Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 42 Let's go for a night stroll together!

Loren sat by the window, gazing at the full moon hanging in the sky. Ever since he discovered that Grandpa Bates was a werewolf, the full moon had taken on a deeper meaning.

The other roommates also noticed Loren's low spirits; they spoke in hushed tones, barely audible.

Harry winked at Ron: "What's wrong with Loren?"

Ron glanced at Loren furtively, as if he were doing something shady: "It's been like this since this morning, but it's a little better now."

Neville asked, somewhat bewildered, "Should we ask?"

"I think it's best not to bother him at times like this." Harry had this experience before; when he was in a bad mood at the Dursleys' house, he always wanted to be alone.

Loren heard what they were saying, exhaled the heavy breath in his chest, and felt lighter.

He didn't want to go to bed so early, nor did he want to go to Flamel's. Loren felt he needed to do something else: "Let's go for a night stroll!"

"Count me in!"

Simo sat up abruptly in bed, his eyes wide. "Now that you're talking about this, I'm not sleepy anymore!"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, communicating with each other.

"Is he alright?"

"It should be fine."

"What do we do now?"

"Go along with his wishes for now."

Having reached an understanding, the two nodded.

Harry spoke first, "I want to see what Cerberus is guarding!"

Ron stared at Harry, his pupils dilating in shock. "You just really want to go for a night stroll, don't you!"

Upon hearing the explosive news, Simo felt a deep barrier had formed between him and them.

"There's a Cerberus in Hogwarts Castle!!!" Seamus suddenly lost interest in going for a night stroll.

Nobody paid any attention to this sluggish nobody.

"Of course!" Loren readily agreed to Harry's request. After all, there were still some checkpoints below Cerberus, so it would be good to give Harry some time to prepare.

Neville pulled his blanket tighter around himself. He didn't approve of his roommate going out at night to see Cerberus, but his roommate was in the middle of a lively conversation, and he didn't want to be the one to spoil the fun.

"You guys go ahead. If you're not back by midnight, I'll go find the professor," Neville finally decided.

Even though he was a bit of a coward, Simo still didn't want to miss this adventure. He was already far behind, and if he didn't participate, he would really become just another background character among his roommates.

The group slipped out of the lounge, with Loren and Harry leading the way, followed by Ron and Seamus.

Only a few scattered candlelight flickered in the corridor, and the figures in the portraits spoke cautiously, as if afraid of disturbing something. The gray walls appeared even darker in the night, and something seemed poised to leap out from the darkness scattered throughout.

Simo couldn't contain his excitement, his smile revealing his gums.

As the four passed an armored figure, a long axe suddenly fell and blocked their path.

"ah!!"

The silence of the corridor was suddenly broken, and faint echoes could be heard in the distance.

Simo screamed in fright at the axe that suddenly appeared in front of him, and his heart pounded rapidly.

The other three were also startled, but they didn't scream. They stiffened their necks and didn't dare to move.

The surrounding portraits also seemed to emanate hushed complaints:

"What are you doing so late at night!"

"Can't a person get any sleep?!"

A ghost emerged from the armor; it was Nick, who was almost headless.

He looked at the group and laughed, his voice rough but with a hint of hearty cheerfulness: "Ha! Kid, I caught you out for your nighttime stroll."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, came to his senses, and complained, "That wretched Nick, he knew about nighttime outings and still scared us."

It's been almost a month since school started, and the group has gotten to know Nick well, often joking around with him.

"Has Filch already inspected this floor?" Loren thought Nick probably wouldn't lead Filch here to arrest the group.

"Hehe, smart kid, he went upstairs." Nick wanted to chat a little more.

Harry didn't want to linger; they needed to get back before midnight. He pulled Loren along quickly, saying, "Goodbye, Nick. We have things to do. We'll talk later."

Nick watched the group's retreating figures and muttered, "Rude kids!"

Seamus was still a little dazed when Ron pulled him along, saying, "We'll teach him a lesson sooner or later."

