The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 102 Disappointing Results

"Lumos!" Ada lit up her wand. Her fluorescent spell was much brighter than the twins', but the light was very soft and not dazzling at all.

"We are in the secret passage now." George said, looking at the map in his hand, "but it is not clear where it will lead to in the end."

"We have to be careful wherever we go," Fred whispered.

Just as Fred was about to lead the way forward, he was stopped by Ada. The secret passage should be safe, but Ada still felt that it was best for her to walk in front. If there was any danger in the tunnel, Ada would be able to deal with it immediately.

The three of them opened their eyes wide, bent over and moved forward slowly. The tunnel continued to extend forward, and they didn't know how far they had to go. Ada silently calculated the distance in her mind and felt that it was at least as long as the tunnel leading to Honeydukes.

When the tunnel began to slope upward, Ada said to the twins behind her, "Looking at the distance, we should be in Hogsmeade, but we don't know exactly where the exit is."

"I hope it's not in some deep forest or mountain. That would be too boring." Fred said, "The wine cellar of the Three Broomsticks is good. We can even sneak some wine back..."

"Why do I feel that stealing wine is not your main purpose?" Ada looked back at Fred, her eyes full of contempt.

After walking for a while and turning a corner, a small exit appeared in front of the three people. Ada signaled the twins not to move, and she raised her wand and slowly moved forward to see what was ahead.

It was a room, a messy, gray room. The wallpaper was peeling, the floor was stained, the furniture was broken, it looked like a fight had taken place, and the windows were boarded up tightly.

"Fred, George, come up!" Ida still held up her wand. It was daytime, but the room was dark, with only a little light coming in through the sealed window.

"Where is this?" The twins came out of the tunnel. The darkness in front of them made them feel a little eerie.

There was a door on Ada's right. Ada pushed it open and there was an even darker hallway behind it. The floor of the hallway was covered with dust, and no one had been here for a long time. Except for the Hog's Head Pub, no shop in Hogsmeade would look like this.

The three men began to check the house separately. Their shoes made a "crunching" sound on the floor. The sound echoed in the house, adding a sense of horror.

The three people slowly went up the stairs that were about to collapse, and the thick dust was stirred up the moment their shoes fell. On the dark staircase landing, a door was tightly closed.

The three of them looked at each other, Ada held her wand horizontally, and the twins stood on either side of her. The twins pushed the door open together, and Ada rushed in directly. She held her wand horizontally and looked around, but didn't see anything that could threaten the three of them.

The height of the house gave Ada a familiar feeling, and the windows sealed tightly with wooden boards looked even more familiar. Ada already knew where this place was, and now she needed to confirm it. She walked quickly to the window and tried to look out through the gaps between the wooden boards.

George stood beside a four-poster bed with gray curtains and said, "Where the hell is this? Why do I feel familiar with it?"

Fred also said: "I have the same feeling, this won't be..."

The twins looked at Ada together. The two brothers now needed the smartest Ada to give them a definite answer.

"You're right. We are in Hogsmeade now, and this house is the legendary Shrieking Shack." Just now, Ada slightly widened the gap between the wooden boards, and she had already seen what was outside.

"Isn't this place haunted?" George said, "I haven't seen it yet, but today I'm going to open my eyes!"

"George, what do you think the ghosts here look like?" Fred asked excitedly, "Good-looking or ugly?" The twins had a hundred thousand questions and were full of curiosity about the protagonist of the haunted legend of the Shrieking Shack. Fortunately, both of them still held their wands tightly in their hands and did not put them down.

Ada held up her wand and looked around. From downstairs to here, the floor, walls, and even furniture of the Shrieking Shack showed signs of damage. It seemed that a fierce fight must have taken place here. In addition, there were also traces of animal bites.

Through the scenes in the house, Ada could imagine a novel full of love, hate and vengeance.

There was a happy family living in the Shrieking Shack, and they lived a carefree life in this fairytale village. Until one day, their enemies (or they offended someone) came and killed the family living there.

The uninhabited Screaming Shack was abandoned. In the cold winter, animals would always stay here to protect themselves from the cold wind, leaving behind the bite marks. The family who died suddenly were unwilling to leave, and turned into ghosts to cry every night, so the frightened villagers sealed this place to prevent them from harming people and doing evil.

It’s a good idea, and the skeleton of the script is already there, but there is still one problem: where are the ghosts?

Ada and the other two had been wandering around the room for a long time, but they didn't see a single ghost. Besides, they came here through the secret passage of Hogwarts, which led to the haunted house. This was just a joke!

After clearing the dust off the sofa, Ada sat on it dejectedly. She felt deeply lost, and Grover Cecil's words by the Black Lake echoed in her mind: The results will find you themselves.

Although Ada's magical attainments have not yet reached the level of Professor Cecil, but the current situation is just as he said, the result will find you.

I originally just wanted to explore the secret passage, but ended up entering the Shrieking Shack, a place with nothing in it except dust on the floor and floating in the air.

"Why doesn't this ghost come out yet?" Fred muttered in a low voice.

"Do I look like a ghost to you?" Ada said dejectedly. She sat on the sofa with her head down, and the twins couldn't see her expression clearly.

The twins ran over, and Fred shook Ada's shoulder and said in a trembling voice: "Ada, what's wrong with you? Are you okay? Don't scare me!"

George didn't say anything, but his worry was written all over his face, and he stood vigilantly beside the two people.

Ada, who was a little dizzy, pushed Fred's hands away and said, "I'm fine. I just feel a little disappointed. I ended up in the Shrieking Shack. It turns out that everything I did before was a waste of time!"

"I was so scared, I thought you were possessed!" Fred breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Don't do this again next time, it's too scary."

"This place is haunted, your preparations won't be wasted." George tried to comfort Ada.

Ada said in a depressed mood: "How long have we stayed here? If the rumors are true, the ghosts would have come out and torn the three of us to pieces. How could they keep us alive for Easter?"

The twins who had been wandering around here for a long time actually thought of this, but they were unwilling to admit it. After all, the Shrieking Shack with ghost rumors was much more attractive than this shabby house.

The twins also sat on the sofa, their heads hanging down like Ada's. In this haunted house known as the most terrifying in the UK, the three of them kept sighing in the same posture.

The dark, claustrophobic room no longer brought Ada and the twins any fear, only endless loss.

(End of this chapter)