"(°□°;) Tom! A–Are you okay?!"
Ariana was startled by Tom's sudden reaction. Her body—previously no different from that of a living person—flickered faintly and became slightly transparent.
[I'm fine. That noise was just too sudden and too loud. It startled me, that's all. Nothing serious. I'll take you to Dumbledore first, and then we'll come back to see what happened.]
Having already retracted his Spined Dragon Form, Haji Tom shot a vicious glare toward the staircase where the sound had originated. Whoever dared to cause such a disturbance would definitely pay the price for offending him—Tom—especially if their name wasn't Jerry.
"Okay~"
Hearing Tom's suggestion, Ariana—who had originally planned to ask several questions—immediately abandoned the idea. Nothing else mattered as long as she was with her brother.
However, just as they were about to move on, a voice echoed through the corridor.
"Darling, why did you bring me here? Didn't Young Master Draco say someone was going to sneak into the Trophy Room tonight? I clearly heard a commotion just now. If we search a little more, we'll definitely catch those little brats!"
"Meow~"
(We can catch rule-breakers anytime, but my happiness as a cat only happens once in a lifetime!)
"Oh? You're saying those naughty students ran over here? Excellent! I'll catch every last one of them and punish them severely!"
"Meow…"
(Forget it. Talking to you is pointless. The cat owner should just stick to cleaning the litter box…)
Amid the strange "conversation" between the cat's sighs and the man's muttering curses, a haggard old man with thinning hair descended the third-floor staircase, dragging along a scrawny, dull-furred cat.
"No one? Impossible! Madam Norris said she smelled them! They must be hiding somewhere. My dear, sniff carefully and find those troublemakers!"
Filch strained to open his pale, tired eyes and scanned the corridor. Yet he completely failed to notice Tom and Ariana standing quietly only a few steps away.
They were merely covered by a white sheet, their silhouettes standing out clearly in the empty hallway—yet no matter how hard Filch and Madam Norris tried, neither of them detected anything unusual.
Witnessing this unbelievable scene, Ariana's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"That's incredible! Tom, how did you do that?"
"…?"
Although Tom's disguise was extremely effective, the corridor was silent in the dead of night. Even though Ariana's voice was muffled by the magical sheet, it still echoed faintly.
Hearing the sound, Filch lunged straight toward their position like a bloodhound catching a scent.
"Ah!"
Realizing she had made a mistake, Ariana quickly clamped her hands over her mouth and looked at Tom in panic, completely at a loss for what to do.
[Don't worry. Stay still and stay quiet. He won't find us.]
Tom remained perfectly calm. As a comedic existence, his stealth capabilities were on an entirely different level. No ordinary person could see through them—and unless he deliberately revealed himself, even a wizard would fail to notice him.
Sure enough, Filch's wrinkled old face nearly pressed against the sheet itself, yet he still failed to notice anything strange.
After spinning around in confusion several times, Filch scratched his head and shuffled back to his original spot.
"I swear the sound came from here… Could it really have been my imagination? Those wretched children! If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be suffering like this!"
[!!! Tom, you're amazing! Is this magic too?]
Ariana felt so excited she could hardly contain herself—her heart even seemed to beat again.
This time, having learned her lesson, she wrote all her questions onto the whiteboard instead of speaking aloud.
[Is this the Disillusionment Charm? Mom taught me about it before. I can't believe you can cast spells without incantations—or even a wand!]
Tom failed to notice that as Ariana finished writing, their figures flickered briefly before returning to normal.
Before he could reply, a new "visitor" suddenly emerged from the nearby wall.
"There are students wandering the Charms corridor after curfew! Filch, why aren't you catching them?"
It was Peeves—the poltergeist who had chased the students down from upstairs. He had originally planned to team up with Filch to catch those troublemakers—especially the ones who had dared to punch him—but instead he found Filch sprinting all the way from the fourth floor to the second.
"Those students… huh?!"
Their luck had truly run out.
Under the sheet's concealment, even Madam Norris could only sense something strange through smell. She couldn't see the cat or the ghost girl at all.
But Peeves was different.
As Hogwarts' most reckless spirit, he habitually darted through the air and passed straight through walls. From his angle, he completely bypassed the sheet's concealment—and discovered Tom and Ariana hiding underneath.
If it had been just Tom, it might have been fine. Pets didn't need to follow school rules.
But Ariana was standing right beside him.
Although she was technically a ghost, to Peeves she looked no different from a living student—a young witch sneaking out after curfew with her pet.
Immediately, Peeves decided to vent all the frustration caused by the students who had escaped earlier onto Ariana instead.
"Ohohoho! Look what I've found! A young witch wearing an Invisibility Cloak and sneaking out with her pet? Now then… how should I punish you two~?"
"Huh?"
Ariana froze.
A witch?
That word dragged her back to painful memories—the day she had been discovered using magic by Muggle children, and the violent attack that followed.
(Oh no…)
Tom didn't notice the change in Ariana's expression. Nor did he care about being called a "pet" by Peeves. Instead, he quickly assessed their surroundings.
Dumbledore had once said, "If you're not caught, you can ignore the school rules."
Which meant the reverse was also true.
'(╬￣dish￣) If we're caught, we're done for! And I absolutely do not want that stinking cat clinging to me!'
Ignoring Filch for the moment, Tom noticed Madam Norris sprinting toward them, her green eyes glowing with unsettling excitement.
He felt utterly miserable.
A bit of punishment was acceptable—but being clung to by that lustful cat was absolutely unacceptable.
Behind him was a wall.
Peeves blocked the front.
Filch and Madam Norris were closing in from the left.
To the right lay a dead-end corridor leading toward the Hospital Wing.
There was nowhere left to run.
…Or was there?
'(╬￣dish￣) Just you wait!'
Tom grabbed Ariana—who was still lost in her thoughts—glared fiercely at Peeves, and without the slightest hesitation, charged straight into the painting on the wall behind him.
The next instant felt like passing through a curtain of water.
The cat and the ghost girl vanished.
The white sheet fluttered gently to the floor, empty.
"Where did this sheet come from?" Filch muttered.
"Meow?"
(Where's my husband?!)
"…Humans can walk through walls too?"
Filch, Madam Norris, and Peeves stared blankly at the now-empty corridor, frozen in place.
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