"Mr. Chopper, why aren't you following the book's instructions by grinding the lionfish's spines into powder before adding them to the cauldron?"
During Potion Class, Snape stared at Kael, speaking in a sarcastic tone, "Do you think you're some kind of genius in Magic Potions, daring to alter the textbook?"
"Because of your arrogance, Hufflepuff loses five points."
Kael looked up at the blackboard.
Written clearly on it: Do not grind lionfish spines, boil in hot water for five minutes and cut into segments.
The words were so large, and they were written by Snape himself, how could this be him altering the book?
"Professor..." Kael took a deep breath and said, as calmly as possible, "That's exactly what's written on your blackboard."
"Oh, I wrote it incorrectly."
Snape, with a neutral expression, waved his wand and erased the sentence from the blackboard,
"Must what I write be correct? Where is your judgment? If I tell you to add your own heart tendon, would you just do it?
Because you can't think for yourself, Hufflepuff loses another three points."
...
Until the class ended, Kael's hand was tightly clutching the piece of Rock Skin Cake in his pocket, hesitating whether or not to throw it at the back of Snape's head.
Though Snape had been deducting points from him for no reason for quite some time, today was especially excessive, using all sorts of tricks to deduct points, to the point of losing face.
Can you erase what you wrote yourself?
This kind of outrageous move was really eye-opening for Kael.
Of course, the effect was immediate, as within just one class, Kael lost over thirty points.
From the start of school to now, all his other classes combined hadn't lost as many points as this one class today.
Other little badgers came over to comfort him, even Conna kindly handed him a piece of licorice candy.
Kael glanced at it and chose to ignore it.
During mealtime, Fred and George also heard about the Potion Class incident, specially coming over to pat Kael on the shoulder and console, "It's okay, Snape's been deducting points from us too, it's nothing."
"Yeah, ha... I mean, you should take it easy."
Though offering comforting words, there wasn't the slightest attempt to hide the smiles on their faces.
Obviously, they were here to enjoy the spectacle.
Kael was about to shoo them away when Fred leaned in and lowered his voice, "Alright, stop thinking about those unhappy things, let me show you something good."
He looked around before carefully taking out a square parchment from his pocket.
"Remember a few days ago I wanted to tell you something, it's this." George also leaned over, whispering, "A magical item, I swear you'll never guess what it is."
"Could it be..." Kael raised an eyebrow, showing a doubtful expression, "Is this parchment that can write homework automatically?"
"..."
The twins, who were previously prideful, suddenly stiffened.
"If only it could..." Fred said longingly, "I really wish it were."
"But its actual use is just awesome." George said, "This is a map of Hogwarts, of course, not like the ordinary ones you sell."
"We call it the Marauder's Map."
Fred spoke and took out his wand, lightly tapping the parchment.
"I solemnly swear..."
In an instant, fine ink lines spread like a spider web from the point where the wand touched, connecting and extending to every corner of the parchment.
Then, at the top appeared flourishing script in green.
"Moonface, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.
Present to you—
The Marauder's Map."
Kael took the parchment from Fred and carefully studied the famous Marauder's Map.
It depicted every detail of Hogwarts Castle in extraordinary detail, more than any ordinary map, it was almost a miniature of Hogwarts.
Anything in the castle, whether a painting or a carpet, or even a vase, could be found on the map.
The most unusual aspect was that numerous small black dots moved across the map, each marked with tiny names.
Kael saw Dumbledore in the Headmaster's Office and watched Filch and Peeves quickly moving from the fifth-floor corridor to the sixth floor.
Everything was perfectly clear.
But when it came to crowded places... like the Auditorium now, it didn't work.
Many names overlapped, forming a dense cluster where nothing could be discerned.
Additionally, Kael noticed that not all secret passages seemed to be displayed on this map.
Because the location of the Whomping Willow on the map was empty, showing nothing.
Kael handed the map back to Fred and asked, "How did you get it?"
"We were in our first year, young, carefree, innocent..." Fred and George squinted as they recalled.
"Because of a trivial matter, Filch dragged us into his office and threatened to have us..."
"Detained."
"Gutted."
"And we couldn't help but eye his file cabinet drawer labeled, Confiscated Items, Highly Dangerous."
Fred suddenly chuckled, "Kael, what would you do?"
Kael thought for a moment and said, "I'd lure Peeves there and provide him with plenty of Dungbombs or Pepper Balls, then empty the drawer amidst the chaos."
"..."
Fred and George gaped, speechless for a while, and after a while, Fred shook his head, "Kael, no wonder Snape deducted thirty points from you, you deserved it."
"Don't bring that up." Kael scowled at him, "So you took the map from that drawer."
"Yes." George clicked his tongue, "We weren't as daring as you, only took this."
"But, how did you learn how to use it?" Kael flipped through the parchment, "It doesn't say anything on here."
"Speaking of which... it involves Moonface, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs." Fred sighed, "These four are simply pranking geniuses."
"They broke up the password and hid it in every corner of the castle." George said, "Find all the clues, and you'll get the complete password."
"Too bad it took us a year..." Fred lamented, "But we've never found the complete password."
"And so, we can only use the map five times a day, each time for only half an hour." George said with a smile, "It's a great cause, we plan to complete it within three years."
"If you don't find it in three years?" Kael asked.
"Then we aren't worthy of owning it." George shrugged, "At that point, we'll find it a new owner."
"Is that so." Kael said, "So you're showing it to me to invite me to join you in finding clues?"
"No, no, no, Kael." Fred shook his head, "The password is a test from those four seniors, we have to accomplish it ourselves."
"Then this time..."
"Let's go on a night adventure!" Fred and George said in unison.
...