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In the freezing, quiet sky outside, heavy, dark clouds finally completely obscured the silver moonlight, plunging the dusty trophy room entirely back into absolute, suffocating darkness.
"Quickly, let's aggressively go out the back door too before Filch blocks the main corridor." Lily glanced sharply at Evie, her voice incredibly clear and her Gryffindor tone entirely, flawlessly calm under pressure.
Evie had already swiftly, smoothly stuffed the gleaming silver dagger securely back under her blue-trimmed Ravenclaw robes and was actively just about to crouch down on the stone floor to gently check on the shivering, drugged Church.
Alright! The three highly adrenaline-fueled little witches exchanged a firm nod and were absolutely just about to violently retreat at full speed toward the secondary door—
Suddenly, a massive, incredibly warm, and blindingly bright white light abruptly shone exactly from the dark corner, completely dispelling the heavy shadows in the display room and instantly, violently freezing absolutely everyone's physical movements—
Ah... Sweet Merlin, exactly who is it?! Is it a patrolling Professor...? Were they actually discovered?!
At this close, physical distance, it logically seemed entirely too late to successfully run—Lily's heart violently tightened in her chest. She stopped entirely resignedly, gripping her willow wand tight, and slowly turned her head to look directly at the blinding light. At the exact same time, she subconsciously, protectively held Mary's shaking hand; her terrified friend's fingers were currently exactly as cold as solid ice, so paralyzed with fear she was almost completely unable to physically move her legs.
Evie, securely holding the heavy, shivering Church tightly in her arms, stopped dead along with Lily, staring fixedly, intensely at the bright light, holding her breath and preparing to drop the cat and draw her blade again.
In the soft, blinding halo of the spell, a tall, aristocratic figure slowly, flawlessly materialized directly from the transparent, freezing air as the Disillusionment Charm smoothly dropped. The incredibly bright, stable light at the very tip of his polished hawthorn wand perfectly illuminated his impeccably straight, corporate posture, and he genuinely seemed to be beautifully enveloped in a faint, highly angelic glow—
"Regulus?!" Lily and Evie's voices sounded at the exact same, shocked time. Their profound, terrifying shock instantly turning into massive, unadulterated surprise and pure delight.
Meanwhile, Mary Macdonald beside them simply stood completely, utterly stunned, staring at the handsome boy exactly like a deer caught in headlights.
...
They looked entirely, speechlessly at Regulus, and before they could even open their mouths to eagerly ask exactly why he was there... suddenly, with a massive, echoing "BANG!"—the secondary door directly in front of them was violently slammed open, and a highly familiar, billowing dark figure aggressively rushed into the room—
"Lily! Exactly why aren't you—" At absolute first, terrified glance, Severus Snape completely only physically saw Lily standing in the middle of the room. He rushed aggressively forward a few frantic steps, his dark eyes wide and his tone entirely full of massive, uncharacteristic, desperate worry.
"Severus?!" Lily was massively, completely taken aback by the sudden intrusion. "...Exactly why on earth are you here too?!"
Regulus, currently standing casually nearby and flawlessly holding his intensified "Lumos" wand high in the air, suddenly felt exactly like a highly awkward, massive 5000-watt third-wheel lightbulb illuminating a romantic drama.
The very next second, Severus finally, immediately noticed Regulus standing right there.
It really, genuinely is Regulus! Did he actually successfully see the urgent message I sent?! Severus instantly, heavily breathed a massive, profound sigh of absolute relief. His violently tense, panicked nerves seemingly, finally finding a solid, reliable, unshakeable support point in the Slytherin heir.
"Regulus!" Severus genuinely showed a massive, highly rare smile of pure relief, and the dark hawthorn wand tightly gripped in his sweaty hand unconsciously, safely lowered halfway toward the floor.
However... wait. Did he completely miss something highly important? He looked highly confusedly at Lily, then back at Regulus, and asked in genuine, pureblood confusion:
"Wait. Should we logically aggressively go right now? I absolutely just heard Filch's raspy voice coming from the main corridor! Avery, Lestrange, and Mulciber have absolutely already—"
He took a few more anxious, urgent steps forward toward them.
