Adam had never seen New York at four in the morning.
But tonight, he was witnessing Hogwarts at one in the morning.
The ancient castle looked completely different after midnight.
The warm, lively atmosphere from daytime had vanished entirely.
Long corridors stretched endlessly beneath flickering torchlight, while shadows danced across the cold stone walls.
The portraits slept inside their frames, occasionally snoring softly, and distant gusts of wind howled faintly through the windows.
The entire castle felt mysterious.
And slightly terrifying.
At the moment, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger stood frozen in the middle of one of those dim corridors.
Their mouths were hanging open.
Their arms flailed frantically.
Yet not a single sound emerged from them.
Adam looked calmly at the three silent Gryffindors.
“Now,” he said quietly, “I’m going to lift the spell.
But all of you need to stay quiet.
Understood?” The three nodded so quickly that it almost looked painful.
Adam raised his wand.
“Finite Incantatem.” The silencing spell immediately disappeared.
Ron was the first to test whether his voice had returned.
“…Can we talk now?” Harry and Hermione instantly turned toward him.
“Yes!” “I heard you!” Relief flooded Ron’s face.
For several terrifying seconds earlier, the three of them had genuinely believed they had somehow lost the ability to speak forever.
Adam crossed his arms.
“Alright,” he said calmly.
“Now explain something to me.” “Why are the three of you sprinting through Hogwarts corridors in the middle of the night?” Ron immediately tried to defend himself.
“We weren’t running!” Then he remembered where they were.
His voice instantly dropped to a whisper.
“…Okay, maybe we were running a little.” Adam stared at them silently.
Harry sighed.
“It’s because of Malfoy.” That explanation alone already clarified half the situation.
Apparently, during Flying Class earlier that day, Draco Malfoy and Harry had gotten into an argument.
The conflict escalated until Malfoy challenged Harry to a wizard’s duel at midnight inside the Trophy Room.
Naturally, Harry accepted.
And naturally, Ron insisted on coming along.
Hermione, despite repeatedly saying the entire idea was idiotic, followed them anyway because she was worried they’d get caught and lose Gryffindor points.
Unfortunately, when the three arrived at the Trophy Room, Draco never showed up.
Instead, they heard footsteps nearby and panicked, assuming Filch had discovered them.
So they ran.
And while fleeing blindly through the corridors, they crashed directly into Adam.
“…That really does sound stupid,” Adam concluded honestly.
Ron looked offended.
“It’s Malfoy’s fault!” Harry nodded in agreement.
“Completely his fault.” Adam thought for a moment.
“Actually,” he said, “the footsteps probably weren’t Filch.” The trio blinked.
“What?” “I just saw Filch patrolling the fifth floor,” Adam explained.
“So unless he learned teleportation overnight, it shouldn’t have been him.” The Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library was located on the fifth floor.
Originally, Adam had planned to sneak into the library tonight and investigate several books he couldn’t access during normal hours.
Unfortunately, the moment he arrived upstairs, he spotted Filch and Mrs.
Norris patrolling nearby.
Rather than risk immediate discovery, Adam temporarily retreated downstairs to wait for a better opportunity.
And that was how he accidentally encountered the fleeing Gryffindor trio.
“If it wasn’t Filch…” Hermione said slowly, “…then whose footsteps did we hear?” Adam shrugged slightly.
“Probably another student wandering around at night.” After all, Hogwarts students loved breaking curfew.
Especially Gryffindors.
What none of them knew was that, at this very moment, two figures were hiding inside a secret passageway nearby, laughing so hard they could barely breathe.
Fred and George Weasley had orchestrated the entire situation perfectly.
Malfoy’s duel challenge?
A trap from the beginning.
The twins had informed Filch anonymously beforehand, ensuring maximum chaos.
Unfortunately for them, Harry escaped before Filch arrived.
Ron clenched his fists angrily.
“This is all Malfoy’s fault.” “Yes,” Hermione whispered immediately.
“Because I distinctly remember warning you not to come.” Ron instantly became quieter.
Hermione continued mercilessly.
“I warned you in the common room.” “I warned you before curfew.” “And I warned you again before you left.” Ron looked deeply embarrassed.
Harry suddenly found the floor extremely interesting.
Neither boy dared argue.
After several awkward seconds of silence, Ron muttered weakly: “…Still Malfoy’s fault.” Adam almost laughed.
