A certain broken Hogwarts

Chapter 18 Exploring the Castle

After having lunch in the Great Hall, Owen waved goodbye to the young wizards and left the table alone.

"Aren't you going back to the common room?" Blaise asked.

"Hmm, I think I'd love to have a date with the castle this afternoon." Owen smiled and winked his left eye.

With no classes in the afternoon, this time is perfect for exploring the castle.

The afternoon sun streamed through the windows into the castle's corridors, where students strolled by, some hurrying, others chatting and laughing. In the portraits hanging on the walls, the figures went about their own business, occasionally one portrait would suddenly shout, trying to scare the young wizards passing by alone.

The atmosphere inside the castle was very peaceful. Owen didn't know what changes his abilities had brought to the place, but he hoped they were for the better.

Of course, there are also ominous aspects. For example, chalk has been mysteriously disappearing from every classroom in the castle this week, and it is said that Hogwarts' expenses on chalk have suddenly increased several times over.

Mr. Filch, the administrator, was driven to a nervous breakdown. Students would often see him suspiciously guarding outside a classroom, tugging at the sleeves of students who wanted to enter and questioning them closely, or lurking furtively behind the teacher's desk in a classroom, scaring the young wizards who came to class into screaming.

Owen wandered leisurely through the castle's corridors, exploring the doors, some real and some fake, with great interest. He held a piece of parchment in one hand, sketching each step of his journey with straight lines. It was an interesting process; perhaps he could even create his own Marauder's Map.

In the shadows of a staircase on the third floor, Owen saw Mrs. Lorris again. Generally, Mr. Filch should be nearby.

The unfriendly gray long-haired cat sat upright in the shadows, its bright yellow eyes fixed on the corner of the stairs like two searchlights. Its back was arched as if it was ready to pounce at any moment, and its thin, bony body was a sight that Owen found unbearable.

Upon seeing Owen, Mrs. Lorris's particularly prominent cat eyes narrowed, and her triangular head was raised high, revealing an arrogant and defiant expression. She seemed still smug about the trouble she had caused Owen last time.

"Hi, Mrs. Lorris, would you like some grilled fish?" Owen wasn't going to argue with the kitten. He pulled out the food he had packed earlier and laid it out in front of the gray cat. It seemed to be a Maine Coon, but it didn't look imposing at all; its gray fur was all matted.

Mrs. Lorris lazily sniffed the food on the ground and gently poked at it with her paw.

Perhaps realizing that toying with Irving would only result in being toyed with, this time it didn't pretend. It haphazardly pried open a small piece of sausage, steak, and half a chicken leg with its paws. After pressing down on a small piece of grilled fish, it took a small bite like the most discerning lady, then looked up at Irving with ill intent, and slapped the grilled fish back in front of him with a paw.

Then, it focused its attention on the only remaining food in front of it: two dried fish that Owen had taken from some kind of culinary disaster at noon that day.

Mrs. Lorris brought her nose close to the dried fish and smelled it, revealing a barely satisfied expression. She ate the dried fish in a few bites, then lazily licked her paws and stared at Owen.

"You like this kind of fishy and salty dried fish?" Owen tilted his head, squatted down, and stared at it. So picky, no wonder this guy is so thin even though there's no shortage of food at Hogwarts. He thought Mr. Filch was starving it.

"Come here, let me touch you." Owen extended his right hand. Mrs. Lorris's fur bristled, and she lightly leaped away, quickly darting past Owen.

Owen turned his head and saw that Mr. Filch had been standing behind him at some point, staring at him with his bulging eyes.

Another creature that walks silently has been added to the world.

"Hi, Mr. Filch." Owen picked up the food from the ground with the paper package, stood up, and greeted him. "I didn't break any school rules, you know."

"Don't come near my cat," Filch said gruffly, though his tone was relatively friendly, seemingly because he saw Owen feeding Mrs. Loris. Indeed, showing this level of politeness was no easy feat for Filch.

"Ah, I just really like it," Owen said. "I've always wanted a cat, but for various reasons I haven't been able to. Maybe we can exchange some cat-raising tips? For example, as a cat, eating too much salt isn't good for its health; it makes it very susceptible to illness."

"That's what it loves to eat, as long as it likes it." Filch picked up Mrs. Lorris, and the grumpy cat squinted its eyes and nestled docilely in his arms. Owen seemed to see a hint of doting in Filch's dry eyes.

