Chapter 39: How can there be such a big difference in the treatment of the same fellow inmates?

At 8:50 p. m., Fred and George emerged from the Gryffindor dormitory with a sigh and made their way to the first floor foyer, followed by a cheerful Fish.

This is Minerva's initiative to let me out for the night!

When the confinement is over, we'll go to the kitchen to get food from Comey and the others!

Fish licked his lips unconsciously and made plans in his mind with glee.

Fred and George looked at Fish, who still had no idea what was in store for him, and sighed again in unison.

They didn't think Fish would betray them, after all, he was still a bit young and it was understandable that he would do something unexpected, and he was so handsome that there was no need for him to be bothered about such a small thing.

Of course it was only Fish, but if it had been his good brother Ronnie or his good brother the Prefect, the two of them would have doubled their revenge.

The three of them went downstairs and saw the four large hourglasses by the main doors, showing the points for each house, and once again the twins sighed helplessly as they saw that there were only a few Gryffindor rubies left.

This time, their plan had gone wrong, and a mere twenty points had not been enough to knock Slytherin out of first place, and they had drained the last of Gryffindor's "assets".

However, Gryffindor was originally last place and there was no difference between zero and one hundred.

The two brothers looked at each other and consoled themselves with self-deception.

They descended the stairs to the Grand Dining Hall on the first floor, where a stern-faced Professor McGonagall awaited them, accompanied by Hogwarts caretaker Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris.

Upon seeing the Weasley twins, Filch looked at them with his big eyes and gave them both a creepy smile , 'You two, at last, are in my hands.'

The twins read it in Filch's expression.

Fred and George shuddered and felt desperate at the thought of the feud between them and Filch over the past two years.

There was no telling what Filch would do to them next.

Stiffly, the twins greeted Professor McGonagall grumpily, "Professor McGonagall..."

Fish, for his part, was as energetic as ever, "Minerva! I'm coming meow! Hurry up with the confinement, I have to find Comey in the kitchen later!"ヽ(●ΦωΦ●)ノ

Professor McGonagall snorted, shot a vicious look at the little cat, and then said to the janitor next to her, "Filch, I'll leave them to you."

Filch's job was to arrange punishments for the students, and the righteous Professor McGonagall wasn't about to overstep her authority, she was only here to make sure Fish had come to accept his punishment obediently.

The question of whether Filch would be merciful to Fish had been overlooked, as Filch had a terrible reputation among the students.

And since Filch had met Fish on the first night of class and had informed the other teachers that he had been partying, Professor McGonagall had unconsciously dismissed that possibility.

"Leave it in my hands, Professor McGonagall," Filch's eyes stayed on the Weasley twins, his smile widening to show his white teeth, "I'll make sure they have a night to remember."

Professor McGonagall nodded in satisfaction and then shot another warning glance at Fish before leaving the foyer and heading for her office.

Upon seeing Professor McGonagall leave, the good boy, Fish, immediately reverted to his bouncy nature and leapt in front of Filch in two strides.

To be precise, he leapt towards Mrs. Norris.

"Meow!"

Mrs. Norris walked over to Filch and rubbed her head against his calf.

Fish bent down and picked Mrs. Norris up in his arms, then gently touched her forehead with the tip of his nose as a gesture of friendship.

"Meow!"

After greeting his best friend, Fish looked up at Filch, "Hello big eyes, so you've come to take me to confinement."

Filch's facial expression instantly changed from frightened to affable as the twins looked on in horror, nodding at Fish.

"Yes, that's my job," With a soft smile on his face that the other students had never seen before, he conversed with Fish amiably.

Fred rubbed his eyes hard and repeatedly until they were red, and nothing changed.

George, for his part, pinched his thighs hard, but couldn't wake up from that unreal dream.

Even though they already knew that Fish and Filch were on good terms, this was too much!

"Fred, I suspect I may have inadvertently eaten psychedelic mushrooms at dinner," said George.

"That's amazing, George, because I had the same feeling you did," said Fred.

The two brothers had to accept the dreamlike reality after confirming with each other over and over again: that this Filch could be so kind to a student!

Even if it was dear Fish, this was too much to take in!

"You two, come with me," After finishing talking to Fish, Filch raised the oil lamp in his hand, returned to his dead face and said coldly to George and Fred.

George and Fred were relieved to see that Filch was still treating them so coldly, for the kindly face he had just put on was so out of place that they suspected they had been under the Imperius Curse.

Fish followed Filch with Mrs. Norris in his arms, and Fred and George, still in a trance, stared at him for a few moments before following him with incredulous faces.

Filch led the three of them into the Potions classroom, which was filled with five huge cauldrons, filled with some sort of blue insects that reflected a brilliant lapis lazuli glow in the light of the oil lamps.

"You're in luck," Filch's chagrined voice rang in the twins' ears, "Professor Snape needs a lot of Billywig stingers for next week's class, but he's been very busy with other things lately, so he needs two people to get these stingers out of the Billywig's body."

"Even though the bugs are dead, I have to warn you that even with the Billywig bugs dead, the effects of their stings are still there, and if you don't want to spend the next few days delirious, or even floating in the air, you'd better get gloves on," The regret in Filch's voice was audible.

If he could, Filch wouldn't even want to warn the Weasleys about the pesky twins, but if anything went wrong with the two of them due to his deliberate concealment, Dumbledore would hold him responsible as well.

So, albeit reluctantly, Filch relayed Professor Snape's instructions in all sincerity.

After assigning the twins their tasks, Filch turned his head and resumed his gentle smile, "As for you, Fish, Mrs. Loris has lost her appetite a bit lately, so I'd like you to take her to the kitchen, find her something appetizing to eat, and lastly, make sure you're back here by twelve."

"Meow! No problem." Fish slapped his chest, "I've got this!" o(*￣ω￣*)o

With that said, he led Mrs. Norris out of the classroom, muttering as he went, "I like the confinement thing, meow."

With gloves on, Fred and George looked at the dense mass of Billywig bugs before them....

'We like that kind of confinement, too.'