Honestly, Ron’s dedication to blaming Malfoy for everything was genuinely impressive.
Eventually, Adam glanced toward the staircase leading upward.
“It’s late,” he said.
“You three should head back to Gryffindor Tower.” “As for me, I still have something to take care of.” Harry looked curious immediately.
“Take care of what—” Before he could finish speaking, a loud, excited voice suddenly echoed through the corridor.
“Ooooooh!
And what do we have here?” Everyone froze.
A floating figure suddenly appeared upside down in midair beside them.
He had wide eyes, a massive grin, brightly colored clothes, and an expression overflowing with malicious excitement.
Peeves the Poltergeist.
“Four naughty little students wandering the corridors after bedtime!” Peeves sang gleefully.
“How delightful!” Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately paled.
Adam’s expression also became serious.
Unlike ordinary ghosts, Peeves wasn’t technically dead.
He was a poltergeist.
An embodiment of chaos and mischief that had existed inside Hogwarts since the castle’s founding.
Ghosts couldn’t interact physically with objects.
Peeves absolutely could.
And more importantly— He loved causing trouble.
“I’m going to tell Filch!” Peeves announced happily.
“Oh no,” Hermione whispered.
“FILCH!” Peeves screamed at the top of his lungs.
The sound echoed through the corridor like a magical alarm bell.
Adam reacted instantly.
“Peeves,” he interrupted smoothly, “I just saw the Bloody Baron.” Peeves abruptly stopped shouting.
“…What?” “He seemed to be in a very bad mood tonight,” Adam continued seriously.
“In fact, he specifically mentioned that anyone disturbing him would regret it.” The effect was immediate.
Peeves’ expression changed dramatically.
If Dumbledore was the only person in Hogwarts who could officially control Peeves… Then the Bloody Baron was the only one who could terrify him personally.
The Slytherin ghost possessed a frightening reputation even among supernatural beings.
Peeves looked around nervously.
“Lord Baron?” he whispered fearfully.
Adam nodded solemnly.
“That’s right.” Then he added quietly: “Peeves… you wouldn’t want to make the Bloody Baron unhappy, would you?” Peeves visibly shivered.
After several seconds of hesitation, he pointed dramatically at the students.
“…You lot are lucky today!” Then he vanished instantly.
The corridor became silent again.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all released enormous sighs of relief.
“That was close,” Harry whispered.
Ron wiped sweat from his forehead.
“I thought we were dead.” Hermione looked equally shaken.
Unfortunately— Their relief lasted approximately five seconds.
Because from farther down the corridor came the unmistakable sound of footsteps.
Heavy footsteps.
Accompanied by a familiar cat’s meow.
“Mrs.
Norris,” Filch’s unpleasant voice echoed through the darkness, “I could’ve sworn I heard Peeves shouting up ahead…” “Meow~~~” “That useless menace should’ve been thrown out of Hogwarts years ago,” Filch grumbled angrily.
“And those rotten students sneaking around after curfew should be expelled too.” Ron’s face instantly lost all color.
“…It’s actually Filch this time.” Even without Ron saying it, everyone already knew.
This wasn’t a misunderstanding anymore.
Filch was genuinely approaching.
And rapidly.
Adam didn’t hesitate for even a moment.
“Run.” The four of them immediately bolted down the corridor.
Unlike Harry, Ron, and Hermione—who were simply panicking—Adam actually knew where he was going.
Over the past several days, he had already memorized large portions of Hogwarts’ layout.
His plan was simple: Lead everyone toward the first floor or the dungeons, use the moving staircases to confuse Filch, and eventually separate safely.
Unfortunately… Hogwarts apparently had other plans.
The moment they reached the staircase ahead— A familiar floating figure suddenly appeared directly in front of them.
Peeves.
The poltergeist hovered above the stairs with an enormous grin stretched across his face.
“HAH!” His eyes sparkled triumphantly.
“This time,” he declared proudly, “you won’t trick me again!” Behind them, Filch’s footsteps grew louder.
Ahead of them floated a gleeful poltergeist.
And somewhere nearby, Mrs.
Norris was undoubtedly preparing to block their escape route.
Harry looked horrified.
Ron looked ready to faint.
Hermione whispered something that definitely wasn’t appropriate for a first-year student.
Meanwhile, Adam calmly tightened his grip on his wand.
Because suddenly— This situation had become very troublesome indeed.
Give me more motivation!