Without the noise of the students, Hogwarts Castle looked particularly gloomy at night. In the cold corridor, four small figures were moving forward quickly.
"Harry, I can't believe you'd go along with his nonsense.”
"Please, Granger, shut your mouth if you don't want us to get caught.”
"Weasley, it's all because of you that we're wandering around in the middle of the night, and if you had half a brain, you'd know that you can't trust anything Slytherin says.”
"How was I supposed to know that Malfoy would be so treacherous?”
"Stop-stop arguing, Filch's coming up on us. Ah-"
The person at the back slipped and fell forward. The few of them rolled into a ball, and the armor beside them was knocked to the ground, making a loud sound.
"Run!"
They helped each other up and ran away.
Harry ran at the front. After a moment of quick thought, he decided to follow the plot and take them "accidentally" into the forbidden corridor.
They rounded the goalposts and sped through corridor after corridor until, just as Neville was out of breath, they reached the end of a corridor and slammed into a door. Footsteps drew nearer and nearer behind them. Harry pulled out his wand, muttered "Aloho, open the door," and the four of them swarmed in, slamming the door shut and pressing their ears to it.
Filch circled the area twice, found no one, and ran off somewhere else.
"Hoo, hoo-ha-Harry-"
Neville's voice suddenly choked.
Behind them was not a room, but a corridor.
A huge Cerberus that was as tall as the ceiling was staring at them with its six ferocious eyes. Its three big mouths had yellow fangs, and it was drooling.
Harry felt sick, but before it could roar, he waved his wand and said,"Dizzy!"
The Cerberus's eyes were dazed for a moment, but it immediately regained its clarity. They took the opportunity to slip out of the door. When the door closed, angry roars came from inside. The four of them had already run away without looking back.
When they finally returned to the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor, ignoring her inquiry, Hermione said breathlessly," Pig…pig nose…"
The portrait moved away to reveal the door, and the four of them climbed in and collapsed into armchairs.
"Lefay." After a moment, Harry called out a name.
"Pa!"
One of the house-elves appeared to the startled looks of the other three, bowed deeply to Harry, and said excitedly,"Mr. Harry Potter, what do you need?”
Harry rubbed his forehead and said quietly,"Could you please-er, get us something to drink?”
"It's my pleasure, Mr. Harry Potter.”Lefay bowed again and disappeared. A few seconds later, it reappeared and placed a tray in front of them. On the tray were four cups of hot cocoa and a few plates of snacks.
"Harry-" said Hermione in surprise as Lefay bowed again and disappeared."What's that?”
Harry took a cup of hot cocoa with both hands and said,"They're Hogwarts house-elves, and once I was reading too late and Lefay came to the lounge to clean up-we were both terrified of each other.”
In order to prevent the house-elf rights promotion society from coming out early, Harry began to change the subject."What are they thinking? To lock such a terrifying monster in the school?!”
Hermione took a sip of hot cocoa, caught her breath, and snapped,"Didn't you see the trapdoor under that dog's feet? It's guarding something."
Neville's face was pale as he moaned weakly,"What is it that needs to be guarded like this?"
Ron said,"Could it be..." He paused, his eyes beginning to light up.
Harry said hesitantly,"You mean that?”
Hermione looked at them strangely and said,"You know about it?"
Harry said to Hermione, under Ron's disapproving gaze,"We were just guessing. Do you remember that piece in the Daily Prophet last week? There had been an attempt to break into Gringotts 'vault and steal something that Hagrid had long since taken. Come to think of it, if you wanted to hide something, what place could be safer than Hogwarts besides Gringotts?”
Hermione put down her glass and said coldly,"I hope you don't want to play some boring adventure game. Tonight, we were almost bitten to death-or worse, expelled from school. Well, if you don't object, I'm going to bed.”
Ron watched her leave and said,"Listen to what she's saying? It's as if we're dragging her there.”
"Come on, Ron, she's right.”said Harry, yawning."Whatever's in there, Hagrid says it's classified, we'll leave it alone. Think about that pile of homework…"
Ron screamed,"Harry, why didn't you warn me earlier?! Good heavens, I didn't write a single word on Snape's papers!!!”
Harry rubbed his eyes and said sleepily,"I'll write it tomorrow, I just want a good night's sleep now-I hope I don't dream of that big dog, er-"
Seeing Neville's face go whiter, Harry said,"Neville, drink it and sleep it off.”
After the three of them ate and drank their fill, they staggered back to the dormitory.
Harry lay quietly on the bed, the corners of his lips curling up slightly.
Tonight he could feel Dumbledore's breath lurking nearby. It seemed that the old fox really wanted to use the Sorcerer's Stone incident to train the Boy Who Lived. He had planned every step after that, right? The Mirror of Erised, the Forbidden Forest, the centaur, Voldemort... would all be before him.
He had been taught to respect the elderly since he was young. How could he disappoint the elderly? However, it was not his style to obediently allow others to manipulate him.
Courtesy should be reciprocated. He should also find some entertainment for the old man.
Holding a spirit stone, he felt a stream of spiritual energy slowly flowing through his meridians. It naturally transformed into true essence and gathered in his dantian. Harry narrowed his eyes and drifted off to sleep as comfortably as ever.
――――――――――――――――――
The next day, Ron began to discuss last night's events with Harry and Neville. He obviously thought it was a rare adventure, especially Malfoy's surprised expression when he saw that they were still safe and sound at Hogwarts. Neville looked very uneasy, and Harry was sure he would never want to experience such an adventure again.
As for Hermione, she seemed really angry, and she sat in a corner far away in the common room at night, never discussing her lessons with Harry or the others again.
The owl brought Harry a new Nimbus Two Thousand, and he began his regular Quidditch practice three times a week. Between the classroom, the library, and the Quidditch field, time flew by.
One night, because the rain was too heavy, Wood had to stop training. The team members returned to their dormitories to change out of their wet clothes and gathered around the fireplace in the common room to listen to Wood's explanation of the tactical arrangements.
" Alright, Wood." An hour later, Fred interrupted Wood's incessant speech." Let's call it a day. Everyone's going to fall asleep listening to it.”
Wood looked at the sleepy players, sighed, and said,"Alright, that's it."
The surrounding people immediately perked up. George smiled and said,"Don't sigh, Wood. It's almost halloween. Cheer up. Fred and I are planning to create some surprises.”
Wood groaned and said with a headache,""Surprise? Last year, you chased the students all day with your decorative pumpkin, and the year before that, the bats made a mess in the dining room. George, can I refuse your surprise?”
" Aiyaya..." George put his hand on Wood's shoulder and said," Don't be like this, Wood. You're not an old man in your seventies or eighties. Why are you so old-fashioned?" Don't you think a little accident can make your student life more exciting?”
"That's right, that's right. In the future, when you're old and reminisce about your academy life, you'll know how many wonderful memories we've provided for you!”said Fred, ignoring the contorted looks on the others 'faces as he moved closer to Harry.”
Angelina Johnson, the team's Chaser, pushed him away from a bewildered Harry and jeered,"Go away, don't be a bad influence on our little Harry. Harry, don't listen to him, those two never get serious.”
Harry smiled shyly and lowered his head. A sly look flashed across his eyes.
——
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