In the wizarding world, many wizards like to hold various balls, especially those ancient pure-blood families, which hold two or three balls every year. For example, birthday balls and Christmas balls have become a fixed event, but the focus of most balls has never been on dancing.

This time was no exception. The music in the office never stopped, but very few people danced.

Most of them just turned around twice symbolically, and then started chatting with people around them with a glass of wine.

It has to be said that Professor Slughorn has a wide network of contacts and has invited many well-known people.

In addition to the famous writer Walper and the vampire Bloody whom Kyle had met before, there was also a professional Quidditch player, current chaser of the Montrose Magpies, Bulwell Holder, and a reporter from the Daily Prophet, who was not Rita Skeeter, but another wizard.

According to Slughorn, he was the one who conducted most of the interviews with people above the level of Director of the Ministry of Magic.

Kyle also saw the owner of Honeydukes Candy Store... That's right, there was a signed photo of Slughorn at his residence, and the school was so close to Hogsmeade, there was no reason not to invite him over.

Even so, Slughorn still seemed to think it was not lively enough. According to him, Halloween was just a simple gathering, and the highlight was Christmas. He also reminded Kyle and Connor not to miss it.

But they have completely different views on this.

The two found an excuse to get rid of Slughorn and came to the beverage area where there were relatively fewer people.

But Kyle came here just to get some peace and quiet and didn't drink anything on the table.

Ever since he found out that someone in school had bought aphrodisiacs, he decided not to touch anything of unknown origin.

"Kyle, I didn't expect you to come too."

A few minutes later, Harry, who had finally gotten rid of Walple's entanglement, also came. He must have said a lot of things, and he directly picked up a glass of butterbeer and drank it in big gulps.

Kyle watched for a moment and was disappointed to find that it was a normal butterbeer.

"How does it feel?" he asked.

"What..." Harry didn't react for a moment, thinking Kyle was talking about this dance. He immediately shook his head and said, "That's terrible. I can't believe Hermione can insist on coming every time."

"Maybe she's used to it." Kyle followed up his words and said, "Why didn't you find an excuse to reject him?"

Like them, Harry kept making various excuses, such as Quidditch practice, because he didn't want to attend Slughorn's dinner party.

As the captain, he was able to arrange training time around dinner parties, and he was able to avoid it many times.

"I'm here with Ron, he's eager to see the ball," said Harry.

"You can invite boys to the dance?"

"Well," Harry nodded, "I just wanted to give it a try, but Professor Slughorn didn't object.

"Oh, by the way, have you seen Ron? I've been looking for him."

"No," Kyle said. "You can go to the other side of the room and look."

"Okay," said Harry, grabbing his glass of butterbeer and heading across the dance floor.

Some time later, Kell met the drunk Professor Sybill Trelawney again.

As one of the professors at Hogwarts and the descendant of the famous prophet Cassandra Trelawney, she is somewhat famous.

Slughorn should have said there was free sherry at the ball, and then she came over.

And Luna, who was discussing with Neville whether Scrimgeour was a hidden vampire, and his secret plot to manipulate the Aurors and use the Gum Disease Curse to bring down the Ministry from within.

Neville acted shocked, but Kyle couldn't help laughing and nearly snorted the mead up his nose.

"The Swelling Gum Curse is something that can be developed. I think it's more useful than locking the tongue and throat." Kyle said with a smile.

As for Scrimgeour's identity as a vampire, that is even more nonsense. If he were a vampire, the huge spyglass in the Auror's office would have been buzzing non-stop.

The fact that no other Ministry of Magic staff has complained about him for disturbing the public is enough to prove Scrimgeour's identity.

I have to say that some of Mr. Lovegood's remarks are quite interesting, and he always brings up some points of view that others would never think of.

If you ignore the logic and just look at the fun, The Quibbler is indeed a good magazine.

Kyle decided to order a copy when he got home so that he could take it out and have fun with it whenever he was bored.

After Luna and Neville left, the party started to get boring again, until there were ten minutes left before curfew...

Kyle thought the dance was over, but Peeves suddenly broke in from outside.

He flew on the ceiling, holding a handful of balloons filled with water in his hands. Without saying a word, he launched an indiscriminate attack on the students below who had not yet reacted.

In an instant, the whole office seemed to be raining.

The room was in chaos as everyone screamed and dodged the water balloons falling from the sky.

"Ha, I always felt like something was missing, but now it's alright." Kyle said with a smile, "After all, how can such a lively place be without Peeves?"

He moved his fingers slightly and threw a flying water ball to another place.

"But Professor Slughorn is still here. Isn't it true that Peeves never dares to mess with a professor?"

"He just doesn't dare to offend the four deans, and the other professors are just giving him face at most." Kyle said, "But he may not be in a good mood tonight.

