Snape's nostrils flared with anger. The look he shot at Richard and the twins was so sharp that, had it been tangible, it would have sliced the three boys into neat little pieces.
"Well, well..." he hissed furiously. "Who went through there? Where does that passage lead?"
Fred and George widened their eyes and, with remarkable skill and utter conviction, put on expressions of complete bewilderment.
"What secret passage?" Fred asked.
"Who went through? Went where?" George echoed.
"Fifty points from each of you!" Snape hissed furiously. "Fifty from Hufflepuff and a hundred from Gryffindor! If you don't answer me, you'll be expelled from Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'!"
The professor's furious gaze settled on Grosvenor. Richard shivered inwardly and had to summon every ounce of self-control to restore his calm expression.
"I don't understand what you're talking about, sir," he said with a shrug.
"Something improper is going on here," Snape drawled. "We'll wait until your accomplices return, and then we'll go straight to the Headmaster."
"Accomplices?" Fred repeated slowly.
"Ours?" George echoed.
"Wait?" Richard asked. "For whom, sir? Did you imagine something? There's nobody here except us, and there hasn't been anyone else..."
"Such childish tricks won't help you," Snape drawled with a nasty hiss. "Stand exactly where you are, and don't even think about moving!"
The Potions professor pointed his wand at the statue of the One-Eyed Witch and began casting spell after spell upon it.
Richie hoped the detective was listening to everything happening in the corridor through the wizardphone. If he and his companions hurried, together with their captive rat, they would make it beyond the Hogwarts grounds in time to use the Portkey.
Snape continued casting. With each failed spell, he grew more irritated and more enraged. The statue had been enchanted with exceptional thoroughness.
When the Potions professor finally realized all his attempts were futile, he flicked his wand.
"Expecto Patronum."
A silvery, translucent doe, ghostlike in appearance, sprang from the tip of his wand. Snape addressed it.
"Albus, come to the corridor by the One-Eyed Witch. We have a most flagrant case of indiscipline."
The moment he finished speaking, the spectral doe vanished.
Richard, Fred, and George exchanged glances. Fred winked at Richard and gave the slightest shake of his head, signalling that they should deny everything and play dumb. Richie caught the hint and answered with an almost imperceptible dip of his chin.
After about ten agonizing minutes of waiting, during which Snape continued to bore into the students with his oppressive stare, Headmaster Dumbledore arrived at the statue of the One-Eyed Witch. His long silver beard fluttered as he walked, and a mysterious smile played upon the old wizard's lips. He swept an attentive gaze over the students before asking in a quiet voice that nevertheless carried unmistakable strength,
"Severus, what happened?"
"Headmaster, I saw a secret passage open behind the statue of the One-Eyed Witch. Several students went through it before my very eyes. I'd swear one of them was an upper-year Hufflepuff. These three students tried to prevent me from apprehending the rule-breakers. I'm certain they know where the secret passage leads."
Dumbledore studied the three boys for a moment before asking in his usual genial manner,
"Boys, do you know where this secret passage leads?"
All three shook their heads in perfect unison. Then Fred replied in a voice of absolute sincerity,
"What secret passage? We've never heard of one."
"That's right," George confirmed with the air of a righteous man. "We didn't see any students, Professor Dumbledore. Honest!"
"Headmaster, they're lying!" Snape said, glaring at the students with contempt.
Looking over the tops of his half-moon spectacles at the Hufflepuff, Dumbledore asked,
"And what do you have to say, Mr. Grosvenor?"
"I'm sorry, Headmaster Dumbledore," Richard said calmly with a shrug. Entirely certain that he had seen adults and a rat, he answered truthfully. "Other than George and Fred, I didn't see any students at all. I was simply standing by the staircase when Professor Snape suddenly started asking me rather strange questions, like why I was standing there. Am I not allowed to stand there? It's not a forbidden place to stand and daydream, and curfew hasn't begun yet... Then Professor Snape suddenly ran toward the statue of the One-Eyed Witch. I thought something had happened, so I ran after him. Professor Snape started questioning us about some students and some secret passage, took fifty points from each of us, and even threatened to expel us from school. We had no idea what he was talking about."
Professor Snape's anger continued to boil over. His nostrils flared even wider, the muscles in his jaw twitched furiously, and his stare became so fierce and burning that it seemed capable of scorching a hole straight through the young earl.
While both the Headmaster's and the professor's attention was fixed on Richard, George winked at Grosvenor, and Fred discreetly gave him a thumbs-up.
Headmaster Dumbledore listened to Richard with the patient air of a kindly old man. Then he turned to the twins.
"And what do you boys have to say?"
"Headmaster, that's exactly how it happened!" Fred declared enthusiastically.
"Exactly how it happened!" George declared with the air of a saintly martyr.
"Headmaster, these miscreants are lying to you!" Snape spat furiously. "Let's wait for the rule-breakers to come back and catch them red-handed."
The Headmaster gave a slight shake of his head and replied in a soothing tone,
"Severus, how much work do you have? Twenty-four lessons a week, marking homework, brewing potions for the Hospital Wing, patrolling the corridors, serving as Head of House... Severus, perhaps you ought to get some rest."
Snape was speechless with indignation.
"Headmaster, are you suggesting I imagined it?! I saw the rule-breakers with my own eyes. I'm certain these insolent boys are leading us by the nose! We should question them properly."
"Severus, but there are no rule-breakers here, and the boys have done nothing wrong," Dumbledore replied gently. "Severus, go and get some rest. Boys, return to your common rooms."
Hardly believing their luck, Fred, George, and Richie hurried toward the staircase. All three were inwardly rejoicing that they had escaped with so little trouble.
"Phew!" Fred let out a relieved sigh. "That could've gone a lot worse."
"Richard, you were brilliant!" George said, clapping Grosvenor on the shoulder. "We got out of that neatly."
"Yeah..." Richie slipped a hand into his pocket and raised phone to his ear. "Mr. Potter, did you hear everything?"
(End of Chapter)
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