The chill of the Potions classroom still lingered in Kevin's bones. He stepped out of the stone steps of the basement and took a deep breath of the relatively fresh air above ground. His gray-blue eyes flickered with a thoughtful light under the torches in the corridor. Although Snape's class was depressing, it was indeed as described in the original book: if you could endure his harshness, you could really learn something.
"Oh my God! I can finally breathe!" Wesley stretched his arms dramatically, his reddish-brown curls bouncing with the movement. "Snape's basement is like a dungeon!"
"Although what you said is quite right, I have to correct you, Wesley," Fabian pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, a playful smile on his bronze face. "This is a magical world, no one believes in God. You should say, 'Merlin's beard!'"
"Indeed, I have wanted to correct his remarks for a long time," Ernesto raised his chin, his grey eyes showing his usual arrogance, but his tone was much softer than at the beginning of the school year. "But Snape is right in some places. Potions do require precision."
Kevin adjusted the sleeves of his robe and interrupted the conversation. "There is no homework today. How about we continue yesterday's castle exploration? Starting from the fourth floor."
"Great!" Wesley almost jumped up. "I saw a portrait that could sing on the corner outside the Charms classroom on the fourth floor. I almost danced to the tune, but Filch glared at me for a long time."
Fabian smiled and shook his head. "That's because you almost knocked over the armor next to you."
"Let's go to the kitchen and get some food to take with us," Kevin suggested. "Exploring requires energy."
The four boys turned into the corridor leading to the kitchen and pushed open the kitchen door as they had done before.
The scene in the kitchen was just as lively as ever, with hundreds of house elves bustling about, and the air was filled with the aroma of baking bread, simmering stews, and sweet desserts. Several elves immediately gathered around, their big eyes brimming with enthusiasm.
"What do you need, distinguished gentlemen? Poppy is at your service!" a little elf in a tea towel shrieked.
Kevin smiled warmly. "Thanks. We've been here once before, remember? This time we wanted some handy snacks for exploring the castle."
"Oh, Bobby is such a damn idiot, he actually forgot about those gentlemen, we will be ready soon!" Bobby replied immediately, and kept hitting his head.
In no time, the elves had prepared baskets filled with pies, cookies, fruit, and even bottles of pumpkin juice for them.
Kevin and the others refused the elves' enthusiastic feeding, as their hands were already full of food. After saying thank you, they hurriedly left the kitchen.
"They are so enthusiastic," Wesley said while chewing the biscuit in his mouth.
Kevin did not respond, but guided the topic back to exploration. "There are Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts classrooms on the fourth floor. We will have Defense Against the Dark Arts class tomorrow."
"I hope it's not as scary as Potions class," Wesley made a face. "But Professor Victor doesn't seem to be a simple person either."
"I heard that the professor of this course changes frequently," Fabian responded. "He may not be our professor next year."
Kevin added in his mind: But next year there will be a big jerk with Voldemort's face on the back of his head. But he just said, "We will experience it ourselves soon."
The corridor on the fourth floor was deeper than the lower floors, and the shadows of torches danced on the ancient stone walls. Suddenly, they came to a corridor lined with full sets of armor on both sides. These medieval-style armors were armed with various weapons and looked particularly majestic in the dim light.
"Wow…" Wesley reached out to touch a sword on an armor in awe, but was pulled back by Fabian in time.
"Better not," Fabian warned, "Who knows if they're protected by a protective spell."
Kevin's grey-blue eyes narrowed slightly. The power of the True Eye allowed him to see scenes that ordinary people could not perceive. Each piece of armor had a subtle magical connection with the castle, like an invisible thread connecting them to the stone walls and floors of Hogwarts. This connection was not strong, but extremely delicate, and was obviously made by a master.
"Don't worry, there are no protective spells on them, but these armors are indeed more than just decoration," Kevin said softly, his fingers gently brushing across the arm guard of an armor. "They are part of the Hogwarts defense system."
"How do you know?" Ernesto asked curiously, his grey eyes sparkling with interest.
Kevin explained, "I read about this in an old book about Hogwarts. The four founders used magic to weave many parts of the castle, including these suits of armor, into a single whole. In an emergency, they can be activated to defend the school."
In fact, he was recalling the scene in the original book where Professor McGonagall awakened the armor before the Battle of Hogwarts. Under his true eyes, the magical connections were so clear at this moment.
"It's hard to imagine this is something from the Middle Ages," Fabian exclaimed. "Can modern wizards perform magic like this?"
Kevin shook his head. "I don't know. Many of the techniques of ancient magic and alchemy have been lost." He remembered what Dumbledore once said, and added, "It's not because we are dumber than our predecessors, but because magic is like a river, it always changes its course."
