Click...... Click...... Click......

A string of shuffling footsteps echoed through Hogwarts Castle, and it began to sound in the foyer,

As the footsteps lingered in the doorway of the Gryffindor common room, it turned around and followed the hallway towards the Ravenclaw common room at the other end.

The owner of the footsteps turned around again, and then heard the direction change again, and went back up the spiral staircase near the corner to the first floor.

Obviously, the person who dragged around Hogwarts in the middle of the night was Filch, the school's janitor.

Tonight, after regularly patrolling the above-ground part of the castle as usual, he prepared to return to the staircase behind the foyer, where he sat down and continued to take a nap.

But who knows, when he slowly hurried back to the foyer, he happened to see a figure running cautiously towards the stairs.

Filch, who had long been accustomed to seeing students on night outings, reacted quickly, and almost reflexively realized that it was a student who had sneaked out in the middle of the night. And faster than him was the skinny cat he had named Lady Loris.

Before Filch could shout, Mrs. Loris, who had been following him all along, sprang out at once, looking unusually swift.

Filch's screams were only ...... after his cat rushed out

Well, well! He still couldn't scream, because the moment he wanted to open his mouth, he was stunned to find that his mouth and tongue were firmly glued at some point.

Immediately after, Filch felt an extra hand on his shoulder.

"Don't be nervous! It's me, McLean. ”

Suddenly, a voice sounded softly behind him, not very loud, but it penetrated into his ears in the silence of the night.

"Don't make a noise, just leave it to me from that student...... Oh, the deadtongue throat seal will be lifted soon, so keep patrolling! ”

Before he could finish speaking, Filch pursed his lips and looked at the figure that came out of behind him, without looking at him again, and quickly threw it to the side of the stairs and disappeared.

"Hmm!"

Filch snorted hard, but he couldn't even make a loud grunt because his entire tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Thinking that it was the same Marka McKellen who was talking to him just now, he quickly had to complain silently in his heart for a few words and then give up - no way, who let that be Marca McKellen?

……

At the same time, Maca on the other side swept down the stairs to the basement, and in a blink of an eye, she caught up with the skinny cat who was one step ahead.

At this time, he could see that the figure in the foyer at the beginning was actually close at hand.

"Miss Parkinson, good evening?"

However, Maca's voice didn't stop the other party - she didn't even look back, but ran a few points faster than before.

Seeing her swiftly past the tapestry in front of her, she had already reached the wall of the Slytherin common room behind her.

But just as she opened her mouth to say the order for tonight, the armor that had been standing quietly on both sides of the wall suddenly moved, and the axe and gun in her hand crossed in front of the door that was gradually revealed.

The next moment, Filch's Lady Loris caught up with the figure first, and shouted at the base of the wall as if to demonstrate.

"Miss Parkinson," continued Marka, who then stood behind her, and after a moment's time, "I have called your name, so why do you keep running?" You know, whether you go back to the dorm or not, the result is the same. ”

It's probably because the other party was in a very nervous state just now, so he didn't think of this at all, let alone be able to identify who the person behind him was.

At this time, she turned around sharply, only to find that in the dim light of the torch, the silhouette that was not tall turned out to be Maca.

"Mai, McKellen...... Professor? ”

"Oh, yes, that's right!" Maca looked at the girl in front of her, who was as big as herself, and nodded calmly, "Although I am still in the state of resignation, it is not wrong for you to call me that." ”

It can be seen that the girl standing in front of him at this time is the Slytherin girl who has a crush on Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson.

Miss Parkinson was tugging at the hem of her robe, bowing her head for a while, and after a moment of silence, she suddenly whispered:

"I'm sorry, Professor McLean."

"Oh?" Maca seemed to be interested in saying, "Why do you want to apologize to me?" ”

Parkinson heard this, but he pursed his lips for a while, and then said:

"Yes, it's because...... I didn't sleep well at night and sneaked out. ”

Maca immediately nodded again and continued to ask:

"So...... Miss Parkinson, where are you running so late? ”

Parkinson's silence on Maca's question has apparently been longer, to the point that even the uninformed would hesitate.

