A certain broken Hogwarts

With curfew time fast approaching, the two walked quickly down the corridor, the stone walls of the Slytherin common room now in sight.

"I thought you weren't going back to your dorm tonight," Owen said slowly.

"I talked to Sirius about this today. Actually, the professors have already increased security at the entrance to the common room during the day while we're in class, and they've even cast a spell on our dorm rooms. As long as we keep our dorm doors closed when we sleep, not even a mouse can get in."

Harry shrugged and pushed up his glasses. "You know, I can't hide forever. If someone actually breaks into the dorms and can't find me, they might get angry and attack you..."

He sighed, finding himself increasingly able to remain calm about being threatened. Yes, he was used to it.

"Speaking of which, what have the professors set up here?" Standing in front of the slippery stone wall, Harry looked around.

Owen lazily raised his eyelids and gently waved his wand. Following a unique sense, he slowly walked to the armor in the corner of the passage, looking up at the face hidden by the silver helmet, where a faint reflection shone.

He tiptoed and pushed his helmet up, revealing a smooth mirror inside. The mirror faced the stone wall, and the reflection of the person on it was distorted like a funhouse mirror, giving a comical and eerie feeling.

"A mirror?" Harry curiously leaned closer to get a good look at his reflection.

"A revealing mirror, capable of reflecting suspicious individuals, and there should also be an alarm system," Owen said casually, pulling his helmet back into place. He then tapped the burning stone pillar next to the armor with his fingers, fiddling with it for a while before fumbling for and pressing a hidden switch.

A well-hidden little door next to the stone pillar slid open with a "clatter," revealing a small, round object that glittered in the dim light.

Owen looked it over with interest and said with a smile, "A black magic detector. But these things are easily fooled; basically, only half-baked black wizards can be detected by it."

Harry glanced at him sideways and muttered under his breath, "Why do I get the feeling you're a little bit arrogant?"

Irving didn't even glance at him, simply putting the pillar back in its original position and saying in a light tone, "There are probably quite a few similar arrangements around here, some of which I might not even have noticed. The professors really put their hearts into it."

He walked to the stone wall, said the password for the week, "Desire," and entered the warm, dry common room through the quietly sliding door.

Watching Owen leisurely go back to his dormitory to sleep, Harry could only sigh enviously and resignedly begin to do the dreadful amount of Potions homework he had for the day.

As night deepened, the students quickly climbed into their beds and fell into a deep sleep. The soft lights in the dormitory gradually went out, and the lake outside the window shimmered with a pale dark green hue, rippling gently, making the place seem like a sunken ship buried deep at the bottom of the lake.

In the stillness of the night, only the soft snoring echoed in his ears. Owen lay on his back in the four-poster bed, fast asleep, his posture peaceful and docile. Melete curled up into a ball beside him, the fluffy cattail ball nestled beneath her. Nyx stood motionless on a high perch, eyes tightly closed, like a magnificent bird sculpture.

Suddenly, Melete opened her round eyes, her golden cat pupils gleaming in the night. Her fur stood on end, and she pounced on Owen's neck, quickly scratching at his neck with her claws and nibbling at his earlobe with her sharp teeth.

But there was no need for Melett to wake him; Owen had already been jolted awake the moment the cat pounced. He had sensed a terrible danger in the sudden nightmare, and after struggling to wake up, he found that the feeling of danger had not dissipated.

He quickly opened his eyes and jumped out of bed, his sharp, cold gaze sweeping around him. A familiar feeling of being watched washed over him, as if he were being stared at by a cruel, bloodthirsty, cold-blooded animal, making the hairs on his body stand on end.

"That shadowy figure is here again?" Owen thought.

Because it was too dark around him, he didn't hesitate to transform into black flames to avoid being attacked by anything in the darkness.

He darted out of the four-poster bed curtains like a gust of wind, flying directly over the fast-sleeping Nyx, nearly knocking the phoenix off its perch. While the other young wizards on the other beds were still fast asleep, Melete had already nimbly leaped to Nyx's side with a dumpling in his mouth.