They continued walking and came across a statue of a one-eyed witch at a corner. Kevin's heart moved slightly, and he remembered that this was the entrance to a secret passage leading to Honeydukes, but he could not remember the specific way to open it.
"What a strange statue," Wesley commented. "Why does it have only one eye?"
"Maybe it symbolizes wisdom?" Fabian guessed. "In some cultures, one eye represents the ability to see through appearances."
Ernesto snorted, "Or maybe the sculptor was just being lazy."
Kevin remained silent, not wanting to reveal too early that he knew this was a secret passage, because he couldn't explain how he knew it, and couldn't always perfunctorily say that he read it in a book. So he simply said, "Maybe it represents or hides something. Hogwarts is full of such mysteries. Maybe one day we will discover its secret."
After leaving the statue of the one-eyed witch, they came to the trophy room. The sunlight poured in through the high windows, shining on the countless trophies, shields, and medals, making them gleam with golden light.
"Look at this!" Wesley pointed excitedly at a Quidditch trophy. "It says 'Minerva McGonagall, 1951' on it!"
Kevin looked closer and indeed found the trophy that Professor McGonagall had won for Gryffindor when she was the captain of Quidditch in her youth. In his memory, after Professor McGonagall was injured in a match in her seventh year, she rarely flew again. This trophy witnessed a McGonagall that many students had never known.
"There are more here," Fabian called out from another row of display cases. "Special Contribution Awards from each academy… Oh!"
Kevin knew immediately what Fabian had discovered. He walked over and saw the familiar name engraved on a glittering gold medal: "Tom Marvolo Riddle, Special Contribution Award, 1943."
"This name sounds familiar…" Ernesto frowned and thought.
"The name Tom is quite common. Could he be Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron? I didn't expect he even won a special contribution award," Wesley guessed.
Kevin's fingers almost touched the name—Voldemort's real name, the Dark Lord's disguise during his school days. He resisted the urge to tell his roommates the truth and just said, "He seemed to be a very good student. I don't know what happened to him later."
He noticed that next to the medal was a golden badge that read: "Head of the Boy Student Union." It seemed that Voldemort had indeed been a model student at Hogwarts, handsome and talented, but it was a pity that Dumbledore had noticed his problem early on.
After leaving the trophy room, they went up to the fifth floor. It was quieter here than the lower floors, and at the end of the corridor there was a door that looked like no one had moved for a long time.
"It won't open," Wesley tried the doorknob. "It's locked."
Seeing the locked door, Kevin wanted to try the old "Open Door" spell, but thought better of it.
Then Kevin pulled out his wand. "Get out of the way, let me try. Alohomora!"
The lock clicked, revealing a dusty classroom. Desks and chairs were piled in a mess in the corner, and thick dust accumulated on the windows, making the light coming in from outside dim and mysterious.
"Wow, when did you learn the unlocking spell?" Fabian asked in surprise.
"I learned some practical spells during the summer vacation," Kevin answered casually, walking into the classroom. "I also know an older unlocking spell, but that spell will directly destroy the door lock."
Wesley sneezed. "It's too dusty! Why doesn't the school clean up here?"
"Maybe there is a special reason," Kevin looked around, subconsciously looking for the possible magic mirror—the Mirror of Erised. Dumbledore once hid it in an abandoned classroom on the fifth floor. It should be here.
But there was nothing here except dust and old furniture. It seemed that it had not been placed here yet. Well, it should be what Dumbledore prepared for Harry Potter.
Ernesto picked up a piece of rag with his wand. "It looks like it was used to cover some large object… maybe a cabinet or something?"
Kevin looked around. This place had been abandoned for too long, and there was no trace of magic left. He shook his head and said, "It might be an ordinary furniture cover. There are many abandoned spaces like this in Hogwarts. Some of them are even enchanted and can move by themselves."
"Like the Room of Requirement?" Fabian asked.
Kevin pretended not to know and looked at him in surprise. "What is the Room of Requirement?"
"My mother mentioned it," Fabian pushed his glasses up. "She said that in the legend of Hogwarts there is a magical room that can change into whatever you need. But she never found it, but she said that one of her classmates encountered it."
Kevin nodded. "That must be a very mysterious magical room. We can look for it when we have time."
They briefly checked the classrooms and found nothing special, so they continued to explore higher floors. The sixth and seventh floors were mostly empty classrooms and teacher offices. The only noteworthy one was the prefect's bathroom. Wesley tried to peek inside and was frightened by a sudden ghost and almost fell down the stairs.
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