Chapter 14: Night Adventure at Hogwarts

As night fell, the weather turned slightly cool, even within the walls of Hogwarts, there was a chill in the air, signaling the arrival of autumn.

The portraits on the corridor walls either dozed off, whispered to their neighbors, or seemed to have gone out for a stroll, leaving only the background in the paintings.

On the eighth floor, in the Gryffindor common room, students had all returned to their dormitories to sleep, leaving only the dying embers in the fireplace flickering with a faint red light, casting a dim glow over the entire room.

As Harry and Ron tiptoed past a armchair, they suddenly heard someone speaking.

"I can't believe you did that, Harry."

A lamp flickered on, revealing Hermione Granger. She was wearing a pink pajama set, frowning as she looked at them.

She didn't seem to be in a good mood.

"You!" Ron exclaimed angrily, "Go back to sleep!"

"I almost told your brother," Hermione retorted unapologetically, "Percy—he's a prefect, he'll put a stop to this."

Harry couldn't believe there was someone so meddlesome.

"Let's go," he said to Ron, pushing open the portrait of the Fat Lady and crawling through the hole.

But Hermione wasn't about to back down so easily. She followed Ron through the hole, lowering her voice like an angry goose as she scolded them.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor at all, just yourselves? I don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup again, and I don't want you to lose all the points I helped you get from Professor McGonagall!"

"Get lost," Ron impatiently interjected.

"Well, I'm warning you, when you're on the train home tomorrow, don't forget what I said, you're just too—" Hermione was about to continue when she turned towards the portrait of the Fat Lady, only to find it empty.

The Fat Lady must have gone out for a late-night stroll too.

"Oh—what do I do now?" she groaned, her voice filled with frustration.

"That's your problem," Ron said, "We have to go, we're going to be late."

But before they could reach the end of the corridor, Hermione quickly caught up with them.

"I'm coming with you!" she said, looking reluctant.

"You're not going," Ron immediately refused.

"Do you think I want to go? If I don't, am I supposed to stand here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds out—"

"...Then let's go together."

Just as Hermione was still mumbling something, a voice suddenly emerged from the shadows of the corridor corner, startling everyone present.

"Macka! And Navi?" The three of them squinted their eyes in unison, finally recognizing who was there.

But Macka ignored the three of them and instead covered Navi's mouth, who had been startled into making a sound.

"Why are you so jumpy too? I've been by your side the whole time!" Macka whispered.

"I...I thought it was Filch's voice." Navi weakly replied after Macka released his hand.

"Why are you guys here?" Ron asked curiously as he looked at them.

"Navi forgot the password to the common room," Macka shrugged, "As for me, I just came out to relax and stretch my muscles."

"You know, I've been studying all the time, and it's time to take a break. It's not good to sit still all the time, your body will rust."

"Macka! Are you also going to break the rules?" Hermione exclaimed in shock at Macka's remarks.

Macka chuckled and said to her teasingly, "Hermione, aren't you also going? You were going to come with us, right?"

"That's because—"

"Well, never mind. Harry and Ron are going, and it's a done deal. As your friend, I naturally have to share the joys and sorrows with you." Macka patted Hermione's shoulder, looking quite delicate and cute in just his pajamas.

"Oh, you have to keep warm, it's already autumn, and it's a bit cold at night." He took off his own robe and gently draped it over Hermione.

"Um, thank you." Hermione looked at the robe on her body and swallowed the complaint that was already on her lips.

"Still such a child, not even blushing." Macka looked at Hermione and then turned to Ron and the others, who were about to lecture them, with amusement.

Ron looked at his watch, then angrily glanced at Hermione, and then turned his head, putting on a cheerful expression and saying, "It would be even better if you could come with us, Macka. You always manage to divert Mrs. Weasley's attention from Fred and George, and perhaps help us avoid Filch... oh, and that damn cat of his too!"

Macka shrugged when he heard this. "It's easy to fool Filch, but Mrs. Norris is not easy to avoid. Animals always have sensitive senses, especially felines."

With that, he suddenly pulled out a small glass bottle from his pocket, revealing a smile.

"Of course, there's always a way."

"I knew it, you always have some tricks up your sleeve!" Ron said proudly, then immediately sneezed, "Oh—what's that smell?"

Macka quickly corked the bottle and took a few steps back, exhaling a sigh of relief.

"It's not a potion, just a slightly volatile liquid I mixed together, with a strong stimulating smell, quite effective against sensitive animals."

"Is it secretion from a Blast-Ended Skrewt?" Hermione also took a sniff of the lingering smell in the air, covering her nose.

"Not just that, it also requires some adjustments to the neutralization formula, otherwise the smell will linger for days." Macka smiled, "Its smell is too pungent, and it will leave behind evidence."

"So, you've already planned to break the rules?" Hermione finally couldn't help but complain, showing great disapproval of Macka's ideas.

Macka waved his hand to stop Hermione from continuing to speak.

"Someone, it's Filch coming back." Macka tilted his head and listened carefully for a moment before whispering softly.

"Oh, why don't you try using that bottle again?" Ron said instinctively.

"I think we better run!" Macka shook his head and took the lead in running down the dark corridor.

They went around door pillars, raced through one corridor after another, and Macka felt his sense of direction getting worse in the dim environment—he couldn't figure out where they were.

"Oh, we've run to the Charms classroom." Hermione gasped as she looked at the classroom door not far away, panting heavily.

"I think we've lost him," Harry said, out of breath. He leaned against the cold wall, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Navi bent over, breathing heavily, his face flushed with exertion.

"I think you guys need more exercise," Macka said, his breathing slightly heavier after the sprint. Living alone in the lower strata of society, he wouldn't be out of breath from running a few steps.

"I—told—you," Hermione gasped for breath, grabbing the front of her robe with her hand, speaking intermittently, "I—told—you."

"We need to get back to the Gryffindor Tower," Ron said, "The sooner, the better."