Nyx slowly opened his sleepy red eyes, looked around irritably for a while, as if he wanted to burn the person who woke him up to ashes, and finally glared at Melete with dissatisfaction.

"Follow me." Owen simply conveyed this thought, then slipped out through the narrow gap in the dormitory door. He couldn't act freely here, and it would easily affect others; waking Nyx was just in case.

It must be said that the Phoenix's teleportation ability, which is not restricted by the Anti-Apparition Charm, is truly an essential tool for both home travel and escaping.

European-style black flames flew swiftly down the long corridor, quickly entering the empty common room. The lights in the common room were always on, their greenish glow making it seem like a magnificent ruin beneath a lake, creating a desolate and eerie atmosphere in the silence, with only the warm glow of the fireplace providing solace.

Irving circled the circular chandelier on the ceiling, feeling the constant gaze following him. He looked around and finally saw a familiar large dog's shadow imprinted on the stone slab of the ground, pacing back and forth below him.

"It's like a persistent ghost." Owen flew to the emptier corner of the lounge and returned to normal. The huge black shadow turned to look at him and aggressively approached him.

Irving's clear and indifferent gaze swept over the dark shadow that resembled a large dog. He watched it disappear into the shadow of a sculpture, and then its enormous head emerged from the shadow of a nearby armchair, its ferocious mouth aimed at Irving's slanted shadow on the ground.

"Can move in the shadows, but can't move directly into the target's shadow? Or can't move into the shadow of a living being?" Owen quickly changed position, rapidly summarizing the phenomena he observed, his eyes fixed on the large black dog running towards him.

He drew his wand, intending to try out all the various solutions he had come up with over the past few days.

He first cast a Disillusionment spell on himself, and his figure vanished into thin air in an instant, even his shadow on the ground disappeared. The large black dog, however, rushed towards the spot where his shadow had been without stopping, and Owen quickly dodged far away.

"It seems that using the Disillusionment Charm to eliminate the shadow is not feasible. My shadow is still there, but I can't see it anymore, which will only put me at a greater disadvantage," Owen calmly analyzed.

He reappeared, carefully shifting his position, constantly watching his shadow to avoid being attacked. Nyx had already flown to the lounge, landing atop the fireplace and tilting his head to watch him curiously.

The large dog's shadow appeared and disappeared among the clutter, and dealing with it required a great deal of effort. Owen ran around in the open space, occasionally bursting out as a ball of black flame from a blind spot, while seizing the opportunity to chant a spell at the shadowy figure.

"A barrage of bullets!"

Owen waved his wand dramatically, and the surrounding ornaments, sculptures, and candlesticks floated up and flew away with a "whoosh".

They didn't fly directly to the location of the shadow, but flew in another direction, but their shadows reflected on the ground struck the shadow of the big dog directly.

Owen stared down at his shadow on the ground. He wanted to test his theory: if the shadow could attack his own, could it also be attacked by the shadows of other things?

Facing the incoming missiles, the giant dog raised its massive paw high and slapped them down. The small objects still flying in the air suddenly stopped, shattering into pieces on the ground in an instant.

Seeing this, Irving's eyes lit up: "It really works!"

He vanished into a ball of black flame with a whoosh, narrowly avoiding the claws that emerged from the shadows of the armchair beside him.

"Then, unleash a volley of arrows!"

Owen flicked his wand, and sharp black arrows materialized before him, their tips gleaming with a chilling light. He had previously modified the spell with dark magic, enhancing its power and imbuing the arrowheads with a dark magical curse.

He maneuvered the arrows, making them curve in mid-air so that their shadows on the floor would strike the large dog's silhouette. But the dog calmly raised its front paw and easily shattered the arrow shadows.

As the arrow disintegrated in mid-air, Owen frowned and quickly analyzed what he saw.

"It was broken so easily? The shadow doesn't seem to be cursed at all..." He waved his wand, clearing away the armchairs and tables around him, giving himself room to maneuver and preventing the shadow from freely moving through the shadows of the clutter. "The shadow can't be cursed?"

"No, perhaps it's because the curse is attached to the arrows, not their shadows!" Owen squinted at the charging dog. "To the shadows, those arrows are just ordinary objects..."

