Chapter -65 Spoiling Mrs. Norris.
Chapter -65.
"Great question!"
Dudley was also curious about how they ended up in this spot.
He was completely convinced he had taken the right path, and there was no way he could be mistaken.
On one hand, Dudley trusted his memory; on the other, they had just come out of the trophy room on the third floor, and there was only one staircase leading to the Gryffindor common room.
It was pretty clear that the staircase had shifted when they entered the trophy room.
The staircase that used to lead to Gryffindor had now moved to a corridor on the fourth floor that was off-limits.
"Should we check it out?"
Harry asked, but he was really eager to explore.
Ever since Dumbledore mentioned this place, he had been super curious but never had the chance to see it.
Now that they were right here, it felt impossible to head back to Gryffindor without taking a peek down this corridor. Was this fate?
Curiosity can be risky, but hey, lions are curious too!
What fate?
Dudley rolled his eyes.
Where do all these coincidences come from? Dudley wasn't about to fall for such an obvious trap.
He turned to the others and said, "Let's head to the Slytherin common room."
After all, there was plenty of space in the Slytherin dorms; adding three more people wouldn't be a problem.
The Slytherin common room was downstairs; they just needed to retrace their steps and go down the staircase.
"Is the way back gone?"
Malfoy's panicked voice broke through, and the group quickly turned to see that the bottom of the staircase was empty, suspended in mid-air, with no way back.
Dudley: "..."
If they didn't consider going through this fourth-floor corridor now, they'd have to wait for the staircase to slowly turn and connect to other places. Who knows how long that would take? It could be until dawn!
Dudley chuckled, "No matter what, I, Dudley Dursley, love saying 'NO' to those self-righteous people!"
"Hermione, hold on to me."
Hermione looked confused: "Huh?"
With a playful growl, Dudley wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist, quickly stepped onto the edge of the stairs, and with a big push and leap, jumped to the nearest staircase, all while Hermione squealed in surprise.
It all happened so fast, in less than three seconds!
After that, Dudley bounced back like a monkey, bringing Malfoy, Harry, and Ron to the staircase one by one, like he was carrying little chicks.
What seemed like a simple jump actually covered quite a distance between the two staircases.
"You scared me half to death! Next time, give me a warning!"
Hermione's face was a bit pale as she pounded her chest with her small fists, clearly not happy about it.
Ron looked a bit shaken too, but he wasn't about to complain to Dudley.
'That was a rush!'
Harry and Malfoy were a little better off but still a bit scared; the thrill seemed to excite them both.
"Alright, let's keep going."
Dudley clapped his hands and signaled for everyone to head toward the Gryffindor common room.
Harry glanced back at the corridor, feeling a twinge of regret.
Deep down, he really wanted to explore it.
But they had already reached the fifth-floor staircase, and no matter how the stairs shifted, they couldn't get back to the fourth floor unless they went down or the stairs turned around.
"Meow~~"
Just as they were about to pass through the corridor, a sudden cat meow made their hearts race.
A sleek, dark gray cat appeared at the end of the corridor, strutting toward them with an air of elegance.
It was staring at them with its big, round eyes.
"Oh no! It's Mrs. Norris!"
Ron exclaimed, clearly recognizing the cat.
There was only one cat like that at Hogwarts, and it belonged to the caretaker, Filch.
With Mrs. Norris around, it meant Filch was close by; as soon as the cat called out, he would be right there.
They were definitely going to get caught!
"We're in big trouble this time!"
Ron groaned in despair.
Whether it was just his imagination or not, he could have sworn he saw Mrs. Norris's mouth curl up slightly, as if she was... smiling?
Was she mocking them for about to be caught? It sure felt that way.
"We can go back and hide somewhere on the fourth floor."
Malfoy was quicker to react and thought of a plan.
Even if Filch was nearby, it would take him a moment to hear Mrs. Norris and come over. If they hurried back to the fourth floor and found a place to hide, they might still be okay.
As for whether it was forbidden or not, that didn't matter right now.
Not getting caught was the priority.
Hermione was a bit panicked too, gripping her wand tightly, her knuckles turning white as she thought about what spell could help them out of this mess.
'What if I petrified it with a spell?'
Just when the others were feeling lost, Dudley surprised everyone again; instead of running away, he bent down and waved at Mrs. Norris, making some strange sounds from his throat.
Ron didn't catch it clearly from where he was, but it sounded like some sort of purring?
'Is he out of his mind?'
But then something unbelievable happened; Mrs. Norris didn't call for Filch right away. Instead, she trotted over to Dudley, rubbing against his pants as if trying to... win him over?
"Ten pieces? You're being too greedy."
Hermione, who was closest to Dudley, barely heard him whispering something.
Talking to a cat? How could that even be possible?
That was Hermione's first thought.
But then she remembered they were in a magical world, so anything could happen!
Cat whisperers might not be common, but they did exist.
Seeing this unexpected turn of events, Malfoy and Ron were so excited they almost hugged each other, but then they realized and jumped back, clutching the staircase railing and starting to gag.
Soon, right before their eyes, that aloof, sneaky Mrs. Norris, who never accepted food from young wizards and always followed Filch around, actually lay down in front of Dudley, rolling around and purring, even showing off her soft belly.
Is this... being spoiled?
Note : Guys, some power stones will be really helpful.
________
If you want to read more [Upto Fifteen chapters] while supporting me, you can join me on patreon.com/EmptyThoughts ; Thanks.