Chapter 156: Dumbledore Means Business!
The group managed to complete all their preparations in just half a day. They set the exploding books on the fifth and sixth floors, perfectly positioned to lure Filch away from the fourth-floor corridor whenever they needed.
With everything ready, they planned to head out together that night for a "collective night tour" of the forbidden corridor. But things took an unexpected turn.
Some older Gryffindors, too impatient to wait for curfew, sneaked up to the fourth floor during the evening meal. Unlike Fred, George, and the others, these students had no plan, no props, and no Marauder's Map—just pure impulse. Predictably, they didn't even manage to get the door open before Filch, lying in wait, caught them red-handed and promptly marched them to Professor McGonagall's office. Gryffindor's hourglass soon lost fifty points.
But that was just the beginning.
Soon afterward, students from Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff started slipping out of their common rooms, each hoping to get a look at the mysterious fourth-floor corridor. Fred and George, who were monitoring the Marauder's Map, were stunned as they watched a steady stream of names appear in the once-quiet corridor.
The situation quickly spiraled out of control. With so many students trying to sneak onto the fourth floor, the professors took action. After a brief discussion, several of them took shifts patrolling near the fourth floor, ready to catch any late-night explorers. Those caught faced the strictest punishment: detention.
The professors turned out to be far more troublesome than Filch.
George attempted to create a distraction by setting off enchanted fireworks on the first floor—fireworks that would bloom when they came into contact with water. Filch, predictably, went storming downstairs at the noise, and Professor McGonagall soon followed, looking severe.
However, as Fred observed the Marauder's Map from the shadows near the second-floor staircase, he sighed. "Professor McGonagall is really going too far."