Justice will be served in the end; the ways of heaven are fair. Don't believe it? Just look up—who has the heavens ever spared?
Allen's own excuse was terrible, but the Ilvermorny professors, unwilling to lose face, used the same flimsy excuse. This only escalated the situation further. Although Allen himself was unharmed, the professors didn't hesitate to officially assign him detention—his actions were far too influential on other students, and that was not good news.
It was anyone's guess how the Ilvermorny professors would react if they knew the truth—would they feel schadenfreude, or come over and strangle Allen on the spot?
For now, everyone present seemed to delight in his misfortune. One by one, his so-called friends approached under the pretense of concern, though their eyes betrayed nothing but mockery—"You just showed off in front of a bunch of girls, huh? Now look at you."
Allen gave them a sharp middle finger in return and went back to enjoying his dessert. Life was already miserable enough; a little sweetness was necessary to save himself.
Nothing could stop me from courting disaster.
This song had effectively become the personal theme for the twin brothers. Why? Because they had accomplished what even Dumbledore hadn't—embarrassing Voldemort to his face, and this was back in their third year, two years ago.
At that time, Voldemort was still hiding at Professor Quirrell's back, taking a full-on snowball assault from the twins—and unable to retaliate.
This was only one of their many exploits. There were countless others, making Mr. Filch's job miserable—not only dealing with ordinary troublemakers but also two boss-level troublemakers among them.
Now, the two Hogwarts prank kings stood before Allen, their faces wearing that familiar "so you've met your match" expression. Compared to them, Allen had gotten into fights plenty, but thanks to his skill, he hadn't been punished nearly as often.
"Hey—Allen, congratulations on earning Hogwarts' first detention for external exchange! Even before those troublemakers from last night. You're officially famous now."
"That's right, mate. You stole our glory, but we're still here to congratulate you—oh, and share a little discovery we made," George added, casually draping an arm over Allen's shoulder, speaking the second part in a quieter tone.
If the twins treated something with seriousness, it was never trivial—their luck and insight into mischief were maxed out.
Sure enough, seeing no one around, they whispered their discovery to Allen.
"We've been here a full week. You've seen these classrooms—they're made entirely of stone. Honestly? They look pretty nice. But Hogwarts is still better."
"You know, Hogwarts has countless secret passages. We were thrilled when we discovered them ourselves."
"Exactly—the best part? We got our hands on the Marauder's Map, which we're giving to you now. It's helped us tremendously."
The twins spoke in turn, leaving Allen puzzled—what exactly did they mean?
Suddenly, a thought struck him: if Hogwarts had so many magical secrets, surely this school would have them too.
Seeing Allen's face light up with realization, the twins smiled knowingly.
"That's right—exactly what you're thinking. We found secret passages here too, and even a group of like-minded folks," George said, subtly pointing to a wooden cabin in the distance.
"See that? That's their club. Officially, they call themselves the Riddle-Breakers Club, claiming to solve all wizarding puzzles and ciphers. But privately? Their favorite pastime is exploring secret passages on campus."
"Though there were a few minor conflicts at first, we quickly realized we shared the same dream—we're all striving to explore the unknown."
Allen could only respond with an emphatic respect.
So that's why the twins had been acting so mysterious—they were returning to their old expertise.
Their confidence was well-earned. Back in second year, when they snuck into the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid had been at his wit's end.
Even Argus Filch, who had lived at Hogwarts for years, didn't know as many secret passages as the twins did. As far as Allen knew, they even discovered passages the Marauder's Map didn't show. This was nothing short of heroic.
Allen had assumed their brilliance was limited to Hogwarts—but clearly, even at a foreign school, the twins remained formidable. Gold, after all, always shines.
When Hogwarts later participated in the Triwizard Tournament, they had utterly no competitors—an example of just how capable these two were.
And not just in skill—their charisma was immense. Anyone else discovering outsiders probing their secrets would have been furious. Yet the twins' charm and expertise won over the local group, who even accepted them as part of their circle. That was almost cheating.
"Listen, Allen—normally they wouldn't let us recruit anyone, but your advanced magical skills and exploratory spirit impressed their leader. They're now asking us to invite you to join, to explore this ancient campus together. By Merlin, isn't that amazing?"
This… can actually happen?
Allen didn't know whether to praise their judgment or downplay it, but joining the club was a no-brainer.
Exploration—there was no greater joy for a wizard.
Suddenly, the gloom from his sudden detention vanished. Detention, after all, meant work under his professor—no big deal. Today, the real adventure awaited!
Eager, Allen quickly arranged a meeting time and location with the twins, then rushed to the castle—he still had to squeeze in some sleep.
While he was calm, others weren't. In the infirmary, injured professors had private rooms and gathered around the headmaster's bedside.
"This time we suffered a huge loss—but we can't just accept it. I don't believe a wizard of that strength could appear out of nowhere—or that they came all this way just to help that Auror."
"So, mobilize all our connections. Search the nearby wizarding district—every single one. I won't believe such a powerful wizard could appear without leaving a trace!"