But exactly, violently just then—
Another massive, echoing "BANG!" of heavy oak hitting stone sounded. This time, it was the primary door directly behind Lily.
Absolutely all of their startled, panicked gazes immediately, violently gathered towards it.
The heavy door was swung completely wide open, but there was absolutely no physical figure standing in the dark archway—could the squib Filch actually be somehow magically invisible?!
"Lily!"
Suddenly, James Potter's highly messy, bespectacled figure materialized completely out of the transparent air as he violently threw off the Invisibility Cloak. His hazel eyes were entirely filled with massive, desperate urgency, and he almost actively began jogging directly towards her. Immediately behind him, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin also appeared out of the shimmering fabric one after another, their wands drawn and ready for a brutal fight.
"James?... Remus? Sirius?!" Lily spoke incredibly, highly hesitantly, her brain finally freezing.
The massive, absolutely chaotic series of highly unexpected, impossible events tonight had completely, utterly overwhelmed her logical processing capacity; no matter exactly how cool and calm a Gryffindor she usually was, these constant, sudden ambushes left her completely, temporarily unable to actually react or process reality.
Severus Snape and James Potter immediately, violently noticed each other's physical presence in the room. They stopped entirely, exactly almost simultaneously. They stood awkwardly across the dusty room from Lily, aggressively, highly suspiciously looking at each other with massive, profound confusion, intense competitive curiosity, and a highly distinct, violent hint of pure unease.
The freezing air in the trophy room instantly became highly, romantically, and politically subtle.
Regulus smoothly touched his nose, completely silently dimming the bright light at the very tip of his wand, actively, highly tactically trying to aggressively lower his physical presence in the room...
Sirius, however, was completely, utterly unaffected by the heavy, awkward romantic atmosphere currently suffocating the room. He shrugged highly easily, flashing a brilliant, devastating smile, and walked directly towards his younger brother, casually, heavily bumping elbows with him.
"Mate, that was incredibly, absolutely cool, Regulus!" There was a massive, highly distinct hint of a deeply smug, Gryffindor smile shining in his bright grey eyes. "Ha! Our highly classified, heavily prepared backup plan actually, finally successfully came in handy!"
As absolutely soon as the confident words smoothly fell from his lips, all the other little wizards who were completely, still highly confused simultaneously cast massive, intense questioning looks directly at Sirius.
Sirius smiled even vastly happier, clearly loving the dramatic attention. He winked highly theatrically and slowly, dramatically pulled a small, highly modified, heavy square metal box-like object from deep under his robes, holding it proudly up to his chest for absolutely everyone to see.
"Well. Technically, this specific device is highly classified, top-secret Hog Gang corporate technology, but—" His grey gaze swept highly confidently over the stunned little wizards in the room, the corners of his mouth slightly, arrogantly raised. "Absolutely everyone physically standing in this room tonight is already a highly vetted, trusted member of HP (Hog Party), and I firmly believe you all can successfully keep a massive secret from the faculty."
Borrowing the dim, residual light entirely from Regulus's wand tip, Lily instantly, flawlessly recognized the specific Muggle object resting in Sirius's hand—although this specific one was heavily modified and magically shrunk a few sizes smaller than any commercial one she had ever seen—she completely, instantly understood exactly what it was.
Severus's dark pupils also contracted sharply in pure, analytical understanding; with his Half-Blood background, he clearly recognized the Muggle technology as well.
Sirius absolutely didn't waste any more dramatic words. He pressed a heavy, modified silver button on the small metal box completely decisively—
"Sniff around absolutely everywhere, my sweet dear. They might currently be illegally hiding in a dark corner."
Argus Filch's highly terrifying, raspy voice suddenly came blaring directly from the metal box, echoing loudly in flawless, highly authentic surround sound. It sounded completely, terrifyingly authentic and vivid, exactly as if the furious caretaker were currently standing right beside them in the dark.
Mary's hand violently, uncontrollably trembled again at the sound.
