"But how did you see through my Disillusionment Charm?" Ethan asked, puzzled. "My spell level shouldn't be this bad! To actually be seen through by a third-year wizard..."
"It's this," Fred replied, pulling out a piece of parchment. "It clearly shows every wizard within Hogwarts. Look, Filch is searching around like a headless fly down there, while we're already on the fifth floor."
Ethan observed the parchment, noting the names of the four of them together. This map, discovered in Filch's office last school year, had revealed many of Hogwarts' secret passages, greatly aiding their nighttime escapades.
Looking at the names—Prongs, Moony, Wormtail, and Padfoot—Ethan realized it was the Marauder's Map. "I didn't expect them to get it so early," he mused. "It seems like it appeared in the third year in the original story."
Chapter 29: Fred and George
"We think you shouldn't have been sorted into Ravenclaw, but rather Gryffindor," Fred said.
"Really, I've never seen a wizard sneak out at night right after entering school. Even we only dared to do that a month later!" George added.
The twins were astonished when they saw Ethan's name appearing brightly in the Great Hall. A Ravenclaw sneaking out at night right after school started? They even suspected that the Sorting Hat had made a mistake. This behavior was quintessentially Gryffindor—too brave.
Since obtaining the Marauder's Map, they observed that Gryffindor had the largest night-wandering team. Besides themselves and occasionally Lee Jordan, other students were not so adventurous. Slytherin students were also found wandering at times, but Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had almost none, except for a few exceptions.
"Actually, the Sorting Hat also said that I have the spirit of Gryffindor, but after thinking about it, I still chose Ravenclaw," Ethan admitted.
"Okay, you're a Hat Stall; you can't be judged by common sense. But we still think you should come to Gryffindor," George said firmly. "A wizard who likes to sneak out at night and even hit a Slytherin is a waste of talent if he doesn't come to Gryffindor."
"You can't say that. Ravenclaw has many beautiful witches. You should admit that!" Ethan replied with a meaningful look.
"Pa!" Fred slapped his forehead suddenly. "Damn it, why didn't I think of this before? I should have let George go to Ravenclaw. His intelligence can prove that I'm smart."
Some students in the same grade were already in relationships, but their partners were also Gryffindors. Some had confessed to Ravenclaw witches but were rejected with the reason, "You're too stupid."
"Why don't you go?" Fred looked at George.
"I'm the older brother. You should listen to me," George said solemnly, patting Fred on the shoulder.
"You were just born a little earlier than me!"
"Okay, you two are born Gryffindors; you can't go to Ravenclaw!" Ethan interrupted. Now was not the time to watch them play.
"You're right; we are born Gryffindors!" the brothers said in unison, their earlier argument just a joke.
"You just said that the Disillusionment Charm is useless. Filch shouldn't have this map, right?" Ethan was still a little confused. The Disillusionment Charm was crucial to his nighttime plans.
Although Shadow Sneak was also useful, and Ethan could cast spells without being noticed if he wasn't seen, portraits could still spot him. They were all alive, and it would be troublesome if they reported to Dumbledore.
Sneaking out at night was generally okay. As long as he wasn't caught on the spot, Dumbledore would just smile it off. But using a spell that no one had seen before, especially as a first-year wizard, would raise suspicions. No one would believe he invented it himself. Even Snape invented spells several years after entering school.
So, Ethan relied on the Disillusionment Charm to sneak out at night.
"Last year, one of our Gryffindors was caught using the Disillusionment Charm. He said he was discovered by the cat. Mrs. Norris has Kneazle blood and has super keen intuition," George explained.
"I see!" Ethan nodded. He knew that Kneazles were very sensitive. In the original book, Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, also had Kneazle blood and could sense that Scabbers, the rat, was not what he seemed. He hadn't expected that Kneazles could also sense the Disillusionment Charm through intuition.
"Filch has gone to the first floor. We can go out!" Fred glanced at the Marauder's Map and confirmed Filch's location.
"Amazing alchemy work. The people who made this are really geniuses!" Ethan couldn't help but sigh.
Don't underestimate the Marauder's Map; it utilized numerous spells and alchemy knowledge. The wizarding world seemed to be declining with each generation. Snape had invented several spells during his student days, including the dark magic Sectumsempra, which was highly lethal.
