Header Background Image
    Chapter Index
    Read Advanced Chapters on Patreon: patreon.com/fantasystories797

    Chapter 43: Night Walks Are a Hogwarts Tradition

    Andy wasn’t someone who easily lost patience with children; having lived two lives, he’d spent a fair amount of time soothing them. But soothing children was different from befriending them. Well… except for girlfriends.

    He minimized his interactions with his three roommates, as well as Harry and Ron.

    As for Hermione…

    If Hermione didn’t share his love of learning, providing companionship during his magical studies, Andy doubted he’d have put up with a little girl for so long. The laughter and conversation helped alleviate the fatigue of studying; that was the main reason he spent time with Hermione.

    “Heh!”

    Andy unconsciously touched his wand. Pine wood, phoenix feather! The wand chooses the wizard.

    “Perhaps the wand chose me because this is simply who I am,” he mused.

    Independent, even to the point of being considered isolated. Having lived at Hogwarts for half a month, Andy had spoken to older students, maintaining reasonably good relationships. But he never considered anyone a friend except Hermione. Birds of a feather flock together. They studied magic to find jobs after graduation, while Andy studied magic to achieve immortality and explore its true essence.

    Perhaps they found his life boring, consisting only of studying and practicing magic. But he felt *they* were wasting their talent, possessing the opportunity to learn magic yet choosing to live like Muggles. But to each their own; everyone pursued different things in life. He wouldn’t say their lives were meaningless, but he found it difficult to join their frivolous conversations.

    Entering the Great Hall, Andy habitually sat next to Hermione. The little witch was good; he’d recently discovered another one of her strengths – her exceptional memory. Andy only focused on the key points when reading, but Hermione memorized entire books. So, when Andy asked her questions, she could provide precise answers, word-for-word from the text. Her speed was faster than even a search engine. The little witch was truly useful.

    “What did they want? Didn’t they ask you to do something bad?” Hermione, considering herself Andy’s friend, felt obligated to guide him back to the right path.

    “I didn’t help them,” Andy gave her a reassuring look. “I’m a little wizard bathed in the light of righteousness; how could I possibly do bad things? You know me.”

    “But you didn’t say anything strange to them, did you?” Hermione remained unconvinced. She knew Andy wouldn’t do bad things himself, but he might trick others into doing them.

    “I only spoke less than five sentences,” Andy said with a sincere expression.

    Hermione stopped questioning; five sentences were hardly enough to deceive anyone.

    Meanwhile…

    After Andy left, Ron and Harry exchanged glances: “What should we do now?”

    “How about… we ambush Malfoy?” Ron suggested. “He won’t see us anyway, and he won’t know who hit him.”

    Harry considered it, eventually nodding. He wasn’t usually vengeful and disliked interacting with Malfoy. But this was different. He’d been at Hogwarts less than a week, and already had one hundred points deducted from Gryffindor. The shame was immense. Coupled with Ron’s persistent persuasion… They had to get even.

    Night fell.

    After his roommates fell asleep, Andy got out of bed, got dressed, and left the Ravenclaw dormitory. Taking out his wand, he cast a Disillusionment Charm. This spell was quite difficult. Before even enrolling, he’d sought instruction from Helena Ravenclaw, but only mastered it two days prior. Tonight, he planned to scout the Restricted Section. He remembered the movie scene where Harry snuck into the Restricted Section. Under his Invisibility Cloak, Harry entered as if it were empty. Andy wanted to see if that applied to everyone, or just Harry.

    The journey was smooth; he didn’t encounter any patrolling professors or Filch’s cat.

    “Alohomora!”

    He entered the library, quiet as a tomb. Andy closed the library door behind him and waved his wand again.

    “Lumos!”

    He was essentially safe now.

    Andy reached the Restricted Section. Only a rope separated it from the regular books; there were no other safeguards. He tapped the rope with his wand.

    “Seems fine.”

    Still cautious, he carefully crossed the rope and entered the Restricted Section. He went in, came out, went in, came out… He tested it several times. Besides the rope, there was nothing.

    “But what’s the point of having a Restricted Section then? It’s just a rope; anyone could come in and read,” Andy wondered.

    “Of course there’s a point!”

    A voice suddenly echoed from the darkness, nearly scaring him to death.

    “Who’s there?”

    Turning around, Andy first saw a long white beard reaching his chest, and half-moon spectacles gleaming in the dark. He then looked at himself; the Disillusionment Charm had somehow failed.

    Busted!

    Andy shrugged resignedly, but wasn’t overly nervous. Trespassing in the Restricted Section; the worst that could happen was a point deduction.

    “Even with just a rope, few young witches and wizards are willing to come here,” Dumbledore explained, seemingly to himself. “They’re always mischievous, struggling to settle down and learn.”

    “But there are some who aren’t satisfied with the textbooks, yearning for more knowledge.”

    “Hogwarts was founded to disseminate knowledge, not hoard it.”

    Andy understood. In short, learning relied on self-discipline.

    “Good evening, Headmaster Dumbledore,” Andy greeted him. “Still up this late?”

    Dumbledore blinked. “Aren’t you also?”

    “I came to take a look at the Restricted Section,” Andy admitted frankly. That was the art of conversation. *I* was up to look at the Restricted Section, and *you*?

    “Old age makes one prone to insomnia,” Dumbledore seemed troubled.

    “Right, older people often do. My grandfather frequently suffered from insomnia. I should get going… Goodnight, Headmaster,” Andy prepared to leave. Quick escape meant no point deductions.

    “We separated the Restricted Section because those books contain many dangerous spells. Until you’re prepared, you might want to restrain your thirst for knowledge,” Dumbledore said slowly.

    (End of Chapter)

    Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

    You can support the author on

    0 Comments

    Heads up! Your comment will be invisible to other guests and subscribers (except for replies), including you after a grace period. But if you submit an email address and toggle the bell icon, you will be sent replies until you cancel.
    Note