"They're absolutely somewhere here—" Click. Sirius smoothly pressed the silver button again, and Filch's terrifying, wheezing mumbling stopped entirely, completely abruptly.
Mary's terrified expression suddenly showed massive, profound understanding—
So, there absolutely was no physical Filch coming to get them... it was literally just a highly authentic, perfectly timed audio recording used to scare the Slytherins.
Phew...
Absolutely everyone in the room collectively breathed a massive, heavy sigh of pure relief.
"Ah... So... so it was genuinely actually just you guys..." Lily was massively, profoundly relieved. She warmly squeezed her best friend's hand, which was finally, slowly starting to regain its normal warmth, and a massive, highly bright, beautiful smile completely returned to her face. "Sirius, exactly is this a highly modified Muggle tape recorder? I clearly remember that you absolutely can't logically use mundane electricity and complex electronic devices inside the highly magical fields of Hogwarts."
"Exactly right! This is absolutely a standard Muggle device brilliantly, heavily modified and powered entirely with highly advanced Alchemy," Sirius nodded proudly, gesturing to the runes carved into the casing. "Muggles obviously call it a tape recorder. You... you must have clearly heard of it before, right...?"
Genuine, highly amused smiles completely appeared on the tired faces of the Muggle-born and Half-Blood little wizards; the three girls nodded together in unison.
"Thank you so much!" Lily's bright green eyes curved into crescents of joy. Mary and Evie also immediately, warmly thanked the Marauders together.
"But—" Lily looked highly suspiciously at the specific little wizards currently present in the room in deep confusion. "Exactly how... how on earth did you guys physically know we were ambushed up here?"
"Regulus urgently sent a highly classified message—" Sirius explained smoothly, covering for Snape. "During the summer vacation at home, we actively, heavily planned and drilled several highly complex, specific emergency tactical protocols that could legally be used at school to avoid capture, and we even mathematically numbered them. For example, tonight's highly successful 'Plan B' is heavily designed exactly to use an authentic recording of Filch's terrifying voice as an aggressive audio diversion to scatter enemies."
"Honestly, we literally just recorded it for a bit of a laugh originally, but we completely, absolutely didn't physically expect it to actually actively come in handy to save a life," James grinned.
The rescued little wizards cast massive, deeply grateful glances entirely at the Black brothers.
"Hehe, and wait until you hear the rest. Besides Filch's wheezing, Sirius also flawlessly managed to secretly record the angry voices of Professor McGonagall and Madam Pince!" James added incredibly excitedly, clearly eager to use them.
"And honestly, this specific time, directly hearing Lestrange and Avery's absolutely terrified, panicked physical reactions—it was completely, absolutely so worth the risk!" Sirius and Remus exchanged highly satisfied, smug Gryffindor smiles.
"Thanks for the rapid response, guys! Outstanding execution," Regulus smiled warmly at the little Lions, acting the perfect CEO. He then walked completely, deliberately directly towards the silent Severus.
Ever since Sirius and the Gryffindors had violently arrived, Severus absolutely hadn't said a single, solitary word. His dark eyes were constantly, violently flashing with various, incredibly complex, heavy emotions of jealousy, relief, and insecurity.
Regulus saw absolutely all of this internal turmoil flawlessly.
His own personal romantic experience was admittedly incredibly limited; he honestly didn't fully, biologically understand the messy complexities of teenage emotions, nor had he ever learned to actively read others' minds using Legilimency, but he logically, absolutely knew one fundamental corporate truth—his highly useful, intensely loyal friend was currently feeling completely overshadowed and needed him to intervene right now to secure his position.
"And I also absolutely need to heavily, publicly thank Severus right now! It was actually him who brilliantly sent the initial, highly urgent tactical message directly to me," Regulus stood firmly directly beside Severus and said highly frankly, flawlessly redirecting the credit. "But I absolutely didn't want the psychotic Lestrange and the other Slytherins to actively discover us here—"
"After all, politically speaking, we're entirely still stuck in the exact same House together," Regulus spread his hands highly helplessly. "So, I logically, quickly 'subcontracted' this specific rescue task directly to Sirius and the others—that's pretty much exactly what happened tonight."