"In that case, many spells won't work."

"Binding Thorns." Owen waved his wand again, and countless black vines with sharp thorns emerged from all around, their shadows like dancing snakes binding the large dog's shadow.

The large dog tore at the thorns with its massive paws and gnawed with its sharp teeth, easily shredding the tough thorns as if they were fragile strips of paper. Although it was soon bound by more thorns, it charged headlong into the shadows nearby, peeking out again from the shadows under a desk in the distance.

"I can't trap it! It can move freely among the shadows, but my spells can't do that, and it's difficult to stop its movements." Owen bit his lower lip lightly. The more he understood this thing, the more he could feel how troublesome it was.

He could unleash many powerful spells, but their shadows contained little magic, resembling ordinary objects and posing no threat to the large dog's shadow. For instance, the Dark Guardian could exert formidable combat power in reality, but its shadow was no different from a piece of parchment to the large dog's shadow.

"I have to use a spell that targets shadows? But wizards have no experience or principles to draw upon in this area." Owen thought quickly, using his wand to lift a series of armchairs and smash them against the shadow, stopping the big dog's pursuit.

"After all, who could have imagined that there would be an enemy in the world that only exists in the shadows?"

If this large, dark dog-like figure truly is an omen of misfortune, then Owen understands why people consider it a sign of death. Once targeted by such a thing, even a highly skilled wizard would feel helpless. They might be able to evade one attack, but faced with the shadow's relentless harassment, the slightest lapse in concentration could result in their death.

Not to mention that the giant dog's shadow also possesses the power of curses. Once people are affected, the silent curse may not be instantly fatal, but it will inevitably render them unable to resist, leaving them at the mercy of the giant dog to tear their shadow apart.

Owen suddenly pointed his wand at a giant serpent statue next to the lounge, and the stone serpent came to life, its green eyes shining like searchlights. It nimbly slid off its stone base, its stone scales clicking and clattering.

Owen's wand, like a conductor's baton, elegantly and precisely manipulated the giant snake's movements. The snake rampaged through the tables and chairs along its path, its enormous shadow on the ground opening its gaping maw towards the large dog, its sharp fangs like straight spears.

The dark green floor of the lounge, illuminated by the lights, presented a bizarre and chaotic scene.

The giant snake's shadow lashed out with its powerful tail at the dog, which opened its massive jaws and raised its enormous, clawed paws to meet the attack, only to be thrown head over heels by the force.

The two enormous beasts tumbled and writhed in a fierce battle. The giant snake coiled tightly around the giant dog's body, its powerful form writhing and tightening, but the giant dog quickly emerged from another position, broke free of the snake's encirclement, and pounced, tearing a large piece of its shadow from the snake's body.

The two became entangled again, but the larger dog clearly had the upper hand. Its movements were more agile and powerful, allowing it to move freely in the shadows, as if toying with its prey.

In the common room, the giant serpent sculpture, manipulated by Irving, writhed and writh wildly, leaving its surroundings in a mess. Its hard stone body was covered with numerous pockmarked claw marks and bite marks, and its tail was almost broken off.

Controlling the giant snake to make various movements in the air, so that its shadow can accurately attack the shadow of the big dog, is inherently very difficult.

With a series of thunderous booms, the giant serpent sculpture was shattered by a single slap and crashed heavily to the floor, completely rendered incapacitated.

Irving sighed and continued trying various methods.

By the time he started panting, the large dog's shadowy figure remained calm and composed; it was a very patient hunter.

Owen calmed his rapid breathing, tilted his head at the dark figure on the ground, and said with a slight smile in his slightly hoarse voice, "I don't like the way you look. I remember when we first met, you weren't like this."

He slightly curled his lips, ignoring the large dog's menacing approach: "You became like this after I associated you with that 'ominous' black dog. So..."

Irving licked his lips with the tip of his tongue, and said in a dazed tone as if hypnotizing himself, "I don't think 'ominous' should have a tangible form. It should be amorphous, free to change, as elusive as death itself."