"Remember what the Fat Friar said at the dinner? Peeves got mad because his pumpkin statue wasn't there, and he went on destroying the armor upstairs.

"I guess that's why he wanted to cause trouble at the dance."

Kyle deflected another water ball and then pulled Kanna out the door.

It is better to leave as soon as possible while most people haven't reacted yet, to avoid everyone rushing in and blocking the door.

Soon, the two of them came to the corridor outside.

Kanna raised her arm and sniffed her sleeve, frowning and saying, "I was just about to ask, do you smell a sour smell?"

"It's vinegar," Kyle said in a low voice. "In fact, that's what I told Peeves. If you add vinegar to water, it will make it more lethal."

Kanna looked at Kyle with disgust.

"Don't look at me like that, this happened a long time ago." Kyle shrugged, "At that time, I asked him to help find a ghost, and this idea was my reward.

"After all, freshmen often make mistakes when knocking on the barrels, so it's a pity to waste the vinegar that is sprayed out..."

"Anyone who's had a water balloon thrown at them by Peeves is going to hate you."

"Why don't you just say it was Filch?" Kyle said with a smile. "He helped Umbridge to mess with the students last year. This should be considered a lesson for him."

The two of them followed the direction of the stairs.

There was a noisy sound of talking and chanting behind me... It seemed that most people had reacted and started using magic to drive Peeves away.

But by this time, Peeves had already thrown away all his balloons and ran away.

They ran into Kyle and Connor just as they arrived at the first floor foyer.

"It's you, Kyle boy, I didn't notice you were here just now." Peeves said happily, but then he seemed to remember something and wanted to run away immediately.

"Oh, they are chasing us..."

"Wait." Kyle hurriedly stopped him and said, "It's been so long, how are you doing with the thing I asked you to do?"

Peeves' translucent body suddenly froze in place.

After a moment, he turned around a little stiffly, and put away his rare smile, "Well, you asked me to find the paralyzed witch who can't smile. I think she has left Hogwarts."

"Impossible." Kyle shook his head and said firmly, "Ms. Grey will not leave Hogwarts."

"But she's definitely not in the castle," said Peeves. "Even the Bloody Baron has been looking for her, but has come up empty-handed. She must have run away."

Although he didn't get the answer he wanted, Kyle didn't feel too disappointed because he had expected this result.

"Forget it if you can't find it." He waved his hand and prepared to continue walking towards the common room.

"Hey, little brat Kyle, I'm not trying to fool you." Peeves didn't know what Kyle was thinking. Seeing Kyle turning around and about to leave, he quickly explained:

"oh?"

Kyle stopped and turned to look at Peeves. "A room on the second floor without a door?"

If it's on the eighth floor, then it should be the Room of Requirement, but if it's on the second floor...is there a similar room there as well?

"Ah, yes." Peeves had a smug smile on his face again. "No one knows this castle better than me. There is such a place in Hogwarts. It is very mysterious. It contains the treasures of all the students over the past thousand years. But no one knows where it is."

Hearing this, Kyle was certain that Peeves was talking about the Room of Requirement. The reason it was on the second floor was probably because he had got the wrong location.

At this time, Connor on the side suddenly asked: "But Peeves, didn't you just say that the Bloody Baron was also looking for Ms. Grey?"

Speaking of the Bloody Baron, Peeves shuddered, but still insisted, "He was just pretending to confuse people.

Half an hour later, I saw the little brat from Slytherin suddenly appear at the door of a storage room on the second floor, muttering something like "missing, can't be found".

"I guess it must have been the Bloody Baron who asked him to check the situation, but the Grey Lady who never laughs has already run away."

Peeves nodded firmly. "Yes, that must be it."

Whether Kyle believed it or not, he believed this statement anyway, and the Bloody Baron had a motive. All the ghosts knew that it was he who killed Lady Grey of Ravenclaw. What if he suddenly felt like recreating the scene at that time?

Peeves looked serious, the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

But what can I say? Even if Kyle didn't know the truth, there was no way he could believe him.

Lady Grey disappeared with the Ravenclaw Diadem, and the diadem also contained some of Rowena Ravenclaw's own memories. What can the Bloody Baron do? Go and deliver it?

Also, it goes without saying that it is impossible to lock up a ghost that can pass through walls in the storage room.

But the next second, Kyle thought of another problem.

"Wait, Peeves, who is the Slytherin you just mentioned you saw on the second floor?"

"Let me think..." Peeves stroked his chin, "I remember he and Potter had an argument in the corridor. I always wanted to see them fight, but unfortunately they ran into McGonagall. Oh, Potter called him Malfoy at that time.

"I tell you, that Malfoy must have gone there under the orders of the Bloody Baron..."

Peeves kept talking, but Kyle didn't listen to what he said next.

What was Malfoy doing on the second floor all of a sudden?