……

The corridor on the right side of the fourth floor.

Loren waited for Harry and Ron to make their move, since they had already come once before.

Harry and Ron didn't react, and the group stared at each other at the locked door.

"Open the door already!" Simo couldn't wait any longer; he didn't understand what the people were waiting for at the door.

Harry and Ron were a little embarrassed. Harry scratched his head and said, "Last time we came with Hermione, and she opened the door with a unlocking spell. We don't know this spell."

Loren clicked his tongue: "Hermione and those two useless boys."

Simo understood, and he remembered one of his innate spells, which was very suitable for opening doors.

Seamus's eyes grew brighter and brighter. He took out his wand: "I have a spell that's perfect for opening doors!"

Loren quickly reached out to stop him: "【Open Doors】 would also be perfect for setting off fireworks after we get expelled."

If Seamus were to unleash Open Doors here, the explosion and the barking of Cerberus would surely earn them expulsion notices from Hogwarts.

"Open the Arahomor" - Loren learned this spell before the start of the school year.

The iron lock on the door clattered open.

"Well done, Loren," Ron praised.

Harry hurriedly pried open the door, ready to go in, but froze when he saw the scene in the room.

The three behind him noticed that Harry had pushed open the door and was blocking the entrance, not moving an inch, with one hand waving behind his back.

Simon asked, puzzled, "What are you doing? Go inside!"

As he spoke, he pushed Harry inside, and Loren and Ron followed.

The scene inside stunned the three people behind them.

Dumbledore was in the room, placing some food next to the three-headed dog. In the corner of the room was the familiar Mirror of Erised, which Harry recognized.

Harry wanted nothing more than to yell into Seamus's ear, "What a bunch of useless teammates! I gave you such an obvious hint that you shouldn't leave, and you still insisted on coming in!"

The four of them stood there blankly at the door, none of them speaking first.

Simo's face was contorted with misery, on the verge of tears. Why, why did I, who had finally managed to participate in a night out, end up running right into the principal's line of fire?

"Unexpected guest! Come and meet my friend."

"This is Lou Williams. I need it to help me guard something that needs to be kept secret."

Dumbledore beckoned the group closer and introduced them to Louie.

Loren wasn't nervous at all. He figured Dumbledore must have spotted them a long time ago and was waiting for them here. The old headmaster had really gone to great lengths to help Harry level up.

Loren wasn't nervous at all. He took a raw steak, held it to Lou Williams's mouth, and took the opportunity to give it a pat: "Hello, Lou Williams."

The three-headed dog happily rubbed against Loren, then focused on gnawing on its bone.

Simo was stunned. When he came in, he had even planned out how he would apologize to his mother if he dropped out of school. But his friend was so bold.

Dumbledore looked at the somewhat reserved others and said, "When I was a student at Hogwarts, I also went out at night."

Ron and Seamus were immediately drawn to the sight of Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the century, who had also done nighttime outings.

"However, every rule at Hogwarts has its reason for existing."

The tension in their hearts was heightened once again.

"Let's keep this a little secret between us." Dumbledore winked at the group, making a clumsy attempt to signal them.

"Long live the principal!" Simon cheered.

Dumbledore pulled out various candies from his sleeve and beckoned to the group.

Loren introduced Ron and Seamus to Dumbledore in turn: "This is Ron, from the Weasleys. This is Seamus, our roommate."

Dumbledore was in high spirits: "Oh, I know, Arthur and Molly's child. We met briefly in the office last time, it was a bit rushed." He looked at Ron, "I heard you're quite good at wizard chess."

"Yes!" Ron was also very happy, but a little reserved, his face flushed. "No, no, I just play chess often."

Dumbledore then turned to Seamus: "I know you're very good at a particular type of spell."

Simo's face turned bright red, and he stammered for a long time without being able to say anything.

With Loren's intervention and Dumbledore's deliberate cooperation, the group began to chat idly about their friends: the clever, know-it-all Miss, the timid but kind Neville...

(End of this chapter)