"So, turn into a cat and let me see," Owen chuckled. "Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll willingly let you kill me."

He kept giving himself positive self-talk, and under his intense gaze, the large, dark dog-like figure actually began to change. Its once clear outline slowly blurred, shrouded once more in the hazy smoke.

As Owen became increasingly convinced of his judgment, the shadowy figure solidified in his eyes once more. It had shrunk considerably, its head was round, its two triangular ears stood erect, its body was short and plump, its tail was long and agile, and its four short legs thrashed about on the ground…

"Wow, just as I thought! You can be a cute little cat, why be a nasty big dog?" Owen laughed.

The dwarf cat's shadow paused briefly, then continued its relentless approach towards Owen. Its adorable size, however, made it appear utterly intimidating.

Owen certainly didn't think it would become harmless because of this; the sense of danger emanating from the shadow didn't diminish in the slightest. He transformed into black flames and moved to a slightly farther position, a faint, pleasant smile on his face: "Well then, the next experiment..."

As he spoke, he tapped his wand a short distance to his side, clearing away all the clutter around him, leaving only a high-backed chair.

He circled the high-backed chair, and the shadow reflected on the floor was only a hair's breadth away from the shadow of the high-backed chair. It seemed that as long as the shadow moved into the shadow of the high-backed chair, he could touch Irving's shadow with a wave of his hand.

The dwarf cat's shadow couldn't resist the temptation. It quickly darted under the table next to it and then poked its head out from the shadow of the high-backed chair.

"Shatter to pieces!" Owen swung his wand with lightning speed, casting the spell he had been preparing at the high-backed chair. Instantly, he transformed into black flames and flew into the air, watching from his unique perspective as the high-backed chair exploded in an instant, shattering into countless tiny pieces of wood and powder.

Owen stared intently at the claw belonging to the shadowy figure, watching it dissipate into wisps of smoke, like ink spreading in clear water, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

Feeling the omnipresent gaze suddenly disappear, Owen remained vigilant and hovered above the ceiling for a while before finally transforming back into human form.

"Really gone?" Owen raised his eyebrows.

The experiment was simple. Imagine the shadow as a creature living in shadows; it could exist where there are no shadows, or move freely among the shadows of objects. But Owen discovered it only chose to move between sufficiently large shadows. It never extended its claws from the shadows between the floorboards, otherwise Owen would have nowhere to stand.

So, if we consider the shadows of those miscellaneous objects as a space where the dark figure can reside, and we shatter that space in an instant, wouldn't we be able to tear the dark figure within it to shreds as well?

It now appears that this is feasible.

"So easy to solve?" Owen pondered for a moment, stroking his chin. "However, it moves incredibly fast between shadows, and if you're on guard, it can easily escape. Besides, next time it can simply avoid entering the shadows of other things. While that might reduce its mobility somewhat, I'll still be helpless against it..."

Irving had no doubt that there would be another attack, after all, he had successfully driven away the shadowy figure last time.

"Tsk, troublesome." He sighed angrily, his cheeks puffing out slightly.

The key issue is that the shadowy attacks are completely indiscriminate. If it continues to harass him like this, it will have a significant impact on Irving's life.

"Indeed, we must nip the danger in the bud as soon as possible." Owen grinned and gritted his teeth, waving his wand to repair the items in the common room and put them back in their original places.

After cleaning and tidying up the lounge, he yawned and went back to his dormitory to continue sleeping.

Nyx sighed softly. Having just watched a comical one-man show, it flew back to its perch and closed its eyes contentedly.

The following days were filled with torrential rain, but school life remained lively. Several more body-swap incidents occurred, causing quite a few laughs and mishaps, but the gloomy sky made Owen seem somewhat listless as he watched the commotion.

He utterly loathed the country's weather; the damp, rainy climate was a nightmare for him. Meletus wholeheartedly agreed.

Harry was so glad he hadn't turned into someone else in the blink of an eye, and he enthusiastically shared his experience with his friends: "If you just clear your mind or focus on your studies, you won't keep thinking about other people!"

