Before receiving Vid's message, Harry and Hermione were in the library studying the Atmospheri Charm. It was an extremely difficult spell; after a few minutes, Harry felt his head spinning.
But Hermione was still studying diligently, so Harry had to force himself to keep reading those convoluted sentences.
He found that every time he finished two sentences, the words quickly vanished from his mind, and he had to go back and read them again...
More than half an hour passed, and Hermione had already filled several pages of notes, while Harry was still stuck on the first page.
Vid's message was like a lifeline for him. Harry jumped up eagerly, packed his things, and hurried over.
Hermione was a step slower, and she quickly ran over after returning the book.
When they reached the entrance of the Gryffindor Common Room, they saw Vid leaning against the wall, staring at a folded piece of parchment, not knowing what he was looking at.
"Vid, you said you had something important to tell me?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, wait a moment..."
Vid signaled him to keep quiet for a moment, stared at the parchment a while longer, then suddenly pointed his magic wand forward, and a huge, sticky pit of mud appeared in the corridor.
"You little rascal! What are you doing? Get rid of them now!"
The Fat Lady screamed.
"Vid, what are you doing?" Hermione screamed with her hands over her face, "You'll get points deducted by Professor McGonagall."
"Don't worry, I'll undo it in a moment." Vid said, "Harry, tell the password."
Harry was puzzled but, after a moment of hesitation, he decided to trust his friend.
Even if someone stepped into the mud, a Scouring Charm could solve the problem.
Was Vid planning to prank someone? You have to admit, his pranks were quite serious...
Harry's mind was filled with disorganized thoughts, and he stood next to the mud pit and said to the Fat Lady, "Salamander."
"Get those nasty things away! Away!" The Fat Lady continued to scream.
"I said the password, Fat Lady! You need to open the door," Harry said more emphatically.
The portrait opened, and the Fat Lady tried her best to retreat to the edge of the painting, as if she was afraid the mud would splatter onto her.
In the next second, a vague shadow shot out from the door, landing directly into the mud pit, where it struggled and squeaked shrillly.
"Scabbers?" Harry said in surprise.
He was about to lift Ron's rat out when he heard the person next to him cast several spells in succession—
"Petrificus Totalus! Stupefy! Speedy Imprisonment!"
The rat, hit by the spells in quick succession, lay stiffly unconscious, wrapped in several strands of ropes. Vid used Levioso to lift it out, just as several people rushed out from the Common Room—
Fred and George, Percy, Ron.
Hermione widened her eyes, unable to understand how these people squeezed out of the doorway in such a short time.
The last one out was Ron, who was first tripped by Percy, then stumbled into Fred, and finally rolled into the mud, angrily shouting: "Damn it! What's going on?"
"Where did this mud pit come from?" Percy shouted angrily, "I'm going to give you all detention!"
"He got away! Vid... oh, you caught him?" Fred said in surprise.
"Really?" George raised his head, trapped beneath his brother's rear, calling out, "Careful, this guy is as cunning as Peeves!"
Ginny was the last one out and luckily didn't fall into the mud. She leaned through the doorway, laughing as she saw her brothers in their sorry state.
"What happened?" Harry asked in confusion.
Ginny finally saw him. The girl squeaked, ducked back, and vanished.
Vid had already tidied up the rat. He tucked the jar into his bag, looking at the tangled mess on the ground—the mud-covered Weasleys who couldn't rise—and sighed deeply.
Ah... this was Gryffindor...
Vid dispelled the mud pit and used a Scouring Charm to clean the mud off the Weasleys, who finally disentangled themselves and stood up.
Percy pulled his robe back in place, so angry he seemed to be steaming. He glared at the others, saying coldly, "You'd better give me a reasonable explanation!"
"Don't worry about that! Where's Scabbers? Where did you put him?" Ron demanded.
Harry and Hermione exchanged confused looks.
Fred and George exchanged glances with Vid: "Are you sure it's him?"
"Yes."
Vid nodded, then said to the others, "This isn't the place to talk, let's go to the Umbrella House to explain."
"Alright." Eager onlookers Harry and Hermione were the first to agree.
In fact, students were already gathered around watching the spectacle.
Percy stood motionless, his face stern, while the twins pushed him forward together.
"After you hear the full story, if you still think we're wrong, you can tell Mom," Fred said with satisfaction. "But I guarantee, you… and little Ronnie, you'll thank us."
That rat was originally Percy's pet. It was only after Ron started attending school that it was given to him.
In fact, Percy had wanted to give the rat to his youngest sister, Ginny, but the girl couldn't accept keeping an old rat as a pet, so it went to Ron.
Thinking of this, Fred and George couldn't help but feel a wave of relief.
The Ministry of Magic strictly controls Animagi, requiring all Animagi to register their animal forms with the Ministry.
Living secretly as an Animagus in animal form among other wizards was considered a serious legal offense because there had been many similar malicious incidents in the past.
They all jostled and shoved their way to the Umbrella House, while Ron fumed along the way, "No matter what you have to say, give me Scabbers back first!"
"No, Ronnie," Fred refused decisively, "It will escape."
"It won't run around if you don't chase it!" Ron shouted. "You've scared it!"
"We're the ones frightened by it, you know?" George said impatiently. "Listen to the reason first before arguing with us, okay? Stop yelling like a child."
Ron was so angry his face turned pale.
Suddenly, a sharp cat's meow sounded nearby, and the Weasley twins reflexively shouted, "Filch!"
Immediately, Filch stormed out, panting heavily as he stared at them. He coldly swept his gaze over the students, finding no contraband, then said, "A fight?"
"No!" Fred put an arm around Percy's neck and rubbed Ron's head with the other hand, "This is just a friendly exchange between brothers!"
The two still-angry Weasleys turned their heads away, saying nothing.