Headmaster Phineas Black and Headmaster Dexter Fortescue were still enthusiastically debating whether an Invisibility Cloak or the Disillusionment Charm was better suited for sneaking around the castle at night.
But Jon couldn't wait for them to reach a conclusion… It was already close to ten o'clock, which meant he had been patrolling the castle for over an hour. Any longer and someone was bound to get suspicious.
He quickly bid the Headmasters goodnight, slipped past the stone creature—now sound asleep—and reappeared in the castle hallway.
Of course, his mind was still turning over everything the two Headmasters had said.
In reality, neither an Invisibility Cloak nor the Disillusionment Charm would help him at all. As the leader of a group of quasi-death eaters and one of Umbridge's most watched lackeys, he was under constant surveillance; the idea of finding free time was nearly impossible.
Even late at night was no good. Besides himself, there were five other Slytherin boys in the dormitory—two of them quasi-Death Eaters.
If they discovered he was missing in the middle of the night, suspicion would be unavoidable.
Slytherin, after all, wasn't like Gryffindor; they didn't have a proud tradition of sneaking out after hours.
At a time like this, raising Umbridge's suspicion—even slightly—would be disastrous.
This was going to be tricky…
...
Jon had only walked a short distance down the corridor when he ran into two seventh-year Gryffindors.
Fred and George Weasley were whispering in front of the portrait of the Troll Bashing the Panama Goblin on the eighth floor, clearly plotting something.
"What are you two doing?" Jon demanded loudly, putting on an arrogant look. "It's late—why aren't you back in the dorms? Gryffindor, minus… minus… oh forget it, add five points. Looks like there aren't any left to deduct anyway."
Fred Weasley looked furious, as though he might draw his wand right there—but George Weasley grabbed his arm and held him back.
The twins cast Jon a pair of murderous looks before turning and heading for the Gryffindor common room.
Jon relaxed the hand he'd been keeping on his wand inside his pocket. A thought suddenly struck him—
If he remembered correctly, shortly after Dolores Umbridge became Headmistress, the Weasley twins left Hogwarts entirely, leaving behind chaos in their wake…
But that wasn't the important part. In the original story, right before leaving, the twins had stuffed Montague—a sixth-year Slytherin—into the Vanishing Cabinet on the second floor. The poor boy had been trapped inside for weeks before he managed to escape, since the cabinet was broken…
...
A few minutes later, Jon returned to the Slytherin common room.
Just as he expected, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and the rest of his "inner circle" were waiting there.
"What took you so long, Christopher?" Pansy Parkinson asked curiously. "Did something happen?"
"The Weasley twins from Gryffindor look like they're planning something," Jon said calmly. "I intercepted them, so I was delayed."
"Those two are nothing but trouble," Malfoy muttered.
"By the way, is Montague here?" Jon asked.
"He is!" A huge figure rose from one of the armchairs—the low-profile Montague from the Knights of Walpurgis. "What's going on, Christopher?"
"I thought I heard the Weasley brothers mention your name…" Jon said casually. "I just wanted to make sure they hadn't targeted you. It's fine."
"Oh. Alright." Montague grunted and sat back down.
"Everyone get some rest," Jon announced, then added softly—as if only to himself, "Tomorrow, I'll make sure to find out exactly what the Weasley twins are plotting…"
His voice was quiet, but Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle heard him clearly.
...
The next morning—three days after Dumbledore's departure—
Harry Potter exited the Gryffindor common room, still weighed down with guilt. He knew perfectly well that if he and Hermione hadn't recklessly created "Dumbledore's Army," Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have been forced to leave.
Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger followed behind him. They had just reached the bottom of the stairs when they ran into Fred and George Weasley hurrying toward them.
Both twins were visibly excited.
"What's got you two so cheerful?" Harry asked.
"Just this morning, that Slytherin Christopher Patrick tried to dock our points," George Weasley said.
"What do you mean 'tried'?" Ron asked, confused.
"Because he didn't get the chance to finish," Fred said. "We shoved him straight into the Vanishing Cabinet headfirst, on the second floor."
"That same broken one from our fourth year," George added. "Sometimes it shows up in the second-floor corridor, then vanishes to who-knows-where, and only comes back weeks later."
Hermione's eyes widened. "You two are going to be in enormous trouble—"
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Umbridge really trusts that Patrick."
"Not until he shows up again. Could take weeks—I have no idea where we sent him," Fred said coolly. "Anyway, we've decided we're done worrying about trouble."
"Have you ever worried?" Hermione demanded.
"Of course," George said. "We've never been expelled, have we?"
"We always knew where the line was."
"We might step a toe over it sometimes."
"But we always stop before things get out of hand."
Fred and George took turns finishing each other's sentences.
"So what about now?" Ron asked nervously.
"Now that Dumbledore's gone, we're in real trouble as it is!" George said with a cold grin. "So we've decided to give Umbridge an even bigger surprise!"
"Exactly," Fred agreed.
...
"I don't know what they're planning, but it can't be good," Ron said worriedly once the twins left. "If they get expelled, Mum will blame me!"
But Hermione didn't seem to be listening.
"Fred and George…" she murmured, almost to herself. "They stuffed that Slytherin Patrick into the Vanishing Cabinet?"
For some reason, that detail made her uneasy.