When Aileen and the others left the kitchen, it was already very late.

Fortunately, tonight they didn't have to worry about being caught by Filch on their way back to the dormitories. After waving goodbye to the friendly caretaker, the students headed towards their respective common rooms, each carrying a small bag of biscuits.

After the small dinner party, Argus Filch's relationship with the students seemed to have improved a bit.

The expression on the old man's face was not as stern and rigid as before. Even the Weasley twins, whom he had disliked the most over the years, received a slight nod in response when they waved goodbye to him.

In fact, this was not surprising.

At this point in time, George and Fred were merely annoying, far from being considered enemies.

After all, the Weasley twins had only just completed their second year at Hogwarts.

Moreover, while the Weasley twins might be the most troublesome duo among the current Hogwarts students, they were certainly not the most difficult for Argus Filch to deal with.

The ones who truly left a deep impression on the old man were the Marauders – James Potter and his friends – whom he encountered a few decades ago (around 1970), shortly after he took over as caretaker.

In a way, thanks to Mrs. Weasley's upbringing and the exemplary behavior of Charlie, Bill, and Percy, the twins had not gone astray.

Even though George and Fred often bickered with Percy (perhaps because Percy Weasley was the only one in their family who didn't fly so high), they still showed him due respect and affection.

Compared to the arrogant, conceited, and prank-loving Marauders, the Weasley twins, also from a pure-blood wizarding family, were much more well-behaved. At least they were mischievous, not malicious.

It was hard to imagine how Argus Filch, a Squib, had coped with the "harmless" magical pranks of the young wizards for so long.

Even so, Filch had always adhered to the "Hogwarts rules," which was enough to make people think deeply. Unlike the simple distinction between good and bad people in childhood, rereading the Harry Potter series as an adult reveals some previously overlooked beautiful aspects of human nature.

For example, Harry's relatives, the Dursleys, and the caretaker, Argus Filch…

"Mr. Filch is actually a remarkable person. It must have been quite difficult for him all these years," Aileen murmured, glancing at the somewhat hunched figure ahead.

"What did you say?" Filch suddenly stopped.

The old man didn't seem to hear clearly and frowned after a few seconds.

"It's nothing, Mr. Filch, good night," Aileen shook her head lightly, turned around, and took Luna's hand, walking towards the Hufflepuff common room.

"Ahem, go back early! If I find you wandering around the school at night, don't expect me to turn a blind eye."

Under the torchlight, Argus Filch's shadow stretched long.

Mrs. Norris's small figure darted out from somewhere, squatting at the feet of the old caretaker, watching the departing young wizards warily, seemingly ready to begin tracking them at any moment.

Aileen glanced at the Maine Coon, which seemed to have gained a little weight. She smiled slightly. It seemed that Argus Filch had indeed followed her advice and improved Mrs. Norris's diet.

Indeed, only after growing up can one understand and cherish the beauty of fairy tales.

Unfortunately, most people are not lucky enough to return to the beautiful fairy tales of their past…

…

This was perhaps the most restful night's sleep Aileen had had since entering Hogwarts.

She didn't dream at all that night.

With the successful launch of the first issue of *The Quibbler*, whether it was the magical food kingdom based on *A Bite of Hogwarts*, or the academic ivory tower that began with *Exploring Magic*, everything was starting to get on track.

On the other hand, after several weeks of studying magic, Aileen was confident in her magical talent and her ability to learn and master magical knowledge, which was no less than that of any top wizard.

As for the Gringotts-Bear strategy several months later, with Gellert Grindelwald's active participation, the whole plan became much more reliable and solid. This meant that Hogwarts could exert a greater influence in the future than expected, and the plan's error tolerance was also much higher.

As for a certain ugly soul possessing the back of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's head, who had repeatedly left the Dark Lord chat group due to emotional outbursts… Sorry, Aileen had never been anxious about this factor from the beginning.

She woke up to the faint light of dawn.

Aileen turned her head and looked at the badger alarm clock on her bedside, sighing with a somewhat complicated expression.

It was still not even seven o'clock, as always.

If nothing unexpected happened, the biological clock she had deliberately cultivated in the orphanage to make breakfast for the other children would not be reversed in the short term. She wondered if Father had continued to supervise the children to do a set of math exercises and recite a good poem every day after she left.

Just then, Aileen suddenly heard a rustling sound next to her.

Aileen turned her head, and in the dim light, she met a pair of bright eyes – Luna was also awake.

Well, now Aileen had no reason to persuade herself to sleep any longer.

After staring at Luna Lovegood for about ten seconds, Aileen raised her finger and quietly pointed to the clothes placed by the bed. The two silently put on their wizard robes and walked out of the quiet Hufflepuff dormitory one after the other.

Hogwarts Castle was exceptionally quiet in the early morning. The suits of armor along the corridors were all sleeping, and not a single person could be seen.

Aileen held Luna's hand and wandered around the castle aimlessly for a while, then suddenly realized something was wrong. She stopped abruptly, looking at the little girl who had been quietly looking around with an embarrassed smile.

"Do you want to see the sunrise, Luna?"

"Mm-hmm."

"I want to too, so um, could you take me to the Ravenclaw Tower… I don't know the way. Also, do you know where we are now?"

"Mm-hmm… um?! Oh."

Luna glanced at the embarrassed white-haired ball of fluff with a rather strange expression. She couldn't help but recall the secret Hermione had whispered to her a few days ago when they were playing with unicorns.

She didn't expect Aileen to be a really bad at directions—how pitiful, she must have been bitten by a lot of horseflies when she was little.

Thinking of this, Luna Lovegood's eyes filled with sympathy, and she nodded seriously like a little adult.

"It's okay, Aileen, I know the way."

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Gu Ya! Chapter Two!

Going to sleep, gu! Asking for monthly tickets! Asking for chapter comments, ya!

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