At night, the weather is slightly cool. Even staying in Hogwarts castle will be a little cold, making people feel the coming of autumn.

Some of the portraits on the corridor wall are napping, some are whispering with the people next door, and others seem to have gone out to visit the door. Only the background is left in the painting.

On the eighth floor, in the Gryffindor common room, the students have all gone back to the dormitory to sleep. Only the afterfire in the fireplace is flashing a faint red light, which dimly illuminates the whole lounge.

As Harry and Ron crept past an armchair, they suddenly heard someone talking there.

"I can't believe you did that, Harry."

A light flashed. It was Hermione Granger. She wore a pink nightgown and frowned at them.

She looks in a bad mood.

"You!" said Ron angrily. "Go back to bed!"

"I almost told your brother," Hermione replied impolitely. "Percy - he's a prefect and he'll stop it."

Harry couldn't believe there were such nosy people.

"Let's go," he said to Ron. He pushed aside the portrait of the fat lady and climbed in through the hole.

Hermione won't give in so easily. She followed Ron into the cave, lowered her voice like an angry goose and shouted at them.

"Don't you care about Gryffindor, just yourself? I don't want Slytherin to win the College Cup again, and I don't want you to lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall with the transfer spell!"

"Go away," Ron said impatiently.

"Well, but I warn you, when you take the train home tomorrow, don't forget what I said. You're so --" Hermione said, turning to the portrait of the fat lady and trying to drill back, but she found that the picture she was facing was empty.

Fat lady probably went out to visit at night.

"Oh, what shall I do now?" she said in a sullen voice.

"That's your problem," said Ron. "We have to go. We're going to be late."

But before they reached the end of the corridor, Hermione had hurried up.

"I'll go with you!" she looked reluctant.

"You're not allowed to go," Ron refused immediately.

"Do you think I'd like to go? If I don't, will I stand here and wait for filch to catch me? If he finds out -"

"... let's go together."

While Hermione was still talking, a voice suddenly appeared in the shadow of the corner of the corridor, which startled everyone present.

"Marca! And Neville?" the three narrowed their eyes together to see who was there.

Maka ignored the three of them and covered Neville's mouth.

"Why are you surprised? I've always been next to you!" Maka whispered.

"I... I thought it was Filch's voice." Neville said weakly after makasson started.

"Why are you here?" Ron asked curiously, looking at them.

"Neville forgot the password for the lounge," Marca said. "As for me, I'm going to come out and relax and move my muscles and bones."

"You know, I've been studying courses and it's time to have a rest. It's bad not to exercise all the time. My body will rust."

"Maka! Are you going to break the school rules too!" Hermione widened her eyes when she heard the speech. She was greatly shocked by Maka's speech.

Maka smiled teasingly at her and said, "Hermione, aren't you going with me?"

"That's because -"

"Well, well, don't worry too much. It's a foregone conclusion that Harry and Ron are going. As your friends, I naturally have to share joys and sorrows with you." Marca patted Hermione on the shoulder. She looked quite delicate and lovely in her pajamas.

"Oh, you have to keep warm. It's autumn and it's a little cold at night." he took off his hospital robe and gently draped it over Hermione.

"Well, thank you." Hermione looked at her robe and swallowed her complaint.

"Sure enough, it's still a child, and her face doesn't blush." Marca looked at Hermione, who turned to preach to Ron and them, and said it was interesting.

Ron looked at his watch, stared at Hermione angrily, then turned his head, put on a happy expression and said, "it would be great if Marca could come together. You can always help Fred and George avoid their mother's sight, and maybe help us avoid filch... Oh, and his damn cat!"

When Maka heard this, she shrugged. "It's not difficult to fool filch, but Mrs. Loris can't hide. Animals always have a keen sense, especially cats."

Saying this, he suddenly took out a small glass bottle from his arms and showed a smile.

"Of course, there are always ways."

"I knew you always had one way or another!" Ron looked at Hermione proudly, as if showing off that he had a useful friend.

Hermione opened her mouth, but did not speak after looking at Marca.

They walked briskly along the corridor. The moonlight came in from the high window and lay across the ground, looking like a unique magic carpet.

At every turn, Harry thought he was going to hit filch or Mrs. loris. But fortunately, I don't know whether they are lucky or because Maka has any means. In short, everything went well when they hurried down the stairs to the third floor and walked into the prize showroom.

There are no Malfoy or Crabbe here.

The crystal glass cabinet displaying the prizes glittered under the moonlight projected from the window. In the dark, trophies, shields, medals and statues glittered with silver and gold, and silk ribbons were windless in the air.

Maka looked at the award-winning nameplates one by one curiously, with their respective reasons for winning awards on them - he was wondering whether he should win a prize or not, which would certainly provide some convenience for his study and research.

The other four were less relaxed. They moved forward against the wall and stared at the doors at both ends of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy suddenly rushed in and dueled with him.

Time passed minute by minute, and no one appeared.

"He's late. Maybe he's afraid to come," Ron whispered, but he didn't want a voice from the next room to make them jump.

Harry had hardly raised his wand when he heard someone talking - it wasn't Malfoy.

"Smell everywhere, honey, they may be hiding in some corner." filch was talking to Mrs. loris.

Harry was so frightened that he wildly waved his wand at the people and told them to follow him as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, Maka walked closer to filch with a bad smile. There was almost only one door between them.

In the frightened eyes of others, Maka took out his little bottle again. After holding his breath, he carefully unscrewed the cork without making a sound.

"Oh, baby! Where are you going -" just outside the door, filch cried out in surprise, and then hurried away anxiously after Mrs. loris, who had run away for some reason.

"Great! What kind of potion is this?" Ron came up admiringly and sneezed immediately. "Oh, what's the smell?"

Maka hurriedly put back the cork of the oak bottle, and then walked away for two steps with a sigh.

"This is not a magic medicine, it's just a volatile liquid prepared slightly. It has a strong pungent smell, which is quite effective for animals with sensitive sense of smell."

"Is it the secretion of Gulag rattlesnake?" Hermione also smelled the residual smell in the air and covered her nose.

"Not only that, but also adjust the formula of decomposition and neutralization, otherwise the taste won't disperse for several days." Maka smiled. "It tastes too strong and will leave criminal evidence."

"So, you've already planned to break the school rules!" Hermione finally couldn't help complaining in a low voice. "You can't do this. You've got enough points for Hufflepuff."

"I don't care about the College Cup. Honor doesn't mean everything," Marca said with a smile. "Moreover, there is always a college to be at the bottom. I think it's well matched with Hufflepuff's low-key purpose."

"You can't do that!" Hermione seemed dissatisfied with Maka's idea.

Suddenly, Marka waved to stop Hermione from talking.

"Someone, filch is back." Marca listened carefully with her head sideways, and then whispered.

"Oh, why don't you try that bottle again?" said Ron subconsciously.

"I think we'd better run first!" Marca shook her head and took the lead in running in the dark corridor.

They rounded the gatepost and ran through one corridor after another. Maka felt that his sense of direction had become worse in this dark environment - he couldn't figure out where he was.

"Oh, we're coming to the curse class." Hermione looked at the classroom door not far away and gasped.

"I think we've got rid of him," said Harry gasping. He leaned against the cold wall and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Neville bent over, panting and wheezing.

"I think you should also exercise more." this burst of fierce running only made Maka's breathing sound a little thicker. Teenagers living alone at the bottom of society will not die because they have run a few steps.

"I told you," said Hermione intermittently, gasping and grasping the seam of her chest. "I told you."

"We have to go back to the Gryffindor tower," Ron said. "The sooner the better."