Chapter 128: The Empty Castle
Chapter 128: The Empty Castle (First Subscription Request!)
A new week began, and the young wizards were surprised to find that their classrooms had changed.
Charms Class.
Professor Flitwick took out a stack of parchment and stood on a pile of thick books. "Young wizards, today you will be introduced to a new teaching aid. I believe many of you have already heard about it..."
Potions Class.
In the fifth-year classroom, Snape calmly looked at the young wizards. "To improve your Owls scores, you need to pay more attention to the theory. I have said this many times."
The young wizards were like quails, not daring to say a word.
Suddenly, he raised his wand, and dozens of parchments flew out like sharp swords, landing in front of the young wizards. The parchments shimmered with magical light.
The well-informed young wizards couldn't wait to touch their wands to the parchments and shout, "Rune Secret."
But the parchments didn't move.
Snape said calmly, "Very good, Miss Campbell has given us an incorrect demonstration."
Transfiguration Class.
Professor Mcgonagall's sharp gaze swept the room. "Several professors have put in a great deal of effort, and I hope you do not take it lightly."
"Now, take out your wands and repeat after me: 'The secrets of magic, forever in my heart.'"
The young wizards chanted along...
Ancient Runes Class, sixth-year classroom.
Felix smiled. "You will find that the new version of the 'Answer Parchment' has more features."
"It includes the much-anticipated leaderboard."
The young wizards eagerly tried it out. Apart from the activation command being outside the realm of 'Ancient Runes,' the interface also changed—
The view showed a distant mountain peak, with a castle faintly visible. The scene quickly zoomed in, revealing the Great Hall, spiral staircases, courtyards, towers, the Library, and the Forbidden Forest...
It seemed to be the perspective of a newcomer to Hogwarts, with simple lines outlining the most familiar scenes.
The image paused on Hogwarts' castle, with the flags of the four houses planted at the main gate. The snakes, badgers, lions, and eagles on the flags were lifelike.
When their eyes fell on the flags, they saw the corresponding creatures either swaying, standing upright, roaring, or flapping their wings.
The young wizards who had chosen Ancient Runes Class completed the binding operation early and were now looking at the new interface.
It was an overhead view of Hogwarts, with symbols flashing in the clouds, each representing a different class.
The symbol for Ancient Runes was a line of Runic Script, which read the initial command— "Rune Secret";
The symbol for Transfiguration Class was a fiery lion, constantly changing its form;
The symbol for Potions Class was a boiling cauldron, with steam rising in waves;
...
Besides these symbols, the young wizards were most interested in the leaderboard feature.
They carefully searched and found a new icon to the right of their names on the parchment—a simple drawing of a magic scroll.
The young wizards skillfully tapped the scroll with their wands, and a Swift with scythe-like wings, carrying the magic scroll, flew to the center. The scroll began to enlarge and slowly unfurled...
At the top, a row of words appeared—House, Year, Name (Alias), Subject, Level, Score—six categories in total.
Apart from these, the leaderboard was still empty.
Felix looked at the group and explained, "There are a few points you need to pay attention to."
"The rankings on the leaderboard are not just about scores; they evaluate your progress in each subject. Professor colleagues and I believe this will help you find your interests early on, which will benefit your future careers."
"The challenges on the leaderboard can be found in the corresponding subject categories, where professors have set questions based on their experience. New content will be added periodically."
"I think some of you have noticed that you can use aliases on the leaderboard and hide your rankings. This is designed for those who don't want to draw attention to themselves."
The young wizards listened attentively.
"Besides the leaderboard, there are two other areas you need to focus on: the wrong answers are categorized by subject, and you can preview or review subjects from other grades, which include key points marked by professors."
"Let's take Ancient Runes as an example to understand its specific functions..."
...
As the weather warmed, the sunlight at Hogwarts became more abundant.
Even after a full day of classes, the sun still lingered in the sky.
In the castle corridor, Ron kept muttering, "Madness, pure madness, there's not a soul around..."
Harry looked at him sympathetically, feeling that Ron was also acting out of character.
Ron held a piece of parchment, having been staring at the leaderboard on it the whole way—
On the second-year leaderboard, Hermione Granger's name topped all subjects, having reached level 37 in Charms. He also saw many familiar names: Cedric Diggory, Chang, Percy Weasley, Penelope Clearwater...
The castle was eerily empty, with hardly any people around—everyone was hiding in the library or common rooms, playing the challenge games.
They couldn't stand the atmosphere in the common room and had come out for a walk.
Ron muttered, "I can't understand how 'challenges' and 'games' are connected."
Harry said, "Everyone will come to their senses in a few days."
Ron added, "Hermione definitely won't. She's completely hooked."
Harry and Ron had no intention of returning to the common room. They wandered around the castle and soon encountered a familiar pair—
"Fred, George!"
"Oh, it's you two", one of the Weasley twins said.
"Why are you out here? Shouldn't you be in the common room playing the challenge games?"
"That's not us", the twins grinned. "Today is a rare occasion, and we want to remember it."
"So you're planning a night-time adventure? Isn't it a bit early for that?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"No, Percy is very confident he'll take the top spot in sixth year, so we're preparing some Butterbeer and Honeydukes' sweets", Fred said.
"Exactly, whether he succeeds or fails, it's worth celebrating", George added with a grin.
"So—do you plan to sneak out through the secret passage to Hogsmeade? Can you take us with you?" Ron asked, his eyes lighting up.
Harry couldn't help but hold his breath.
"George, we might have let something slip", Fred said.
"You're the one who let it slip", George countered.
"I agree, but we need to do something", Fred winked.
"Like... a memory charm?" George caught on.
The twins' gazes then fell on Ron.
Ron swallowed hard and took a step back.
But the twins quickly ran off, their laughter echoing even after they disappeared from view.
Meanwhile, Felix was also strolling through the castle. He entered the courtyard and saw a ghost floating quietly in mid-air, staring at the green plants, lost in thought.
"Grey Lady."
(End of Chapter)
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