"This isn't something you need to apologize for," Wade said as he reached out to pat his shoulder. "Professor Snape is indeed terrifying."
"But you're not afraid," Ryan, seemingly still brooding over it, said with a troubled expression. "You dared to approach Professor Snape to try and resolve this matter... I get nervous just answering questions normally."
"Actually, I was nervous too, I just didn't let it show."
Wade shrugged and said: "And to be honest, it's because Professor Snape is more lenient with me that I dared to do it. In terms of courage, I don't have much more than you guys."
Ryan laughed.
"Alright... although I know you're just trying to comfort me..."
Wade sighed, "Ryan..."
"Hmm?"
"You know, you don't have to say everything that comes to mind..."
Ryan looked puzzled, "Not really? I usually don't like to talk too much."
Wade and Theo exchanged a glance, and then both laughed under Ryan's bewildered gaze.
Indeed, Ryan was always the most silent among them when it came to outsiders.
But around friends, he was straightforward and frank to the point of being overwhelming.
It was already late at night, and as they spoke, Theo yawned again and his eyelids drooped incessantly. He looked as if he was about to fall asleep.
Wade then suggested leaving.
"It's too late, and you might run into Filch if you go out now. Why don't you just stay in our dorm?" Theo suggested. "The others won't mind."
Ryan also encouraged, "Our dorm room is quite interesting, it's a cave dug underground. We even have a pot of Boston fern, like a green waterfall."
Wade was tempted; he was indeed curious. But after a moment's hesitation, he shook his head and declined.
Although Hufflepuff students were usually kind and easy-going, they also had a strong sense of territory. If they saw an outsider in their common room tomorrow morning, they might hold it against Theo and Ryan.
"Don't worry, I won't get caught by Filch," Wade said. "Since the Hufflepuff common room has never been entered by anyone from another house, don't mention that I was here."
Wade didn't really believe the Hufflepuff students' claim that no one outside their house had entered their common room in over a thousand years.
Animagi like 'rat' Peter or 'insect' Skeeter could easily sneak in with students, and most students wouldn't be able to recognize an Animagus or a Disillusionment Charm.
But since the Hufflepuffs took pride in this, Wade didn't intend to be the first to "break the rule" and disrupt their record.
"Alright..."
Seeing Wade's firm stance, Theo had no choice but to let him be. He then grabbed a couple of lemons from a nearby shelf and handed them to Wade.
"Cats hate the smell of lemons. If you run into Mrs. Norris, you can use these to shoo her away."
Wade took them and put them in his pocket. He then brushed off a vine that had quietly draped over his shoulder to grooming his hair, and left through the barrel door.
The entrance to Hufflepuff's common room required crawling in and out, and Wade couldn't help but wonder—Do Professor Sprout have to crawl too when she wants to visit the common room?
Grasping the edge of the barrel, he felt like a peeking groundhog. Just as he was about to exit, something felt off.
Wade looked up, and it was as if he could hear Theo's voice in his ear—
"Filch should be coming by now!"
"Draco reported to Filch..."
"You might run into Filch..."
"What if you encounter Mrs. Norris..."
Theo, oh Theo, saying too many ominous things can make them come true!
Not far away, Filch was holding an oil lamp, and Mrs. Norris's eyes were shining like light bulbs, staring right at Wade.
Hanging on the barrel, Wade felt a bit awkward. After a moment's thought, he decided it was best to come out first.
"Meow~"
Mrs. Norris let out a soft cry, and wagged her tail as she walked towards Wade.
"Let's go, Mrs. Norris."
Filch turned around with the oil lamp and said, "There's no one here, let's check somewhere else."
Mrs. Norris looked back at her master, then at Wade. Her big green eyes seemingly said, "Isn't this big one a person?"
But Filch had already walked several meters away. After a moment's hesitation, Mrs. Norris trotted after her master.
Wade couldn't help but laugh.
With a bit of effort, he squeezed out of the passage, landed on the ground, stood up, and brushed the dirt off his hands. Turning around, he saw the barrel lid spin and close, making the entrance indistinguishable from the other barrels around it.
Wade didn't waste any more time. He walked towards the corridor window, and after a few steps, he suddenly transformed into a peregrine falcon, slipped through the narrow window and flew away.
The peregrine falcon circled over the lawn and the Black Lake before soaring towards the high tower.
At this moment, most areas of the castle, except for the Great Hall with its ever-burning magical candles, were plunged into darkness, with only a few windows still lit.
The Headmaster's office, several professors' offices, and the dormitories of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.
The common rooms of Hufflepuff and Slytherin were hidden underground, and even if brightly lit, they were difficult to see from the outside.
Wade flew past Gryffindor Tower and finally landed outside his dormitory window.
The window was open, and the house-elves had already lit the oil lamps in the dormitory, guiding Wade, who had returned late.
Wade thought about the entrance to his own house's common room.
It was a wooden board at the end of a staircase, and if it weren't for the door knocker, one wouldn't even think it was a door.
Those who couldn't answer the knocker's question correctly couldn't enter the common room.
Hufflepuff's entrance was disguised as an incredibly realistic barrel, and it was said that one had to tap it in the correct sequence to open it.
Slytherin's entrance was hidden in a stone wall, and without the correct password, the stone door wouldn't even appear.
Gryffindor's entrance was the most conspicuous among the houses—a huge portrait that also required a password to enter.
Although the Fat Lady's portrait was conspicuous, hidden among the numerous paintings in Hogwarts, it was "hidden in plain sight," and those unaware would hardly think that a vast space lay behind it.
The founders of Hogwarts went to great lengths to hide their houses' entrances, as if enemies could breach the outer defenses at any moment and storm the school to kill and plunder.
They even seemed to distrust members of other houses within the same school, and it was rare for students from different houses to "visit" each other.
It's conceivable that their situation must have been extremely difficult and dangerous.
But Wade had no way of knowing whether, over the past thousand years, the design of the various houses' common rooms had ever fully served its purpose.
Even in "Hogwarts: A History," the focus was on introducing the school's various aspects, while the history was glossed over with anecdotes, such as the battles of wits between Peeves and the successive headmasters, or inter-school events like the Triwizard Tournament.
The impacts of war, house-elves, and the divisions between wizards and Muggles on the school—these parts involving the dark side of the real world—were always mentioned in passing, if at all.
Wade transformed back to his original form and sat on the high, suspended windowsill. He watched the pitch-dark Forbidden Forest that seemed to stretch to the horizon and faintly heard the roars of animals.
Tonight, Hagrid's hut was also pitch black, without a single light.
In the Black Lake, the giant squid extended its long tentacles, clinging to the maze wall. From here, it looked like a dinosaur stretching its neck out of the lake, curiously peering around.
Wade watched for a while before finally getting up and returning to the dormitory.
A moment later, this light also went out.
In a wizarding village not far from Hogwarts, a faint roar could be heard.
It startled some creatures on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, disturbed the birds near the village, and the giant squid suddenly retracted into the water, splashing waves.
But the distant sound did not wake the students who had fallen into a deep sleep.
A moment later, the window of the Headmaster's office was suddenly pushed open with force, and Dumbledore, in his pajamas, stood at the window and the night wind whipped his white beard wildly.
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