"Detention?"
In Professor McGonagall's office, Kael said innocently, "But Professor McGonagall, we just sold some things, we didn't break any school rules."
"That's the headmaster's request."
Professor McGonagall said with a stern face, "He thinks you should be spending more time reading or practicing your wand gestures to prepare for exams, instead of focusing your energy elsewhere."
"Well... alright, I understand."
Kael sighed and didn't argue further.
It's just detention, as long as he doesn't have to refund, everything is negotiable.
After leaving Professor McGonagall's office, the six looked at each other and all sighed.
"Cheer up, guys."
Fred and George, with their rich experience in detention, were the first to return to normal.
Fred said with a smile, "At least Professor McGonagall didn't make us refund or deduct our points, that's already quite fortunate."
"Yeah." George patted Cedric on the shoulder and said, "And for you guys, experiencing what detention feels like isn't so bad either."
"Merlin's beard." Fred put on an exaggerated expression and said, "George, I've just realized that apart from the two of us, everyone here is a good student."
"Yeah, Fred, compared to them, we frequent detainees do seem a bit out of place."
George squeezed out a couple of tears and said, "They don't look down on us, do they?"
"Why don't we take this opportunity to quickly go back and study."
"Aim to get a few more 'O's on the final exams."
"That's too hard, maybe just aim for 'E's."
Their banter, coupled with exaggerated expressions, soon made the others laugh.
Kael said with a smile, "Thanks, but you're overthinking it."
"Yeah." Cedric shrugged and said, "If I could get a hundred Galleons each time I'm in detention, I'd make sure to show up in front of Filch every night."
Cho and Conna also nodded together.
"Yes, exactly."
"Mmm mmm..."
Just like Cedric said, in the face of a hundred Galleons, detention didn't seem that hard to accept.
"So earlier..." Fred's expression froze, then he said angrily, "Alright, you guys actually dared to trick me!"
Kael shook his head and said, "Don't say that, we just didn't react in time."
It was true, he never thought Dumbledore would give them detention over such a small matter.
It didn't seem like something he'd do.
After walking past the corridor where Professor McGonagall's office was, they parted ways and returned to their respective houses.
Then at the dinner table that evening, they received a note from Professor McGonagall.
[Your detention starts tonight at eleven, meet Mr. Filch in the foyer.
—Professor McGonagall.]
"When did you get detention!"
Beside him, Mikel frowned and said, "Could it be that Professor McGonagall put the note in the wrong place?"
In his view, Kael was definitely not the type to break school rules, let alone get detention... how could that be possible.
Kael calmly put away the note and said, "Not a mistake, it's definitely mine."
"But..." Mikel thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "Could it be that you were caught wandering the halls at night... but wasn't it during the Easter break?"
Because he had a deadline to meet, Kael was often busy until midnight during the last two days of the Easter break before returning to the dormitory.
Mikel and Ryan both knew about this.
Kael neither confirmed nor denied it, he just patted his shoulder earnestly and said, "So, in the future, you guys must never wander around at night, even during holidays."
Mikel and Ryan both shook their heads simultaneously, seemingly realizing something new about Hogwarts' rules.
That was way too strict.
At eleven that night, Kael, Cedric, and Conna came to the foyer, and Filch was already waiting there, with the Weasley brothers and Cho beside him.
"Follow me." Filch said, lighting a lantern and leading them out.
"I think, in the future, if you think about breaking school rules again, you should think twice, shouldn't you, hmm?"
He eyed the group and said, "But I think hard work and toil are the best teachers, such a pity they've abolished those good old punishments... hanging you by your wrists, suspending you from the ceiling for days on end..."
Filch's eerie voice made Cho and Conna turn pale, and even Cedric swallowed nervously.
But Fred and George's expressions didn't change a bit, they even turned around and made faces at the others when Filch wasn't looking.
They heard this kind of talk every few days, their ears were practically growing calluses.
"We're here."
After walking for a while, they stopped in front of a door. Filch took out a key and opened the door, saying, "Go in, you're responsible for cleaning the trophy room.
I really don't understand what Professor McGonagall was thinking, having so many people clean the trophy room... this punishment is way too easy."
Hearing that it was just cleaning the trophy room, Cho and Conna's faces regained some color.
The group entered the room one after another, but when it was Kael's turn, there was an accident.
Filch stopped him, and said expressionlessly, "Your punishment isn't here."
Then Mrs Norris was left there, and Filch took Kael back to the foyer and left the castle.
The two of them strode across the dark grounds, and Filch didn't make any more sarcastic comments at this time.
Kael noticed that this path seemed to lead to the Forbidden Forest.
"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, we're about to set off."
Hagrid was standing at the door of his hut, waving at them from a distance.
"The Forbidden Forest is dangerous." Filch suddenly said, "You'd better not stray too far from that oaf, or all those school rules you memorized won't save your life."
"Understood." Kael nodded.
Filch acted as if he hadn't heard, continuing to walk forward.
"It's about time." Hagrid walked towards them from the darkness with big strides, Fang following behind.
"Ready, Kael?"
"He's yours, Hagrid." Filch said coldly, "I'll come back at dawn, and I hope then I won't be seeing his remains."
"No need to worry about that." Hagrid frowned at Filch, "You don't need to come back to get him, I'll return Kael to the castle myself."
Filch gave Hagrid a fierce glare, turned, and walked towards the castle, his lantern bobbing and disappearing into the darkness.
"Annoying fellow's finally gone, that old bozo."
Hagrid picked up his giant crossbow and quiver, winked at Kael, and said, "It's great to see you... sorry, I don't mean getting detention is a good thing, but with your help, tonight should go much smoother."
Kael looked at the fully armed Hagrid and asked curiously, "What exactly happened in the Forbidden Forest?"
"A unicorn foal was stolen, we need to go into the Forbidden Forest and look for clues."
Hagrid tightened his grip on the giant crossbow, his eyes filled with fury. "If I find out who did it, they won't get away with it!"