Chapter 223
Flowers
Chapter 223 Flowers
"Thank you, Professor."
"Is everything really alright? You know you can tell me if you get into any trouble."
"No, Mr. Filch just bought a few crabs from me for cleaning purposes, but everyone misunderstood."
Wade explained the whole thing somewhat helplessly, and Professor Flitwick was relieved.
"I hope you won't be so reckless in the future." Professor Flitwick said to Padma and others, "Be calm and observe before you act."
"I'm sorry, Professor."
Padma lowered her head and said embarrassedly.
After the farce was over, everyone moved their belongings back in a mess. The girls saw that the original crab that loved to blow bubbles was still there, and they felt a sense of joy at having lost something and then found it again.
"Why did you sell the cleaner crabs to Filch?" Harry asked in confusion. "No one likes him, and you don't need the Galleons."
"Although it is refreshing to give him a hard time, wouldn't it be better to have a good relationship with the administrator?"
Michael retorted, "Imagine you were hanging out after curfew and Filch would ignore you."
"Really?" Harry asked wistfully.
"Fake!"
Hermione smacked him on the head with the book containing the school rules.
"Even if Filch turns a blind eye, he will still catch you if he sees you!"
Harry's eyebrows drooped in frustration.
Vader smiled and didn't explain further.
……
After that, when the students saw Filch again, they saw that there were always a few crabs following him - at least two, sometimes as many as six, lined up in a neat row, just like they were following their leader.
Filch no longer yelled hysterically at students when they spilled mud or other dirt on the floor.
On the contrary, he seemed very happy. With a wave of his hand, the crab soldiers rushed forward with a clattering sound and cleaned the floor clean in a short while.
Sometimes students accidentally crushed a slug or exploded a crucible, and the elderly administrator didn't have to climb up a ladder to clean it up.
For cleaning crabs, there is no difference between the roof and the floor, and it does not add any extra workload.
Filch used to hate rainy days because they meant he would have to clean all day long.
But now, he even hoped that it would rain a little more, and then he could stand leisurely by the window and enjoy the feeling of water vapor hitting his face.
The administrator's temper seemed to have suddenly become much better, and the students were a little uncomfortable with it.
The weird feeling when they accidentally made a mess in the hallway and received not yelling and insults but a smile from the administrator was simply creepy.
The bad habits of some slobs were suddenly corrected.
"I used to think there was nothing worse than Filch's roar, but now I realize I was wrong—"
A Gryffindor said to his companion in a deep tone: "What's worse is Filch's smile."
His companion nodded in agreement: "When he smiled at me, I got goose bumps."
……
Filch didn't take the students' comments to heart.
He showed off his crabs to every corner of Hogwarts, and watched with satisfaction as everywhere they passed became clean and shiny.
However, although the cleaning crab is easy to use, as a semi-finished product, it sometimes has some minor faults, and Filch can only ask Wade for help to repair it.
After a while, the two became really familiar with each other, and Filch even entertained Wade in his own cabin like a guest.
You know, even Dumbledore didn't get an active invitation from the administrator.
Filch's office was very dark, with only an oil lamp hanging from the ceiling providing a dim light for the room.
There were many filing cabinets standing by the wall. It was said that Filch had more than a thousand boxes of punishment records, but no student had ever had the chance to actually see them. There was also a wall of hinges, handcuffs and other things hanging on it, shining with cold metal under the light. Even if they couldn't be used, just standing there was enough to intimidate timid students.
An orange crab flipped back and forth in Vader's hands.
"The magic pattern circuit is a little worn out, but it's not a big problem."
It took Wade only a few minutes to fix the crab. He put it on the ground, and it immediately climbed up, wiping off the few drops of ink on the ground.
Crabs have their own cleaning spell, so even if they clean all day long, they themselves are never stained with dirt.
Filch watched it work with great fondness, and said affectionately, "Thank you, Wade. Omar was hit by a student's spell before, and then he stopped moving... I almost thought it was dead..."
He sniffed, seeming to be still immersed in sadness.
Wade hesitated: "...Omar?"
"Yeah, that's what I named it."
Filch happily introduced the other crabs: "This is Rhett, Peg, Ruby, Stella and Thomas."
"Meow--" Mrs. Loris made a coquettish sound.
"Of course, of course, the most important thing to me is Mrs. Norris," Filch said hurriedly, and reached out to touch the cat's stretched back.
Wade was silent for a moment, decided not to comment on it, and asked, "Why is Mrs. Norris so thin? Is she sick or..."
"…just old." Filch picked up the cat and said sadly, "She's just like me, too old and her appetite has become poor."
"Meow——" Mrs. Norris called softly.
"Of course, even at her age, Mrs. Norris is still as smart and capable as ever, better than many humans."
Filch touched the cat's ears and chin skillfully, then suddenly seemed to remember something and looked up and asked, "By the way, Wade, do you want some flowers?"
"...Flowers?" Vader said.
"Yes."
Filch placed the cat on a chair, stood up and walked to the inner room, which Wade guessed might be his bedroom.
After a while, Filch came out with a few pots of flowers. The colorful flowers were in full bloom, making the narrow cottage look like an oil painting.
"You've been helping me fix crabs a lot during this time, and I don't have much to repay you for that...Recently, Professor Lockhart got a large batch of flowers from somewhere, and as a reward for my help in sorting them out, he agreed to let me keep a few pots for myself."
Filch placed the flower pot on the table in front of Wade and said, "You can take it...you can use it to decorate the house."
"Thank you." Wade didn't refuse him and said with a smile: "I'll put it in the umbrella house. Padma and Michael will definitely like it."
"Well……"
Hearing these two familiar names that had been reported before, Filch hesitated and said:
"Tell your friends not to go outside the school recently, especially those who are not yet in their third year... There are rumors that a few guys who look like dark wizards appeared in Hogsmeade a few days ago."
Wade's expression became slightly serious: "When?"
"Just two days ago... Friday or Saturday, someone said they saw two sneaky guys. There were also a few people wearing black cloaks who looked very dangerous."
Filch tried to recall the few words he heard in the pub. At the time, he thought that this matter had nothing to do with him and didn't pay much attention to it.
Finally he said, "If you want to know, I'll go and ask around."
Vader looked at him for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.
"No need...it would be bad if it put you in any danger."
He paused, then added: "Even if there are dark wizards, they can't enter Hogwarts... I will remind everyone not to run around."
Filch nodded in agreement. "That's right. If you follow the school rules, you won't make mistakes and there won't be any danger. Dumbledore is at Hogwarts. Even... even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named can't hurt you."
Filch did not like Dumbledore's overly lenient management style, but he never doubted the headmaster's ability.
(End of this chapter)