"Goo goo gaga—"
An old wall clock suddenly had an owl burst out, cooing loudly.
Charlie's thoughts were interrupted. He turned his head and saw that it was now ten o'clock at night.
Why is it calling so early?
For some reason, he felt like this was deliberately designed by Anthony and Hector to remind him that it was getting late.
If that's the case, then it's time to rest.
He organized his notes and then left the Room of Requirement.
Since Hogwarts is a school, the young teenagers inside couldn't help but get restless on Friday nights.
On the sixth and seventh floors, the empty classroom corridors echoed with cheers and whispers.
Filch's presence, in the eyes of these upper-year veterans, was negligible. Just one or two Confundus Charms or Muggle-Repelling Charms could completely ignore his patrols.
Of course, this is now. In the past, Filch could still cause trouble for the young wizards.
The reason was Mrs. Norris.
During this time, from what others said, Charlie had roughly learned some creature characteristics. Cats are the most sensitive to spiritual awareness in nature.
Yes, cats are not magical creatures, but if we're talking about spiritual perception, they are far more sensitive than most magical animals.
If a magical creature's spiritual perception is sharper than a cat's, the Ministry of Magic would likely classify it as XXXXX level.
For example, phoenixes or unicorns—it's like in the world of spiritual perception, one beast below, ten thousand beasts above.
According to Anthony's information, in the past, under Mrs. Norris's vertical pupils, no night-wandering kid could escape, unless they had an Invisibility Cloak.
But now, she's old, becoming sluggish and stiff. Her greatest skill is probably just constant meowing, not causing much trouble for these night-wandering young wizards.
It's said that many years ago, when Mrs. Norris was young and vigorous, some young wizards wanted to harm her, because for the young wizards, Filch and Mrs. Norris were indeed a bit annoying.
But in the end, the matter was dropped.
There are many similar incidents related to this. Among the upper years, a saying has been widely circulated:
Dumbledore is a mild old headmaster. Many times, he doesn't like to meddle, but he basically knows everything that happens in Hogwarts. As long as the kids don't go too far, he doesn't care.
It's said that this incident of young wizards wanting to harm Mrs. Norris attracted Dumbledore's attention...
"He doesn't like to meddle..."
Charlie always felt he couldn't see through Dumbledore. In his previous life, through text and screens, he always felt he had a rough understanding of Dumbledore, after all, he saw his past, present, and future.
But that idea vanished after seeing him in person.
On the surface, he was indeed like what he knew from screens and text in his previous life, but inside, he was much more profound...
Various random thoughts arose in his mind. Charlie had always been someone who loved random thoughts, and he never rejected these ideas. Random thinking is a fun thing.
As he was thinking, he suddenly bumped into someone.
The guy opposite seemed to be daydreaming too. Both stepped back, and the first to apologize, but before the words were finished, looking closely—
"Harry?"
"Charlie?"
"What's with you? Haven't gone back to the common room yet?"
"Yes." Harry quickly nodded. "What about you?"
Charlie pointed his thumb upward: "I was upstairs."
Harry nodded as if understanding but not quite. Finally, he explained: "I thought left and right, and felt I should go find Snape and get that book back. Like you said, I didn't break any school rules.
But—"
At this point, Harry's expression suddenly became serious. He quickly stepped closer and whispered tensely:
"Do you know what I saw? Filch was changing Snape's bandages."
"What bandages?"
"His leg, he's still limping, remember? And when I went in, I heard him cursing, 'Damn it, how can you guard a three-headed guy?'
The wound on his leg was caused by that three-headed dog. Remember what happened on Halloween?
He released the troll in the underground classroom, then headed alone to the fourth floor.
But the three-headed dog's ability seemed beyond his imagination; he was injured by that guy."
Charlie's eyes widened, nodding in some surprise: "Oh, so that's it~"
"?"
Harry's expression became weird. "Why do I feel like you're not surprised at all?"
"Not surprised?" Charlie countered. He thought he had already shown great shock.
Then, he smiled and explained, "Actually, I'm not concerned about this. Dumbledore is here."
"Dumbledore might not know about this at all. He has no idea what bad plans Snape is plotting, otherwise how could he let Snape be a teacher?"
Harry rarely refuted Charlie; after all, he had always treated Charlie as a good brother.
Charlie looked at the boy in front of him with interest.
Interesting.
He had just given an answer that most people in the wizarding world would give—Dumbledore is here.
"I didn't expect that you've just learned a bit of magic's surface, and you're already taking responsibility on yourself."
"What? I didn't!" Harry quickly shook his head in denial, feeling like this was accusing him of being too self-important.
"And questioning authority. Everyone says with Dumbledore here, it's fine, but you don't think so?" Charlie continued.
"I really didn't think that!" Harry continued to argue.
"I didn't say it was a bad thing." Charlie laughed. "Don't rush to deny it."
He wasn't playing the hat game—though it was a bit like it.
He just found it fun. Compared to the reckless kid he saw on the TV screen, the one in front of him now truly had a bit of the Gryffindor House's proclaimed valor.
"So? Now that you've seen this, what are you going to do? Write a report letter to Dumbledore?"
Harry clapped his fist into his palm: "Good idea."
Charlie continued to ask: "But what if your judgment is wrong? If Snape is really a good guy, and you misunderstood him, when he finds out, he'll hate you even more. In Potions class, you won't get any good."
"If..." Harry's expression became complicated and tangled. He was seriously thinking,
"If... if... but what if it's true?
What if my idea is correct, then I might have done something right and important.
I'm not sure what that three-headed dog is guarding, but I think if something is placed in Hogwarts, the safest place in the world, under the eyes of the most powerful wizard Dumbledore, and still guarded by a three-headed dog, it must be incredibly important.
This thing is far more important than whether I'm targeted by Snape in Potions class."
"I get it," Charlie nodded,
"You'd rather make a mistake than do nothing."
Hearing this, Harry widened his eyes. He felt like he had met a kindred spirit. Merlin, this sentence is great; I must write it down.
"If that's the case, then go do it."
Charlie really wanted to see the consequences when Harry's thing was exposed, and if Harry could live up to what he said now...
"I support you one hundred percent. You must write to Dumbledore and tell him what Snape is doing now." He said forcefully.
Hearing this, Harry was greatly encouraged. He decided to go back to the common room now and write everything he saw and thought on the letter.
Of course, how would he deliver it to Dumbledore?
"I'll help you deliver it to Dumbledore." Charlie smiled.