Then, she hesitated and said:

"I went to the Astronomy Tower...... Look at the stars, you know, there have been two meteors that have been particularly beautiful recently. ”

"Oh, uh-huh......"

Hearing her say this, Maca shook her head, then turned her head to look down at her feet.

"Lady Loris, you can go back—Filch is waiting for you!"

As he spoke, he gestured in the direction of the stairs at the other end of the hallway, motioning for the clever skinny cat to go back to her master's side.

Lady Loris soon understood what Maca meant, and saw her blink her glowing glowing eyes, and as soon as she turned away, she disappeared into the shadows from which she had come.

After the cat was also pushed away, Maca glanced at Parkinson's again—perhaps now that she had a deep understanding of the situation, and knew that she would never be able to escape from Maca's palm, she seemed very honest and well-behaved at this time.

And after Maca glanced at her like this, she casually beckoned:

"Come with me! I think we should talk about it. ”

Anyway, Maca didn't care about anything else—he didn't even worry that the other party would run away, but turned and took the lead down the slightly drowsy hallway.

When Parkinson saw it, he only hesitated, and obediently followed.

"Professor McLean, you ...... Will you punish me? ”

Maca's pace was not fast, and after the two of them had walked for a short distance, he suddenly heard Parkinson behind him ask again, as if he was a little worried.

After a moment's thought, Maca walked without looking back:

"Of course not! As I said, I'm leaving my job now...... What's more, even if I am still in office, the punishment for you should be decided by the dean of your college, Professor Snape. ”

"That'...... Are you going to take me to his office? ”

“…… Ah, yes. ”

……

In fact, Maca originally planned to pick a random classroom, after all, he just wanted to "discuss" some issues with Pansy Parkinson alone.

Moreover, those "problems" have to be said to be quite serious things, and it is not suitable for more people to know about them at the moment.

But when Parkinson asked if he was going to Snape's office, Marka knew that she was saying this out of some temptation, but on closer thought, he thought it would be a good idea to go to Snape's.

So it didn't take long for him to take Miss Parkinson's with him, to the Potions professor's office, which was also located in the underground corridor.

Of course, since Slughorn didn't exchange offices in the first place, this place has now automatically become the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's office with Snape's position changed.

Snape didn't let them wait long outside after Maca reached out and knocked on the office door, and soon a familiar impatient response came from inside.

"Who?"

"Professor Snape, it's me—McLean!" "Oh, and the sixth year Slytherin House, Miss Pansy Parkinson is there. ”

"Huh?"

I heard Snape snort in confusion at first, but the next second, the door to the office opened automatically.

"Come in."

As soon as she pushed the door in, Maca immediately saw Snape standing near her desk. But seeing that the clothes on his body were neatly dressed, and even the straps of his outer robe were well tied, which made people suspect that he had not been sleeping at all before.

However, the hair, which was more messy than usual, finally revealed the fact that he had only just temporarily gotten up from bed.

"I'm sorry, Professor! Maybe it's so late that you can't rest......"

Although Maca was already a colleague of Snape, the names he called the professors had not changed. It can be seen that in his heart, these people are still professors worthy of his respect.

"Hmph, just say something!" Snape tilted his chin and looked at Parkinson behind Marka, "Miss Parkinson broke the school rules and was caught by you?" ”

This time, before Maca could speak, he heard Parkinson's take the initiative:

"I'm sorry! Professor Snape - I shouldn't have been running around at night, I knew it was wrong. ”

However, this time, Maca no longer talked to her casually. I saw that with a wave of his backhand, the door of the office suddenly slammed shut, leaving a spell on it to prevent others from opening.

Then, he was as expressionless as Snape in an instant, and just said lightly:

"Professor, it's a pity! Miss Parkinson's is not just breaking school rules...... I think she will probably be taken to the Wizengamot for trial in the near future, and given a cell with new straw to make a bed in Azkaban. ”

Maca's slightly anachronistic humor contrasts sharply with what he said. At this moment, Miss Parkinson's is not at all amused.