Can't find it... Gone...

Is he looking for something, or is there something there that he wants?

But the storage room was full of useless things, such as tables, chairs and benches that could not be repaired, or old brooms that had been discarded. What did Malfoy need those things for?

Kyle thought about it and felt like he had forgotten something, but he couldn't remember it for a moment.

No wonder Dumbledore always puts a Pensieve in his office. After going through so many things, it is necessary to sort out your memory occasionally...

"Kyle, what's wrong with you? They are coming?" Kanna's voice and the noisy sound of countless people came to my ears.

Kyle came to his senses and found that Peeves had disappeared. At the same time, Slughorn ran down the stairs with several professors and students.

He was running in the front, and perhaps because he was moving too much or had eaten too much for dinner, the gorgeous violet robe he was wearing was so tight that it looked like it could be torn at any moment.

"Kyle, Connor... have you seen Peeves? Someone said he was coming to the hall." Slughorn said angrily, "That nasty guy, he ruined my dance!"

"He ran over there." Kyle didn't know where Peeves went, so he just pointed in a direction.

"What, he ran back upstairs again?" Slughorn looked at Kyle's hand pointing to the library on the second floor, and his legs went weak.

The ghost can fly, but he can't. After running up and down the stairs several times, he really can't run anymore.

"Children..." He looked at the students following behind him, "I'm leaving Peeves in your care. Please help me and make sure to catch him.

"Whoever brings Peeves here will receive a small bottle of Felicis."

When they heard about the Felicis, several students' eyes turned red. They patted their chests, turned around and ran upstairs.

After being splashed with vinegar water, they were going to settle the score with Peeves anyway, and now that Slughorn offered a reward like the Felicis Felix, they had no reason to refuse.

Several people rushed upstairs again in a hurry.

Slughorn leaned on the railing and took a few deep breaths, and couldn't help complaining:

"Armando should have listened to my advice and kicked Peeves out of the castle. That ghost only causes trouble, and everyone in the castle complains about him..."

“Yeah, it’s the same now,” Kyle said.

"Kid, aren't you going to give it a try?" Slughorn looked at Kyle and said, "I think you have a great chance of catching that troublemaker and getting my reward."

He pulled out of his pocket a small corked bottle containing golden elixir Felix.

Kyle couldn't help but glance at the bottle, then shook his head and said, "Sorry, Professor, although I really want this reward, I don't know if it's because I drank too much at the ball. I'm a little sleepy now, and I just want to go back and have a good sleep."

"Now that you mention it, I seem to remember that you have indeed been staying at the table." Slughorn patted his head. "Listen, Kyle, although you are an adult, you still have to restrain yourself and don't drink too much liquor. Or you can try mead. I personally like its taste."

"I will, Professor." Kyle said. After a few perfunctory words, Kyle made an excuse and left with Connor.

When the two returned to the Hufflepuff common room, Kyle was still thinking about Malfoy's purpose in going to the Room of Requirement.

It was obvious that he couldn't have just strolled over there. He must have some purpose...but what was it?

"Kyle, thank God you're finally back. I remember you seem to have a copy of "Transformation and Disappearance". Can you lend it to me to read?"

In the common room, Ryan, who was catching up on his homework, saw Kyle come in and asked hurriedly.

"Sure." Kyle said casually, "The book is in the cabinet in the dormitory. Go find it yourself..."

"Wait." Kyle looked up suddenly.

Cabinet...disappearing cabinet?

He finally remembered that in the third grade, Nearly Headless Nick had tricked Peeves into throwing a cabinet right above his office in order to help Harry who was captured by Filch.

And that cabinet is the disappearing cabinet.

And Nearly Headless Nick had also said that the Vanishing Cabinet had always been kept in a storage room on the second floor.

Filch knew that it was a Vanishing Cabinet, and was prepared to use this opportunity to expel Peeves from the school on the grounds that he had damaged the school's finances.

Of course, Dumbledore couldn't drive Peeves away, or no one could drive Peeves out of the castle.

Later, the matter was forgotten, as if nothing had happened.

The severely damaged Vanishing Cabinet was also cleaned up by the house-elves.

Of course, that's what it looks like on the surface.

The truth is, the Vanishing Cabinet had actually been taken away by Kyle before the house-elf arrived... What the elf threw away was just an ordinary cabinet that had been transformed.

No one knew about this except Kyle.

…

Could it be that the disappearing cabinet that Malfoy was looking for? If so, how did he know that there was a disappearing cabinet in the storage room on the second floor? Could it be that he had been there before? But he was only a second year at that time, so he would not go to a dirty storage room.

But if not, then what is he looking for...

Kyle thought to himself as he walked to an armchair and sat down. Although Connor didn't know what Kyle was thinking, she didn't disturb him and just sat quietly beside him.

…

(End of this chapter)