Chapter 13

Chapter 13

- Not to steal, but to return what was confiscated! - resented the first of the brothers.

- Yeah, yeah, don't make thieves out of us! - The second also resented the second, which made me start to feel a headache from dealing with this pair of weirdos.

- Okay, okay, not stealing, just privatizing. - I decided to calm them down so they could get to the point.

- Okay, where were we? Oh yes... So, when we were cleaning, we noticed one very interesting box. - the other twin went on to say.

- Yeah, and it's interesting because it says "highly dangerous things" on it. - added the first one.

- Hmm, I understand you want to get this box, am I right? But I still don't see why you need me.

- You're absolutely right, and we need you for several reasons. First, like we said, our intuition tells us we can trust you, and it's never let us down before. Secondly, someone has to distract Filch. And the distraction can't be you, since he'll only buy into the offense, which of course you won't do, and we don't want your reputation ruined. Also it won't work if he is distracted by one of us, he will immediately suspect something wrong, because we always work together. And of course, third and most important, Filch's office is always locked, and we don't know how to use a spell that opens locks.

- So, what makes you think I know that spell?

At my question, the Weasley brothers just shut up and looked at me skeptically, as if I had asked a stupid question and that I knew the spell for sure.

- Okay, stop looking at me like that. Let's say I know the right spell and get you that box. So what's in it for me? Risk it for the rumors the freshman class is spreading about me? Like hell it's not worth it, knowing that there's whispers about me, it wouldn't be hard to find out who's doing it and what rumors they're spreading.

The brothers looked at each other, scratched the backs of their heads in embarrassment, and then stepped aside to whisper. Their conversation lasted for a couple minutes or so, after which they apparently came to a consensus and then turned back to me.

- So Draco, we've come to the conclusion that your demands are reasonable, so after the operation is over, you'll be the first to choose an item from the ones in this box, and then we'll split the rest equally.

- Hmm, what if there's only one item in this box? What then? - I decided to solve all the questions at once, since I was more or less willing to participate in this adventure.

- Hmm, good question. If that happens, which is unlikely, because the box was labeled "stuff", not "thing", then we'll figure something out depending on the value of what's in the box.

- Well, I'm willing to participate in your adventure. So what's the plan? - I decided to agree and steal the box.

- Heh-heh, we knew we could count on you. So here's the plan. At nine o'clock, as soon as the bell rings, my brother and I will start setting off fireworks and dung bombs on the third floor to lure Filch to us. Once the bell rings, you'll have to sneak into his office and retrieve the box. Only you'll have to be very quick, because there may be a signaling spell in his office that will alert him that someone has gotten in and he'll rush back out. And given that this prick knows a lot of secret passages, he could come back very, very quickly. In case of what happens, of course, we'll try to distract him, but still, don't forget the speed. For sharing, meet me fifteen minutes after the operation, on the fourth floor near the statue of the one-eyed witch. Oh yeah, don't get too close to his office just yet. His mummy, which he calls a cat, is a pain in the ass and has a better sense of smell than a dog.

- Okay, I'm pretty clear, and the clock says I've got half an hour, so I'm gonna go to the Great Hall, because as they say, desserts don't eat themselves.

***

When it was only a few minutes before nine, and the ghosts were getting ready to start their performance and make a lot of noise, I got up from the table and left the Great Hall, noting to myself that the Weasley brothers had picked the perfect time to do it, and they must have been preparing this plan for days.

Soon I was hiding not far from Filch's office, and as soon as the bell started ringing, a few fireworks flew out of the third floor windows, raising a loud noise and attracting the attention of those who hadn't stayed to watch the ghosts' performance.

The door to Filch's office opened instantly after the first few slams, after which he locked it, and then walked over to one of the walls and tapped a couple of times. Immediately, a secret passage opened in the wall, in which the old man, without wasting time, immediately disappeared instead of his cat.

At last the ringing of the bell stopped, so I hurried to the right door, pulled out my wand and cast the spell "Alohomora". The lock on the door opened with a distinctive click, so without wasting any time I instantly rushed inside.

The study was a stuffy and gloomy windowless room. It was lighted by a kerosene lamp hanging from the low ceiling. Along two walls were cabinets with drawers for documents, on each of which were pasted alphabetically the surnames of guilty students, inside the drawers most likely records of the punishments imposed ... On the far wall hung polished to a shine chains and shackles, which most likely hang since ancient times, when torture punishments were allowed. And a moth-eaten armchair completed the unsightly picture.

On one of the cabinets I found the box I was looking for, so I quickly took it and hid it under my cloak and quickly retreated from the scene of the "crime", and then began to loop randomly through the corridors, so that no one would follow my trail, and then I hid in the toilet stall.

Although I was supposed to be the first to choose a thing, I'm a Slytherin first and foremost, so I opened the box and began to examine the items in it. From the looks of it, most of the items were used for pranks on others, though there were some vials of unknown potions in here as well. After a bit of thought, I took some of the items that were easy to hide and placed them carefully in my pockets so that nothing would give away that there was anything there. Then I closed the box back up, waited for the right time, and hurried up to the fourth floor to the statue of the one-eyed witch, where the Weasley brothers should be waiting for me. But before I did, I decided to hide the box somewhere else first. Philch is old, but he's obviously not stupid, and he can easily match the explosions and the theft in the study, and if it turns out that he saw who organized the explosions, there's a chance that he will secretly follow the brothers to the meeting place, where the truth will come to light, and then we will all have problems, which of course I would like to avoid as much as possible...