Chapter 169. The Twins Flee in Panic
"Duncan, are you really going to look for Filch to duel?"
Pro was sprawled on the edge of Duncan's pocket.
Seeing Duncan keep going up the stairs, it spoke up in a fluster.
"Of course.
I've already issued my challenge—how could I not go?" Duncan replied with a smile.
After coming out from the corridor on the first basement level, he had used an Invisibility Potion to hide himself.
"You're too rash!" Pro puffed out its little face.
"You should discuss things with me more, so we can make sure your decisions are right!"
"But now it's too late..." Duncan said, when suddenly hurried footsteps sounded from not far away.
"Shh!" Duncan quickly hushed Pro and whisked with it to the edge of the wall, beside an armoured stone statue.
He looked toward the direction of the sound.
From the dim corner came two flustered voices as they ran; they looked like Fred and George.
"Hurry up, that damned cat is about to catch us!"
"My God, that cat will definitely bring Filch over!"
"We were so careful—how did it spot us?
It makes no sense at all!"
"How would I know?
Maybe it can see through things, or there's something in the castle tipping it off!"
Though Fred and George were fleeing in a very sorry state, their mouths didn't stop for even a second; they kept chattering back and forth.
Before long, several rather unpleasant cat yowls rang again from the corner and echoed down the corridor, clearly reaching their ears.
Right after that, Filch's voice followed at once: "My dear, have you found them?
Quick, take me to them!"
"We mustn't let them get away again this time.
Those two little brats are just too infuriating—everywhere gets turned into a complete mess by them!"
"Once we've caught them, I'm going to report to Dumbledore and have him let me use those adorable implements to teach them a good, hard lesson!"
"Otherwise they'll never remember the mistakes they've made, and they'll do it again next time, bringing me endless trouble!"
Hearing Filch's words full of anger, Fred and George's faces changed.
They kept running while asking each other for ideas.
"What trouble have those two caused this time, to make Filch so angry!" Duncan raised his brows, thought for a moment, and took out the Invisibility Potion.
When Fred and George were passing the statue, he stepped forward, yanked them into the corner, and smeared them with the potion.
"Who's there?" the Weasley twins cried out in surprise, and then spoke in unison, "Ha, Fred/George, where are you going?"
"Shut up!" Duncan saw Mrs Norris appear at the other end of the corridor and clapped a hand straight over both their mouths.
Fred and George struggled and mm-mm'd twice.
Realising that the one helping them was Duncan, they quietened down and obediently leaned back in the corner.
Meanwhile, a scrawny, dark-grey little cat came running.
Its bulging, lamp-like eyes peered all around, as if a bit puzzled.
"What is it, my dear?" Filch, bent at the waist, came hobbling up, his red nose puffing out hot air.
His bloodshot eyes bulged as he glared viciously around, baring teeth encrusted with grime.
"Have they vanished?"
"No matter.
Have a sniff everywhere, my dear.
They likely haven't gone far and are hiding in some corner right now, laughing at us."
Mrs Norris miaowed in response, seeming to understand Filch's words.
She lowered her head, put her nose to the floor, and moved slowly forward.
Seeing Mrs Norris draw nearer, Fred grew anxious and whispered as quietly as he could, "Duncan, what do we do now?
Should we run?"
"Don't panic," Duncan replied.
From his pocket he took out the little dried-fish treats he had long prepared for just such a situation.
Pinching one between his fingers, he waited until Mrs Norris came a bit closer, then flicked hard.
The treat arced away and fell at a distance.
Mrs Norris snapped her head up, her nose twitching nonstop as she tried to catch the mouth-watering smell in the air that made a cat's tongue water.
"My dear, have you found them?" Filch asked excitedly, his bulging eyes shining with agitation.
"Miaow!" Mrs Norris cried again, then darted across the corridor at great speed.
"Wait for me, my dear!" Filch shouted.
A twisted grin spread across his face, and the flesh of his double chin quivered.
In his mind rose the scene of catching those two nuisances and tormenting them with implements, and the grin on his face grew ever more wanton and unrestrained.
But Mrs Norris only ran forward a short way; after picking something up from the floor, she stopped moving altogether.
"What is it, my dear?
Have they vanished again?" Filch halted behind Mrs Norris and asked in bewilderment.
Mrs Norris swallowed the dried fish, twitched her nose, swept a glance toward where Duncan and the others were, then miaowed and ran off into the distance.
"My dear, slow down a little!" Filch, beside himself with excitement, hurried after her.
Watching Filch disappear at the end of the corridor, Fred let out a huge sigh of relief and muttered, "That nearly scared me to death..."
When Filch had been closest, he was only one or two steps away.
Fred had feared Filch might lose his footing and tumble straight into his arms.
Fortunately, that terrifying and ghastly thing never happened before Filch left.
"If Filch is chasing you two in such a rage, did you do something bad again?" Duncan asked.
"Our being alive is already something very infuriating for him!" Fred shrugged.
He curiously looked toward the empty spot from which the voice was coming, and even reached out to feel around.
"But we did cause him a bit of trouble today," George followed up.
"Our cauldron exploded while we were brewing a potion."
"Ow!" Fred's hand was smacked hard by Duncan.
He yelped, then went on, "The classroom walls are covered in potion."
"We wanted to clean it up, but just as we were about to start, Mrs Norris came knocking."
"So as not to get caught by Filch, we had no choice but to drop it and leg it," Fred said helplessly.
"If I were Filch, I'd probably want to bury you two alive," Duncan said.
"Once the coast is clear later, you'd better go back and clean that classroom properly, or Filch will keep a death-grip on you for a long time."
A wave of the wand would be enough for them to sort the classroom out, but for Filch it might take him an entire day to manage it.
"Got it," George nodded.
"Where are you headed now?"
"To the library for a look," Duncan said.
He wanted to search for clues to that treasure in the Black Lake and, by the way, learn a few powerful spells.
At this moment, Pro also realised that Duncan's earlier words had been to make fun of it, to see it made a fool of.
It immediately flailed its paws in anger, scratching at Duncan's clothes to vent its annoyance.
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