After dinner, Nina and Cho Chang, along with others, left, while Karl OLaughlin found the Weasley Brothers and began his performance.
"Oh ho! Karl OLaughlin, your pranks are quite good, and the stories are great too."
"That's right, you should join Gryffindor so we can be a team."
"Is there something you need from us?"
"A new prank? We're experts at that!"
George and Fred spoke like a crosstalk duo; Karl couldn't tell who was who at all.
"I want to ask for your help with something."
"Oh? Let's hear it."
Karl lowered his voice, his tone mysterious. "Let's team up to get a magical map."
George and Fred exchanged a look. "What magical map?"
"The marauders map. It depicts the entire Hogwarts, even the hidden secret passages, and it can show everyone's name and location."
At this, both of their expressions turned strange. "Where did you hear about such a map?"
"I know a lot of things. For instance, the map was created by Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs to help pranksters."
"And for another, this map was confiscated by Argus Filch and should be in his office right now."
Karl patted them both on the shoulder. "How about it? Once the map is in hand, you keep it; I'll just borrow it occasionally. After all, you are the true pranksters."
George and Fred looked left and right, then pulled Karl to a more secluded spot. One of them stealthily took something out from inside his robes.
It was a blank piece of square parchment that looked very worn.
"Hey, hey, hey! Didn't expect that, did you, Karl! The marauders map is already in our hands!"
"But your information is accurate; we did indeed find it in Filch's office."
Karl put on a well-prepared expression of surprise, his tone laced with admiration.
"That's fantastic, it saves us an adventure, and I must say, you guys are truly something."
Hearing this, the Weasley Brothers couldn't help but puff out their chests.
"That was back during Halloween last year. We were both eleven years old, carefree, innocent..."
"Ahem..."
Karl almost lost his composure and hurriedly coughed to stop himself from laughing out loud.
The two of you, innocent? Even a dog would laugh at that statement...
Wait? Did I accidentally insult myself?
George and Fred stared at Karl expressionlessly. "What are you laughing at?"
"I wasn't laughing."
"You were clearly laughing at us! You haven't stopped!"
Karl quickly lowered the corners of his mouth. "I'm just happy that you got the marauders map!"
"Really?"
"Definitely!" Karl hurriedly changed the subject. "I'd like to borrow it for a while recently. Is that convenient for you?"
"Do you know how to use it?"
"Of course. 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' to open the map, and 'Mischief managed' to close it."
"An expert!"
"Slap!" A crisp sound.
The marauders map was slapped into Karl's hand.
"If it were anyone else, it would definitely be difficult, but who made you a master prankster too."
"That's right, even our own brothers aren't exceptions, because they don't have the talent for pranks, unless..."
"Unless it's the Savior; I'm very curious about him."
"Well said, George! He'll be here next year."
"George, are you stupid? I'm Fred!"
"Is that so? I think you're George, and I'm Fred. What do you think, Karl?"
Karl: *Heh! I think you two must be seriously ill!*
"Uh... so which one of you is which?"
The Weasley Brothers seemed to really enjoy this game of confusing others. "Even if we told you, you wouldn't be able to tell."
"Don't worry, I definitely can."
Karl didn't have confidence in his own ability to distinguish them, but Fire Treasure definitely could.
"The one on the left is George, the one on the right is Fred."
"Got it, I'll remember that."
"Hehe, that last part was a lie!"
Karl: (╬ ﾟ д ﾟ ) ╭ ∩ ╮
Nothing happened overnight.
Karl had opened the marauders map last night and observed it for a while; Heller and Quirrell were both in their respective offices.
This surveillance was destined to be a long-term operation, and full of uncertainty.
He was already considering handing this over to the Weasley Brothers; they were always out wandering at night anyway.
When he returned the marauders map, he could ask them to help monitor things while they were playing.
On Thursday morning, the Hufflepuffs happily arrived at the Charms Class classroom.
Among all the subjects, everyone liked Charms Class the best.
Professor Snape in Potion Class was too scary, and Professor McGonagall in Transfiguration Class was too strict.
The time for Astronomy Class made people sleepy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts was dull and uninteresting.
As for History of Magic, although the Hufflepuffs wouldn't have it until tomorrow, Gryffindor and Slytherin had already attended it.
The little lions and little snakes, who usually found it hard to reach a consensus, had the exact same evaluation for History of Magic: super dry, extremely boring, especially tedious, and very suitable for sleeping.
And while Herbology Class was very relaxed, and Professor Sprout was gentle and kind, fiddling with flowers and plants didn't feel very magical.
Charms Class was the best; everyone could learn amazing Charms, and Professor Flitwick was also a very nice person.
"Good morning, gentlemen and ladies."
"Good morning! Professor!"
The Hufflepuffs and Professor Flitwick greeted each other enthusiastically; such scenes could only be seen in Charms Class and Herbology Class.
"In this lesson, let's first review the Softening Charm we learned last time..."
For this simple charm that was easy for Little wizards to pick up, most people were able to cast it successfully, though everyone had different levels of proficiency.
However, there were still a few Little wizards who became like Louis XVI, a bit clueless.
Professor Flitwick had to explain it to them in detail again and urged them to practice more after class.
"What we are going to learn in this lesson is the wand-Lighting Charm and the wand-Extinguishing Charm. Does anyone know the origin of these two Charms?"
Karl immediately raised his hand; with five more points, he could make up for the points that were deducted.
"Karl OLaughlin, you answer."
"These two Charms were created in the eighteenth century by Ms. Levina Monkstanley."
Professor Flitwick nodded with satisfaction. "Very good. I think you should be able to demonstrate it for everyone. Can you, Karl?"
"Of course, no problem, Professor."
As Karl raised his hand, his wand flipped silkily from his sleeve into his palm.
"Lumos."
A soft, pearly white light lit up at the tip of the wand, causing the Little wizards to be both surprised and eager to try.
"Nox."
After Karl extinguished the light and put away his wand, Professor Flitwick immediately led everyone in applause.
"An excellent wand-Lighting Charm and wand-Extinguishing Charm! I am adding ten points to Hufflepuff!"
Karl turned to look at the trio who were dodging his gaze:
Who was going to get points deducted? Speak! Hmm?
Look into my eyes! Answer me!
Shabi, Stebbins, Audrey: *Not a friend, why are you still chasing and killing us?*