisibility cloak is convenient and easy to use, it also has many disadvantages. If you are not careful or walk too fast, your feet may be exposed.
In comparison, the Disillusionment Charm is more useful.
It's just that this spell is a bit troublesome. It took him three days to get the hang of it, and the color of his body isn't smooth enough when it changes with the environment.
Fortunately, Hogwarts Castle is pitch black at night, so this minor flaw has no impact.
After everything was ready, Kyle walked to the door of the library on the second floor with ease.
This is his latest night hangout spot.
He likes reading, but some books are not suitable for reading during the day. They are only interesting when he reads them secretly alone at dark.
The library door was closed, with a large brass lock hanging between the two doors.
Kyle took out the master key and turned the brass lock lightly. Then he carefully pushed open a crack and squeezed into the library sideways.
The library was dark and eerie at night.
"Fluorescence."
Kyle walked through the rows of bookshelves with his wand in hand until he reached the back half of the library, where he stopped in front of a sign.
On the sign, the three words "Restricted Books Area" look very tempting.
Kyle stepped carefully over the rope that separated the books from the rest of the collection and, using the light from his wand, read the titles.
In order to prevent being discovered or any accidents, Kyle was very particular when choosing books.
Do not accept any cover with pictures (including but not limited to portraits, magical animals, various symbols...).
Don’t accept anything without a cover.
Don’t buy thick and big ones.
Don’t buy any with strange marks.
Don’t buy anything that looks too old... Mainly because I’m afraid it might be damaged when flipping through the pages, and it would be troublesome if I can’t restore it.
Kyle walked through the restricted books area for a long time, and only when he reached the sixth row of bookshelves did he pull out a black book with gold-stamped cursive letters.
The book was very thin, and the cursive writing on the cover had peeled off a lot, so Kyle could only barely make out the meaning of the last two words.
"Investigation..."