"We at HP—are a highly coordinated, flawlessly cooperative tactical team," Regulus looked at absolutely everyone in the room, his incredibly calm, aristocratic gaze extremely, deeply convincing.
Lily's bright green eyes completely, warmly turned directly to Severus. She nodded gently, showing an incredibly beautiful, highly genuine smile of pure gratitude.
Severus instantly, profoundly felt a massive, deeply warm current of validation in his chest, and his rigid, defensive expression immediately became vastly more natural. At the exact same time, he tightly clenched his pale fist behind his back, secretly, violently determined to aggressively learn the highly advanced Disillusionment Charm from Regulus tomorrow—if a highly dangerous, similar situation ever violently happened again, he absolutely, fundamentally didn't ever want to stand by completely helplessly while others saved the day.
"Of course, I was completely, absolutely always standing ready in the shadows to physically help if it went wrong," Regulus continued smoothly, smiling at Evie. "But you girls genuinely handled it incredibly, highly perfectly! You were absolutely excellent! You honestly didn't leave absolutely any tactical chance for me to aggressively show off my spells."
His dark, calculating gaze smoothly swept directly over the exact spot where the lethal silver dagger was currently hidden securely under Evie's blue robes. Evie smiled a highly secretive, lethal smile. Her bright blue gaze smoothly swept over all the boys currently standing in the room one by one, finally lingering heavily on Regulus's handsome face for an incredibly long, highly calculating extra second.
"Thank you all, truly!" she said warmly.
"It's getting incredibly late," Remus reminded them logically, checking his watch. "Let's absolutely go back to our dorms first. If we foolishly delay in this room any longer, the actual, physical Filch will logically come investigate the noise."
"Okay, agreed. Then I'll personally, safely see Evie back to her tower," Regulus said smoothly, taking command. "Severus, walk together?"
It was finally time to reluctantly part again. Under Severus's highly reluctant, longing gaze, Lily nodded firmly, protectively pulled Mary by the hand, and walked safely towards the three heavily armed Gryffindors to be escorted back to their tower.
Regulus and Severus quietly, highly flawlessly escorted Evie Frye entirely all the way back to the high Ravenclaw tower, walking completely without a single word to avoid detection.
Church the cat currently lay completely obediently, securely in Evie's leather-gloved arms the entire time, occasionally, highly happily purring completely contentedly.
They actually even directly encountered two other highly trained members of Filch's terrifying cat squad in the corridors—but completely unlike their usual, highly aggressive, snitching vigilant demeanor... this specific time, the cats simply glanced at them a few times, then entirely chose to completely ignore them and quietly walked away into the shadows entirely on their own.
Was it simply because Church was physically there with them? Or did this actually logically count as completely, systematically infiltrating the highly complex Hogwarts cat security system? Regulus's dark gaze fell thoughtfully on Church, currently resting in Evie's arms. He directly met the battered cat's bright, sparkling eyes—
The cat was actively, staring highly intently exactly at him, acting exactly as if it were deeply, intelligently judging his soul.
One powerful person and one battered cat looked silently at each other in the dark for a few long, tense seconds. Finally, Church blinked slowly, flicked its torn tail, aggressively broke completely free from Evie's warm embrace, and jumped directly, surprisingly onto Regulus's broad shoulder, aggressively, affectionately rubbing its scarred head directly against his pale cheek.
"Church actually likes you a massive amount!" Evie whispered in genuine, profound surprise. "He usually hates boys."
Regulus naturally, completely effortlessly reached up and gently, highly expertly scratched Church's bony chin—he actually, genuinely liked cats very much too.
Suddenly, a massive, long-awaited, highly familiar system prompt sounded completely clearly, violently in his gamer mind:
[DING!]
[Cats are highly sacred creatures. As a true Guardian of the Order, you absolutely must fundamentally respect them.]
[Hidden Task Unlocked: 'Guardian of Cats' — Successfully gain the absolute recognition and loyalty of the Hogwarts cat network.]
[Task Reward: 'Stealth' skill massive upgrade.]
[Task Progress: 1/14]