The four Marauders, except for Lupin, who was a werewolf, were all illegal Animagi. They achieved this during their school years. Becoming an Animagus already represented a high understanding of Transfiguration. Creating the Marauder's Map further proved their prowess in spells and alchemy.
Looking at the current young wizards, few could complete Animagus transformations or invent spells during school. They only knew Expelliarmus every day. Perhaps this was due to Dumbledore confiscating many books from the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library.
"This is indeed an amazing alchemy tool. I really want to meet them. Fred and I are also learning alchemy. We will definitely create better and more popular alchemy tools in the future," George said.
Fred nodded in agreement. "That's right. Our ideal is to open Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and fill our joke shop with the products we invented."
"Do you know Zonko's Joke Shop and Gambol and Japes? They are the most popular shops in Hogsmeade Village and Diagon Alley, respectively. Our ideal is to open a joke shop that surpasses them," George added, his eyes full of longing. The two brothers had this idea since they first entered Zonko's Joke Shop.
They had been saving money to prepare for opening a shop in the future, but with so many brothers in the family, they didn't have much pocket money and hadn't saved much so far.
"I believe you will definitely be able to open the best joke shop," Ethan encouraged. He wouldn't demean others' dreams. Besides, the Weasley twins did achieve this later on. Although they received funding from Harry, the core of their business was the products themselves.
Their Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was indeed very popular, even to the point where the Ministry of Magic later purchased goods from them. There was no need to doubt the talents of these two brothers. The creation of their joke products involved potions, alchemy, and various spells. Integrating these elements was no easy task. If they had put this effort into improving their strength, their ending might not have been so tragic.
Chapter 30: Fluffy
"We're planning to go to the fourth-floor corridor on the right today. There's definitely something there. Are you with us, Ethan?" George asked.
After chatting for a while, George got to the main point. They didn't go out for nighttime adventures every day. Today, they couldn't resist the temptation of Dumbledore's final words yesterday. It was like Roger's last words before his death: "Want my treasure? You can have it all if you want! Go find it! I've left all my treasure there!" The allure was similar for these Gryffindor lions who possessed a spirit of adventure and took pride in it.
"No, my target is the eighth floor!" Ethan replied. With the Marauder's Map, they could clearly see his location. Although the Room of Requirement wasn't on it, and people entering the Room wouldn't be displayed, they would definitely see the last place he disappeared.
"The eighth floor? The room opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls?" George asked, surprised. Besides the Headmaster's office, that was the only thing he could think of on the eighth floor.
However, that room wasn't easy to find. They had only seen Dumbledore disappear in front of that wall through the Marauder's Map, and some house-elves would also disappear there, then suddenly reappear, which led to their discovery.
"Yes, that's the one. You know about it?" Ethan was surprised. The twins knew about it too? It seemed like Dobby told Harry about it in the original story. He worked at Hogwarts and heard it from other house-elves. He didn't expect it to be discovered so early.
"We use it as a base for developing products. How did you find out, Ethan?" The twins exchanged a look. Their secret base had been discovered. They thought no other wizard would know about this location. This room was really too useful. It could provide a place for brewing potions or practicing alchemy. It just couldn't directly provide Galleons, which was a bit of a pity for them.
"I found it in an old textbook filled with notes. It mentioned such a room," Ethan made up an excuse on the spot. Anyway, the Room of Requirement was a semi-public secret at Hogwarts. Not a small number of students had known about it over the past thousand years.
"Opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls, just concentrate on what you need and walk past that wall three times, and a very smooth door will appear on the wall. Just go in," Fred explained.
"Okay, got it!" Ethan nodded to confirm.
"Are you going to the fourth-floor corridor with us now, or heading straight to the eighth floor?" Fred asked as they left the abandoned classroom.
"Dumbledore did say that there might be life-threatening dangers there," Ethan reminded them. The Mirror of Erised should still be in Dumbledore's office, and the Sorcerer's Stone shouldn't be there either, but Fluffy must already be there.
Fluffy was a XXXXX-level dangerous magical creature. An ordinary adult wizard would only be a snack in front of it. An underage wizard would just be delivering food. Wasn't Dumbledore afraid of something happening?
He didn't know what Fluffy's position was in the XXXXX level, but the Runespoor required a hundred adult wizards to subdue it together. Even if Fluffy was a little weaker, it would still take more than a dozen adult wizards to take it down.
In the original