The Hufflepuff common room was quiet that evening, the fire throwing soft golden light over worn cushions and woolen blankets. Most students were finishing essays or relaxing after dinner, but three particular first-years sat huddled in the far corner by the bookshelf, a sheaf of parchment open between them, quills in hand, and excitement in their eyes.
"Alright," Hadrian whispered, tapping the parchment. "Objective: Find a way to sneak into Hogsmeade before Christmas. Strategy: Leverage Hogwarts' own best-kept secret — its ghosts and portraits."
Dora leaned in. "So we ask them? Just like that?"
"Well, not all of them," Iris said thoughtfully. "Some of them are gossipy, some grumpy. We'll have to be careful who we talk to."
Hadrian nodded. "Agreed. We'll try the helpful ones first. Maybe start with the Fat Friar?"
They found him floating peacefully in the hallway outside the kitchens later that night, humming a hymn and complimenting the armor suits on their polish.
"Oh! My dear badgerlings," the Friar greeted warmly. "Out on a nighttime stroll?"
"Of sorts," Hadrian replied with a grin. "We were wondering, purely out of academic curiosity, if you might know of… lesser-known paths within the castle. Shortcuts. Maybe even exits?"
The ghost's eyes twinkled. "Curiosity is the first step to wisdom, they say. But you must promise not to get yourselves expelled."
"Scouts honor," Dora said with mock solemnity.
"I was never a scout," Iris murmured, amused.
The Friar chuckled and beckoned them closer. "There are, indeed, a few passages I remember from my mortal days. One behind a barrel in the kitchens — leads straight up to the fourth-floor tapestry of Glynnis the Gargoyle. Quite useful if you're late for class."
They noted it down at once.
"And there's the crumbling stairwell hidden behind the unicorn tapestry on the second floor," he added. "It doesn't go outside but skips three flights of stairs and connects to the Defense corridor."
"Noted," Hadrian murmured, quill flying.
They spent the next several days employing similar tactics — approaching friendly ghosts like Nearly Headless Nick and the Grey Lady (though the latter required unusually polite phrasing), and chatting up portraits in quiet corners.
A knight in dusty armor near the Charms classroom — Sir Balderdash the Bemused — offered a particularly useful tip.
"Secret passage near the old potions classroom," he said with a wheeze. "Behind the leftmost wall sconce. Leads to a trapdoor in a hollow tree just past the greenhouses. Haven't seen it used in a century."
"Brilliant," Iris said, scribbling furiously.
One of the chattiest portraits, a portrait of a witch in green velvet named Lady Celestine, warned them to avoid the suit of armor on the third floor that shrieked when anyone tiptoed past it.
"It's been cursed to wake up if students try to sneak to the Astronomy Tower," she whispered. "More than one courting couple has learned that the hard way."
"Good to know," Dora said with a grin.
The trio gradually compiled an impressive list of secret doors, narrow crawlspaces, and hidden stairwells. A surprising number connected to old classrooms, forgotten storage spaces, or came out behind statues no one bothered to glance behind.
They even discovered a concealed passage from behind the bookshelf in the Transfiguration corridor that led all the way to a disused greenhouse on the edge of the grounds. Hadrian called it "Greenhouse Gate."
"Some of these are amazing," Iris said one evening as they reviewed their parchment map. "But the real question is: which of them gets us to Hogsmeade?"
Hadrian tapped his chin. "There's that one under the greenhouses… maybe if it continues under the fence…"
"Or that hollow tree one," Dora added. "If the tree is outside the school's boundary…"
"Either way," Hadrian said, "we'll test them both during the next free evening. Quiet shoes, cloaks, and all."
"And pranks if needed," Dora added cheerfully.
"Pranks optional," Iris said, only half-sincerely.
They shared a laugh, heads bent close over their scribbled parchment, the fire crackling beside them.