The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 34 Secret Base
The next morning, Ada did not go to the secret passage again, even though there was always a little voice in her ear tempting her: Go to the underground room and take a look... Go to the underground room and take a look.

Ada chose to go to the library with the senior who gave her the hat. This senior wanted to work in the Ministry of Magic and become a civil servant after graduation. Ada asked her about the employment problems of Hogwarts graduates, and the answer from senior Smith made Ada feel that her future was bleak.

The problem of low employment rate has always troubled Hogwarts graduates. The number of people in the wizarding world is just a drop in the bucket compared to Muggles, and the number of jobs available is also very limited.

Wizards generally live longer, so they work longer. Ida has never heard of retirement in the wizarding world, so there are not many vacancies every year. Didn't you see that Professor McGonagall is still working diligently at such an old age?

Hogwarts provides fresh blood to the wizarding world every year, and every year's graduates need jobs, but it is obvious that the wizarding world cannot provide so many positions, which leads to the problem of low employment rate of Hogwarts graduates.

How can Hogwarts, which cannot guarantee teaching, learning and placement, be called the best magic school in the world? It is far worse than Bluefly, Ada thought.

While eating lunch in the auditorium, Ada found Benedict Foley actually appeared in the teacher's seat. Apparently, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had returned early. Foley might deeply love his teaching job, or he might have returned to find something.

The appearance of Foley made Ada's lunch less enjoyable. She always felt that this mysterious professor was full of danger.

In the afternoon, Ada once again stayed in the dormitory. She forced herself to calm down and not be affected by the constant chatter of the "little man in her ear". Ada held the book in her hand, but her attention would be diverted from the book in front of her as she read, and her efficiency was extremely poor.

At night, Ada kept walking back and forth in the dormitory. Unable to resist the temptation, she decided to go to the secret passage on the fifth floor again.

In the dark underground room, Ada once again created a "little sun" artificially, and with the help of its light, Ada continued to search in the room.

Although it is not clear who built this secret room, since this "predecessor" built this room underground, it means that the room has its meaning of existence.

If the purpose was simply to build a secret passage leading to Hogsmeade, there would be no need to go to so much trouble. The investment in this room is obviously much greater than that of a secret passage.

Existence is reasonable, so Ada believes that this huge room must be hiding secrets that she has not discovered yet, which is why she cannot calm down all day today.

Ada held the torch high and observed the statues in the room. These giant statues stood on the stone slabs on the ground with their feet and supported the dome of the room with their hands and shoulders.

The overall shape of the statue reminded Ada of Atlas in mythology, the Titan god who was punished to stand on the earth goddess Gaia and hold up the sky god Uranus. Ada was not sure whether these giants holding up the "sky" were imitating Atlas or just coincidence.

Aida looked closely at each statue. Although their shapes were uniform, their expressions were different. It was impossible to find two statues with exactly the same facial expressions.

Ada walked around the room several times. Apart from the original two entrances and exits, she did not find any other passages or anything strange.

"It seems that it's not a good thing to always think about things when there's nothing to do!" Ada muttered. Her voice spread in the empty room, and bounced back when the sound waves touched the wall. These echoes seemed to confirm her thoughts.

Maybe this is just a safe house built to resist foreign enemies. I am overthinking it, Ada thought to herself.

Ada, who found nothing, was not depressed at all. On the contrary, she looked more relaxed. There was no shocking secret in this room. She could use it as a secret base. Wasn't that the meaning of its existence?

The only thing to be careful about is to avoid being hit by falling rocks. As for whether this place will collapse, Ada has not considered this issue for the time being. She thinks that it has survived for so many years, and a few more years won't be a big deal. Just trouble it to hold on for a while.

In a few years, Ada will graduate. By then, whether this room collapses or explodes will have nothing to do with her, Cui.

Ada raised her wand. She planned to practice her spell here. The place was big enough and private at the same time.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" She first used the [Levitation Spell] to lift a stone on the ground, and then canceled the spell after it reached a certain height. Without the support of magic, the stone floating in the air began to fall rapidly. "Shatter to pieces!" The [Crushing Spell] was fired at the stone, and the stone fell very fast. Ada's spell did not hit it, but hit the wall behind it instead.

Ada couldn't hit moving objects with 100% accuracy yet, so she deliberately controlled her magic power to reduce the power of the spell. This reduced version of the [Smash Spell] only blew a small hole in the wall and did not cause any serious consequences.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ada repeated the previous operation and once again made the stone fly. However, this time, as the stone fell, Ada's spell successfully hit the target, and the stone exploded in the air.

There was no joy after success, and Ada's expression was indifferent. In her opinion, she just did a trivial thing, but she still felt that she didn't do well enough.

Dumbledore should be able to destroy this place with just one spell, but Ada is far from it.

Although she now has mastered many spells, which can also help Ada in life, that is all she can do.

Ada calls herself a living wizard. This description also applies to many people in the magic world, who master magic and possess magical powers, but are essentially "ordinary people".

This is a very simple truth. Many students at Hogwarts can pass the wizarding level exam, but not many of them can eventually become Aurors or become a respected great wizard. Most people spend their lives in mediocrity.

When being an ordinary person who can cast spells obviously cannot satisfy Ada, she naturally does not want to be ordinary in her life. Ada wants to be a great wizard, either to be admired by everyone like Dumbledore, or to be a person that people fear.

Everything is for this great goal!

Therefore, Ida has been practicing similar exercises for half a semester. This kind of practice is a small step on her way to greatness. Now her spell hit rate has been greatly improved. It is no problem to beat a kid, but if she faces a master, Ida may have no chance of survival.

Most spells can be resisted or counteracted by using defensive spells to avoid or deflect attacks. Excellent wizards can even bounce back evil spells, which Ada saw in a duel book, and this ability made Ada very envious.

But the premise of the spell being blocked is that your spell can hit the effective area, just like the strike zone in baseball. If the spell is off target, the opponent doesn't even need to block it, and can just stand there and watch you do it.

Then the opponent takes advantage of your inattention and suddenly hits you hard, and you are knocked to the ground without being able to dodge. Just thinking about it makes you feel frustrating, as frustrating as it can be.

This is the gap in practical experience, which is a shortcoming that Ada cannot make up for at this stage.

After warming up with a few slightly larger stones, Ada began to focus on the small stones and began to increase the distance between herself and the stones.

Under the effect of Ada's [Crushing Spell], the rubble in the underground room became more and more. The demolition team really needed talents like her. After practicing for a long time, Ada also felt a little tired. It was time to go back.

Ada walked back, kicking the gravel, and now she looked exactly as she should.

After returning to the castle from the underground room, Ada noticed that the curfew had passed. Compared to worrying about the employment rate, Ada felt that what she might need more now was a watch.

It is easy to ignore the passage of time in the dark underground room. If Ada always goes there to practice, she might even miss the class one day.

Ada, who had cast the Disillusionment Charm on herself, walked slowly on the way back to Gryffindor. She had been waving her wand all night, which consumed a lot of her energy.

If only I knew where the kitchen was! Ada covered her stomach and walked back to the lounge in silence.

(End of this chapter)