Peeves is not a good guy, Harry had known this for a long time.
This ghost especially loved to play pranks, particularly enjoying going against people.
"An acquaintance? There's no one you know here!" Percy said angrily, "They're just first years—"
"Oh, really?" Peeves floated directly in front of Harry, "Potter, not saying hello to an old friend?"
"Peeves!" Percy loudly warned, "Harry is just a first-year student, don't harass him!"
"First-year student?" Peeves laughed uproariously in mid-air, clutching his belly, "Oh, this face I'll never forget, Potter..."
"You probably knew my father, James." Harry shrugged and then drew out his magic wand.
"You don't expect to repel Peeves with a magic spell, do you?" Percy asked in surprise, "To be honest, everyone's looking for a way to hit Peeves with magic spells, as you've probably seen—so far, nothing works."
But to Percy's surprise, as soon as Peeves saw Harry point the wand at him, he screamed and ran away, tugging at his tie.
"Maybe it does work." Harry shrugged.
Percy opened his mouth; he now found the atmosphere a bit awkward.
"Maybe he has something else to do." He can only explain it this way: "Next time if you encounter Peeves playing pranks again, try not to provoke him. To be honest, you should be wary of Peeves."
Percy led everyone forward: "I wouldn't recommend everyone trying Harry's method. I suggest you use Bloodman Barrow's name to scare him, after all, Bloodman Barrow is the only one who can control him, he doesn't even listen to us class prefects — We've arrived."
At the end of the corridor hung a painting, with a rather plump woman wearing a pink dress.
"Password?" she asked in a calm voice.
"Dragon dung," Percy replied.
The painting swung forward, revealing a round opening in the wall.
They all climbed through the wall hole, but Neville was somewhat clumsy and needed someone to pull him through.
After crawling through the narrow hole, it suddenly opened up, and they found themselves in the Gryffindor common room.
It was a cozy round room filled with plush armchairs, and everything, from the walls to elsewhere, was adorned with gold and red interwoven decorations — standard Gryffindor colors.
Percy began assigning rooms for the new students: "Those whose names I call, you will live together for the next school term — Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, and Seamus Finnigan."
The four who were named glanced at each other, with no objections.
After Percy assigned both the boys' and girls' dormitories, he continued to remind: "The school's rule is that boys are not allowed to enter the girls' dormitory."
"But what if girls want to enter the boys' dormitory?" Seamus asked loudly, "Is there no rule in the school for that?"
"Sorry, there isn't," Percy replied helplessly.
However, Fred and George, in unison, said behind them, "That's a risk they take—"
Their response was a book-handed Percy patting them, and the two copycats laughed as they escaped the common room.
"Let's go back," Neville said first, still holding his Lafu.
"Aren't you afraid of smothering it?" Seamus said, "I noticed you keep holding your toad, doesn't it mind the heat?"
"I'm afraid it might run away," Neville answered honestly, "On the train, I searched for it all day, sigh..."
The few of them returned to the dormitory, Neville put away his toad carefully, and Seamus started the conversation.
"I'm half and half," Seamus sat on the bed with one leg swinging, "Dad's a Muggle, Mom didn't tell him she was a witch until after they married — scared the hell out of him."
Everyone burst into laughter, Harry rubbed his eyes and said, "It's normal for Muggles not to believe in magic, like my uncle; he's very resistant to magic, even if I perform magic in front of him, he refuses to believe it."
"Ah, I think he's fooling himself," Seamus said, crossing his arms.
He turned back and asked, "And you, Neville?"
"I was raised by my grandmother," Neville said with a somewhat sullen expression: "Grandma's a witch, she said my parents were both wizards too, but unfortunately, they got sick. They've been in Saint Mangos Hospital for as long as I can remember."
"But speaking of which, for all these years, they've always thought I was a Muggle, my uncle, Alger, was always trying to catch me off guard to show some magic — once he pushed me off the Black Lake Pier, nearly drowned me, and nothing happened."
"Until I was eight, one day Uncle Alger came over for tea, he dangled my ankles from the upstairs window while Auntie Aini handed him a cake. He lost his grip, couldn't hold onto me, and I bounced — flew across the garden, crashed onto the road, and they were all delighted, Auntie Aini was so happy she cried."
"You should have seen their faces when I got the acceptance letter, they thought I didn't have enough magic power to enter the school... Uncle Alger was so thrilled, he even bought me a toad."
Neville, as if a floodgate of words had opened, began pouring out his experiences to his classmates, and after listening to Neville's story, Harry suddenly felt there might be reasons why the magic world hadn't rescued him from dire straits all these years.
Look at Neville, his own uncle treats him like this, pushing him off the pier, throwing him from the second floor...
"What illness are your parents suffering from?" Seamus asked with concern.
"They were tortured by the Cruciatus Curse, they've been unable to wake up," Neville said somewhat somberly.
"Sorry, Neville," Seamus hadn't expected to pry into someone else's sad story.
Cruciatus Curse, huh?
Harry had learned it, with Sebastian; had even used it, against Villatia, more than once.
The pain of Crucio is certainly unpleasant, not just for the victim, it's also a torment on the soul of the caster.
"Ah, I just remembered!" Ron smacked his palm with his fist, then realized that mentioning Neville's parents' names would be another heartbreak for his friend, so he switched the topic halfway, saying to Harry, "Harry, I remember you have some snacks in your bag..."
"Oh, I forgot," Harry pulled a suitcase from under the bed and said to the three, "I bought a lot of snacks in the Muggle world, you all should try them—"
He too was in need of a topic change with Ron, the memories the Cruciatus Curse left him weren't very pleasant.