"In that case... I know of a type of saltwort. This plant has a strong salty taste, but it doesn't come from salt and is harmless to humans and animals," Owen said thoughtfully. "It can be used as a salt substitute for salted fish. I can find you some seeds..."

Filch squinted at him, his eyes always seeming to hold a look of disgust and hostility. He made no attempt to hide his suspicion of Owen; after all, as a Squib, he had never experienced much kindness in the wizarding world.

"What do you want to do?" he said menacingly.

"It's nothing, just a trivial matter." Owen pondered for a moment, then smiled. "If I had to say, I'd like to ask you something. I know no one knows more about what's happening in the castle than you. How about we exchange that?"

"Go ahead and tell me, I'll think about it." Filch's suspicious and wary expression relaxed slightly after hearing Irving mention that there were terms for the deal.

"Mr. Filch, since the start of this school year, has anything strange or unprecedented happened in the castle?" Owen asked, his eyes fixed on him.

"Why are you asking about this?" Filch's expression became extremely vigilant. He stared at Owen as if he were a criminal who was about to suddenly attack and kill someone.

"Because it's fun," Owen said casually. "Don't worry, I won't break any school rules. You can test me if you don't believe me; I've memorized all the rules of Hogwarts perfectly."

Filch's eyes narrowed to slits, and after considering for a long time, he said slowly in a hoarse voice, "Every classroom has been losing chalk lately..."

Irving broke out in a sweat, but kept smiling.

"There's always a strange roar coming from the right-hand corridor on the fourth floor, that place where everyone's forbidden to enter." Filch said with a malicious grin, then muttered in a barely audible voice, "They must have brought some monster in. It would be even better if it could snatch away a few rule-breakers..."

Owen's lips twitched. Actually, the Philosopher's Stone was quite interesting, but it was impossible to get his hands on it, so he decided to forget about it.

"Also, there have been several times more students wandering around at night these past two days, and they're all Hufflepuffs." Filch's upper lip curled up as he gritted his teeth and said, "That's all."

"Huh? Do you know why?" Owen's eyes lit up. Hufflepuff students are always the most disciplined at Hogwarts, so anything they'd do to break the rules must be extraordinary.

"I don't know. I've caught a few, but they won't tell me, and I'm not interested," Filch said. His only interests were his crash course in sorcery using Squibs, disciplining unruly students, and figuring out how to get the school to approve his long-advocated proposal to reinstate corporal punishment.

"Alright, thanks." Owen nodded politely to him, then turned and walked away. "I can get you the saltwort seeds this Sunday. Goodbye, sir."

He walked away thoughtfully, with Filch and the cat in his arms staring intently at his retreating figure.

"Hufflepuff students out at night?" Owen wondered. "Too bad I don't have much of a connection with the Hufflepuffs. Maybe I should go out and check? Hmm, but I'm not sure if it's true..."

Just then, a series of snickering laughs interrupted his thoughts. A wide, wicked face suddenly popped out from behind the wall, its mouth agape and its evil black eyes fixed on Owen: "Hehehe, clever Pippi won the game. He's waiting for the little devil to cry his eyes out..."

"You little devil, you've appeared right in front of me? You lost." Owen looked at him with regret and utter disappointment.

Mischievous Ghost froze for a moment, then shrieked and kicked over a stone statue, yelling, "Mischievous Ghost can't lose! That brat hasn't been able to find him for a whole week!"

"It's only been a week. As an ancient spirit, do you think you have less patience than a human like me?" Owen looked at him seriously. "Or do you think it's fair for me, a weak and pitiful little wizard, to go after a ghost who can turn invisible and walk through walls?"

"That's what the little brat told Pippi!" Pippi jumped up and down, grinning as he tore down a painting from the wall and aimed it at Owen's head.

"You haven't seriously considered the deeper meaning of this test at all, and you haven't realized that it's essentially a test of patience!" Owen looked at him with heartache. "Such a precious secret, I would only pass it on to someone who possesses both wisdom and courage. It's a pity, I thought you were the most suitable..."

"Peeves is the perfect candidate! No one in the castle is smarter or braver than him!" Peeves dropped the painting in his hand with a "thud" and started rolling around in mid-air, clutching his head.

"Mischievous Ghost is willing to play another game with you; Mischievous Ghost has never lost!"

"The test only happens once, and I'm sorry," Irving said, shaking his head.

The truth is, I don't know that so-called curse either. Irving added to himself.

After saying that, Owen walked past the sly Peeves and continued exploring the castle.

(End of this chapter)