Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 24: Still traveling with the principal

The night is dark and the moon is bright.

Hogwarts prohibits students from leaving the common room after lights out, and prohibits them from wandering in corridors, classrooms or other areas. Violations of school rules will be severely punished, and the administrator Filch patrols the castle floors every night.

Except for a few red-haired students who regard night tours as a fun adventure to challenge the authority of the administrators, most of the time, the castle will soon become quiet after the lights are turned off.

The quiet castle provides a constant source of inspiration for creation.

Melvin sat behind his desk in the office, closed his eyes and looked up, silently searching through the distant memories deep in his soul, looking for information about escape rooms.

Try to ensure that the lighting in the confined space is dim, but not so dim that you completely lose your vision. You can clearly see clues in the near distance and vaguely see shadow corners. The dim vision can continue to create a sense of tension.

The enclosed space should eliminate noise, and it would be best if they could hear each other's heartbeats and breathing, continuously creating a sense of oppression so that they can detect discordant sounds, such as extra breathing and heartbeats, or the voice of another Harry;
It's best to disperse them. Separation from the group will continue to cause panic and make them suspicious of their returning companions. Consider creating a terrifying association of their companions being replaced...

Melvin clicked the cap of the ballpoint pen, frowned suddenly, and looked up at the door. A burst of hurried footsteps came from the corridor outside the door, from light to clear, and gradually ran away.

"Ok?"

Melvin closed his notebook, stood up, and pushed open the wooden door of his office.

He clearly heard the footsteps running towards the stairs, but he didn't see anyone there. Instead, he saw two familiar faces in the opposite direction. Melvin exclaimed in surprise:

"Headmaster Dumbledore, Mr. Filch?"

In the open space by the window in the corridor, Dumbledore was wearing a dark blue velvet pajamas with silver-thread embroidered stars and moons dotted on the satin. He wore crescent-shaped glasses and had a gentle smile. He did not have the majesty of a legendary wizard, but rather looked like an old man who could not sleep at night and went out for a walk.

The administrator, Argus Filch, stood opposite, holding a dim oil lamp, his back hunched. Although he was skinny, he had a double chin, his loose skin twitched slightly, his brows were tightly furrowed, his pale face looked a little gloomy at night, and his light-colored eyes bulged out, which was a bit scary.

"Principal Dumbledore, I'm absolutely certain that some students have violated school rules and are wandering around the castle at night. Peeves also said so. There are some first-year kids wandering around in the middle of the night. I must catch them!" Filch's voice was fierce and his expression was a little ferocious.

Dumbledore spoke slowly, without any hurry: "Please calm down, Mr. Filch. This may be a prank by Peeves. Don't fall into his trap."

"Even if it's a trap, we should chase them and see what happens." Filch was a little anxious and didn't have the patience to wait for Dumbledore to speak. "Headmaster, they're almost getting away!"

"If you insist..." Dumbledore stepped aside.

Filch immediately chased towards the stairs, followed by a cat named Mrs. Norris. He nodded slightly as he passed Melvin, as a greeting.

Melvin blinked, amused.

After waiting for the administrator to walk away, he slowly walked up to the principal and said, "Good evening, principal."

"good evening."

"The student who was out for the night stroll just now was Potter, right?"

"Hmm..." Dumbledore hesitated for a moment, as if seriously considering this possibility. "It's possible. Or maybe it's just a prank played by Peeves on the caretaker. They never get along."

"They've already broken into that corridor on the fourth floor, haven't they?"

“You mean the students who go out at night…” Dumbledore continued, feigning thought. “If they were being chased and running blindly, they could indeed have stumbled into that place.” “They’ve already gone into that room and seen Fluffy, haven’t they?”

"..."

Dumbledore adjusted the frame of his glasses, realizing he couldn't let Melvin continue his questioning. "Perhaps this is all just a prank played by Peeves on the caretaker. I don't know the details of the matter. I'm just an old man with insomnia. I couldn't sleep, so I got up to take a walk and look at the moon tonight."

"Ah!"

Melvin chuckled. "I worked in a theater for half a year and have seen many professional actors. Principal, your acting is a little poor."

"Really? Professor Keltborn said the same thing..."

Dumbledore's smile grew gentler, and he unknowingly changed the subject: "He used to be the instructor of the school drama club, and he once asked me to help him choreograph a performance for Beedle the Poet's classic 'The Fountain of Good Luck'..."

"It brings back memories. Back then, I was a Transfiguration professor and was vying for the role of the Unlucky Knight. However, my acting skills were outperformed by a fourth-year student, so I ended up being responsible for the stage effects."

Melvin raised an eyebrow: "Then we should still go together?"

"Is such that."

Dumbledore grinned, not caring about his manners at all. "Melvin, please allow me to call you that. Professor Marchbanks once said that you resembled me when I was young, but I must say that you are far better than I was then. Your arrival has added a different kind of vitality to the castle."

"I'm not more handsome than you in terms of appearance."

"I was more handsome back then."

“I doubt it.”

“Your courses are not only about imparting knowledge, but also about teaching them the lessons of life.”

Dumbledore smoothed his beard and smiled, his eyes narrowed. "When I passed by the courtyard this day, I heard the lecture you gave to the two Mr. Weasleys. It was very interesting, especially your insights into the limits of jokes. Neither I nor other professors had ever thought about this before..."

His blue eyes shone with memories: "The Weasley twins have caused a lot of trouble. Sometimes their pranks are beyond the limit. The Gryffindor classmates who are familiar with them can tolerate it, but the students from other colleges in the same grade find it annoying and even have conflicts.

"Molly, that is, Mrs. Weasley, their mother sent several howlers about this, and there were also complaints in the letters she sent to me."

Melvin knew he was trying to change the subject, but since they were once colleagues, he didn't pursue the question of acting. "Their original intention was to bring laughter to a dull life. Even without me, they can slowly grasp the limits and discover the true meaning of pranks."

"It won't be as smooth as it is now. Maybe I'll have to learn some lessons and suffer after I graduate and become an adult."

Dumbledore changed the subject, "Speaking of what happened during the day, you asked them for prank props in order to set up a protective barrier for the Philosopher's Stone, right?"

"Yes."

"I happen to know a place with a lot of old props. Maybe you can find what you want there."

(End of this chapter)