"Come on, I've heard you complain more than once about taking too many courses last semester and not being able to finish all the assignments." Blaise scoffed at this. Although he had recently accidentally switched into the body of a little witch who seemed to have a crush on him, and spent most of the day sleeping in the school hospital.

Harry's face fell as he thought about his mountain of homework. He hadn't had a good time these past few days either, because Professor Snape had become increasingly sarcastic and cynical ever since that day, frequently making sarcastic remarks at him. Even when he perfectly brewed a potion in Potions class, the Headmaster always managed to find fault with it.

Although he decided to continue to trust Professor Snape, it was clear that the latter did not think so and took his anger out on him.

Owen, on the other hand, remained elusive, moving between the library, the Room of Requirement, and the common room. He searched extensively for information about the "ominous" in the library, even rummaging through some related books in Ravenclaw's secret room, and even asking Mettis some questions.

Métis is an eagle-head sculpture in the Chamber of Secrets in Ravenclaw. She is the caretaker of the Chamber and also possesses great wisdom. She has memorized the contents of every book in the Chamber, stored much knowledge and information not found in the Chamber, and knows many ancient secrets.

She often manages to offer Irving some ideas.

"That big black dog that symbolizes bad luck?" Mettis asked in a singing voice. "That's a long-standing legend, even in Ravenclaw's time."

"It is said that there exists a mysterious and terrifying creature in the world, a huge black canine with fur blacker than the night and eyes like burning coals. Sometimes it looks like a real dog, and sometimes it looks like a wisp of smoke," Mettis said. "They are elusive and elusive, and like to haunt gloomy graveyards, a symbol of misfortune and death."

"Some say they are the watchdogs of the underworld, some say they are messengers of death, some say they are the minions of the devil... Anyone who has seen them will soon meet with misfortune," Métis said in a hymn-like tone. "This legend has been passed down to this day, and its original origin is no longer traceable."

“I know,” Owen nodded. “Various legends about the ominous black dog have existed for a long time, but for a long time they were passed down as stories to scare children. It wasn’t until the sixteenth century, when more and more people claimed to have seen the big black dog and subsequently suffered misfortunes, that people began to truly believe that a black dog representing ‘ominous’ really existed…”

"The earliest record is from the mid-16th century, when a wizard named Anthony Smith saw it in his yard and spread the word. The next afternoon, he was found dead in his home." Owen organized his thoughts. "After that, the 'ominous' black dog began to ravage the world, with reports of its sightings everywhere..."

"However, people's accounts of the black dog are very vague. Many witnesses claim that they saw a huge canine shadow, and even that the shadow's eyes would glow with a terrifying red light, but then it would disappear in the blink of an eye."

Irving recalled the scene when the shadow of that big dog tried to curse him.

"Very few people have actually seen the black dog itself, and there isn't even a specific description of its breed." He leaned against the bookshelf, arms crossed, and said in a soothing and pleasant voice, "Although some people claim to have seen what they look like, the rumors are all over the place."

Some say it's a dignified and solemn Castro Raeboro, others say it has long, droopy ears, some say it looks like a giant bear, others say it's like a ghost without form...

"Medis, what do you mean by 'ominous'? Could it be some kind of mysterious creature living in the shadows, or a curse?" Owen looked at the solemn and dignified Ravenclaw statue.

"A creature that lives in the shadows? I've never heard of such a creature before," Mettis said. "If they really exist, how wonderful and beautiful this world would be."

"There are always endless unknowns and miracles waiting for us to explore endlessly," she sang softly.

"Wouldn't it be incredibly boring to be stuck here like this?" Owen tilted his head.

"This is my mission," Mettis said. "I would be extremely grateful if you were willing to bring me some new knowledge."

"What do you do when you have nothing to do?" Owen picked up a book from the bookshelf and chatted casually.

"Thinking," Mettis said in a light tone, "a child once gave me some math knowledge, and when I have nothing to do, I also calculate pi."

Irving blinked. "How many decimal places did you calculate?"

"I've lost count," Mettis said calmly.

"Amazing," Owen hissed softly.

He finally understood where the value of pi for the original Truth Transmission Machine came from. (End of Chapter)