Chapter 69: What Would You Do

"Mr. Chopper, why don't you follow the instructions in the book and grind the lionfish spines into powder before adding them to the cauldron?"

In the Potions class, Professor Snape stared at Kyle and said sarcastically, "Do you consider yourself some kind of potion genius, and dare to tamper with the textbook?"

"Due to your arrogance, five points from Hufflepuff."

Kyle looked up at the blackboard.

It clearly said: "Do not grind the lionfish spines, boil them in boiling water for five minutes and then cut them into segments."

With such large letters and Professor Snape's own handwriting, how could it be Kyle tampering with the textbook?

"Professor..." Kyle took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as possible, "That's what's written on the blackboard."

"Oh, I must have made a mistake."

Snape calmly waved his wand, erasing the sentence on the blackboard.

"Must everything I write always be correct? What about your own judgment? If I told you to add your own heart, would you do it?

Because you lack judgment, another three points from Hufflepuff."

...

Until the end of class, Kyle's hands were tightly holding the rock cake in his pocket, hesitating whether to throw it on the back of Professor Snape's head.

Although Professor Snape had been arbitrarily deducting points from him for no reason since very early on, today was particularly excessive.

He went to the extremes just to deduct points, without any shame. He even erased something he wrote himself.

This kind of audacious move could truly be regarded as an eye-opener for Kyle.

Of course, the effect was immediate. In just one class, Kyle was deducted more than thirty points. From the time he entered Hogwarts until now, the points deducted in other classes combined didn't match today's deduction.

Other badgers came over to comfort him, even Kanna kindly handed him a piece of licorice candy.

Kyle glanced at it and chose to ignore it.

During dinner, Fred and George heard about the incident in Potions class and deliberately came over to pat Kyle on the shoulder, consoling him, "It's okay, Snape has been deducting points from us all the time, it's nothing."

"That's right, pfft... I mean, you have to take it easy."

Although the two comforted him with words, there was no hiding the undisguised smiles on their faces.

Clearly, they came to enjoy the show.

Just when Kyle was about to drive the twins away, Fred leaned over and lowered his voice, "Alright, don't dwell on those unhappy things. Let me show you something good."

He cautiously took out a square piece of parchment from his pocket.

"Do you remember a few days ago when I wanted to tell you something? It's this." George also leaned in and whispered, "It's a magical item, and I bet you can't guess what it is."

"Could it be..." Kyle raised an eyebrow, showing a puzzled expression, "a self-writing parchment that automatically writes homework?"

"..."

The expressions of the twins, who had been so proud before, suddenly became a little stiff.

"If only it was possible..." Fred looked at Kyle with longing, "The effect would be really amazing." George said, "This is a map of Hogwarts, of course, not an ordinary one."

"We call it the Marauder's Map."

Fred said as he took out his wand and tapped it lightly on the parchment.

"I solemnly swear..."

In an instant, thin lines of ink spread like a spider web from where the wand touched, connecting and expanding to every corner of the parchment. Then, large green words appeared at the top.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical mischief-Makers are proud to present—"

"The Marauder's Map."

Kyle took the map from Fred and carefully examined the famous Marauder's Map.

It detailed every aspect of Hogwarts Castle, far more detailed than an ordinary map, almost a miniature version of Hogwarts.

Every item within the castle, whether it be a painting, a carpet, or a vase, could be found on the map.

Most unusually, many small black dots were moving on the map, each labeled with a name in tiny letters.

Kyle saw Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office and even Filch and Mrs. Norris moving quickly from the fifth-floor corridor to the sixth floor.

Everything was displayed clearly.

But in crowded places, like the Great Hall now, it was not so clear.

Many names were stacked together, making it impossible to distinguish anything.

In addition, Kyle also noticed that the map did not seem to show all the secret passage locations. For example, the location where the Whomping Willow was supposed to be appeared empty. Nothing was there.

Kyle handed the map back to Fred and asked, "How did you get it?"

"We were in the first year at that time, young, carefree, innocent..." Fred and George squinted their eyes, lost in memories.

"Because of some trivial matters, Filch pulled us into his office and threatened to..."

"Put us in detention."

"Gut us open."

"However, we couldn't help but cast our eyes on one of his filing cabinet drawers, which was labeled 'Confiscated Items, Highly Dangerous.'"

Fred suddenly smirked, "Kyle, what would you do in our shoes?"

Kyle pondered and said, "I would lead Peeves there and provide him with enough dung bombs or pepper bombs, then take the opportunity to empty that drawer."

"..."

Fred and George opened their mouths and were speechless for a long time. After a while, Fred shook his head and said, "Kyle, you deserve to be deducted thirty points by Snape. You were really not wronged."

"Don't rub salt into my wound." Kyle glanced at him angrily and said, "So you got this map from that drawer."

"Yes." George smacked his lips and said, "We are not as bold as you, so we only took this."

"But how did you know how to use it?" Kyle flipped through the parchment. "It's not written on this."

"Speaking of this… We have to mention Moony, Wormtail, Padfood and Prongs." Fred sighed, "These four are simply geniuses at pranking."

"They took the password apart and hid it in every corner of the castle." George said, "As long as all the clues are found, the complete password can be obtained."

"Unfortunately, we have been looking for it for a year…" Fred sighed regretfully, "But we still could not find the complete password."

"So we can only use this map five times a day, and only for half an hour each time." George smiled and said, "This is a great undertaking, and we plan to use three years to complete it."

"What if you still can't find it in three years?" Kyle asked.

"Then it means that we don't deserve to own it." George shrugged, "We will find a new owner for it then." 

"Is that so?" Kyle gave them a disdainful look and said, "So you brought it to me to let me join you in searching for clues?"

"No, no, no, Kyle." Fred shook his head, "The password is a test from those four seniors. We have to complete it ourselves."

"Then, this time, you guys are..."

"Going for a night stroll!" Fred and George said in unison.

…

(End of chapter)