Just as Mikel thought, by evening, a lively party was held in the Hufflepuff Common Room and it continued late into the night.
During this time, Ladon grabbed a small box and flew out of the window. When it returned, the box was filled with Honeydukes candy instead of gold coins... the atmosphere became even more festive.
Kael felt that their laughter and noise must have reached the nearby kitchen, as the house-elves had provided them with even more snacks, and every time a plate was emptied, it was promptly refilled.
By late night, finally someone couldn't hold on any longer... put down the cookie in their hand, yawned, and returned to the dormitory.
The party gradually came to an end.
Kael lay on the bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
...
It was unknown how much time had passed, probably only two or three hours... the door of the dormitory was suddenly knocked.
Then, Cedric, dressed in pajamas, came in, turned on the light, and woke up the two people in the room.
"What happened, Cedric, isn't the party over?" Ryan asked, crawling out of bed and rubbing his eyes.
"It's not about the party..."
Cedric's expression was serious. "Sirius Black just broke into the Gryffindor dormitory and attempted to kill a student."
"Black broke into the dormitory?" Ryan woke up instantly, disbelief written all over his face. "You must be joking!"
"Of course not." Cedric shook his head. "Professor McGonagall has already confirmed it, it's true."
Ryan was so frightened that he stood there, frozen and not daring to move.
"Get up quickly, we won't be able to sleep tonight." Cedric continued, "Professor Sprout was just here. She requires everyone to stay in the common room until the professors have finished searching the castle.
Hurry up, I still have to notify others."
When they arrived at the common room, there were already many people there. Conna was sitting on a sofa in the corner and waved to Kael.
"Did you hear?" she asked quietly, "That Sirius Black broke into the Gryffindor dormitory."
"Yes." Kael nodded, "Cedric just told me."
"Do you think he might..." Conna looked towards the door, a hint of worry on her face.
"Don't worry, he won't." Kael said, "The first condition to enter the Hufflepuff Common Room is you must have a wand... you can't knock those barrels open with just your hands."
...
More and more people gathered in the common room, all in their pajamas, chattering about what just happened.
They couldn't understand how Sirius Black managed to break into a house's dormitory.
"I remember Gryffindor has a password, right?" someone asked, yawning.
"And I heard that Sir Cadogan changes the password very quickly, sometimes two or three times a day. How did Black guess it?"
"Maybe he tricked the portrait... I recall Sir Cadogan, he looks quite stupid, his brain isn't all there."
Everyone gathered in the common room, chatting and waiting for news of Black's capture.
At dawn, Professor Sprout returned and told everyone that Black had escaped again.
She told everyone to go back to sleep, but many people didn't move.
They felt that even if they went back, they wouldn't be able to sleep, so they stayed in the common room.
There were more people here, and with the warm fireplace, it felt safer than sleeping in the dormitory.
Ryan was one of them, leaving only Kael alone in the dormitory.
The next day, security measures were heightened throughout the castle.
Professor Flitwick, holding a large photo of Sirius Black, went to the castle gatekeepers, and Filch was busy running around the corridors, blocking gaps, not even sparing the smallest cracks in the walls, sealing them completely.
"You wouldn't believe what happened..."
"It was terrifying..."
At the Hufflepuff dining table, Fred and George were vividly recounting what happened last night.
"That Black was right in front of Ron, holding a knife in his hand..."
"Poor little Ron, he must have been scared out of his wits..."
"Wait a minute, who did you just say, Ron?"
At this moment, Cedric suddenly interrupted them and said in confusion, "But wasn't Black supposed to be looking for Harry?
Everyone knows that it was Harry who defeated his master."
"He was definitely targeting Harry at first, that's undeniable..." Fred said, "But I think he got the beds mixed up."
George shrugged, "Everyone pulls their curtains when they sleep, Black couldn't see anyone, so he had to search bed by bed. Ron's place happened to be closest to the door..."
"He probably didn't expect to be discovered so quickly either."
"And one more thing." Cedric said, raising his head and adding some cornflakes to his bowl, "How did Black get in, didn't your portrait... Sir Cadogan notice anything?"
Speaking of this, Fred suddenly slapped the table and angrily said, "How could he not notice, it was him who let Black in."
"That fool of a knight, we thought he was rather amusing, but it turns out he was just a simpleton."
George said angrily, "He even saw Black's face but didn't care, just acknowledged the password."
"Luckily, the Fat Lady portrait has been reinstated..."
"That fool of a knight is only fit to stay in the corner of the North Tower."
"Black knew your password?" Conna asked.
"He even knew all the passwords for the week." George said, "Because..."
"Oh!"
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a gasp.
By the Gryffindor long table, Neville was holding a red letter and fled out of the auditorium as if escaping... it was a Howler.
Seeing his flustered appearance, the Slytherin table erupted in laughter.
Then, they heard the Howler burst open in the entrance hall... Neville's grandmother's voice, amplified a hundredfold, screaming and reproaching him for bringing shame to the Longbottom family.
The Slytherins laughed even louder.
Hermione also ran out of the auditorium, seemingly to comfort Neville.
"As you can see." Fred shrugged, "Neville wrote all the week's passwords on a piece of paper and then lost it..."
"Black must have picked it up somewhere..." George said, "Then he went to the tower and read them aloud as written."
"Professor McGonagall was furious and banned Neville from going to Hogsmeade, and also forbade anyone from telling him the password."
"Poor Neville, now he can only return to the common room if someone takes him."
...