Chapter 370: Surprise
Chapter 370: Surprise
The students filed into the room, and the door to Classroom Seven closed automatically behind them.
Before them lay a narrow path, flanked by swirling, thick fog. In the fog, faint outlines of figures could be seen.
"What do you think is hiding in there, some kind of monster?" Roger Davis of Ravenclaw said. He was tall and handsome, with dark brown hair styled neatly back, revealing a striking face.
Though he was speaking to the group, his eyes kept glancing towards a pretty girl standing not far away.
"Does he think he's at a ball or something?" Ron muttered from the back, causing Harry and Hermione to chuckle. The Davis wizard was wearing a high-collared robe with blue and bronze embroidered cuffs, and he kept running his hand through his hair to keep it in place.
A light laugh echoed through the fog, making Harry freeze. He turned sharply to look into the mist, certain that the sound had come from nearby. The fog swirled and dissipated, but there was nothing there. He took a few quick steps forward, hearing Ron say, "...but who is that girl? She’s really pretty!"
By Harry's standards, the girl Davis was eyeing was indeed beautiful, though she was petite and somewhat slender. Her skin was pale, her features delicate, and she had short brown hair. The only flaw was her thick eyebrows, which didn't quite match her face. And one more thing—she was a Slytherin.
"Do you know who she is?" Ron tugged at Hermione.
"How would I know?" Hermione said impatiently.
"You know at least half the students in the school, someone as... as..." Ron struggled to find the right word to describe her, but couldn’t.
"I only know the students who take Ancient Runes!" Hermione pointed out sharply.
They walked for about ten minutes before Felix finally stopped. At this point, everyone realized they were at the center of a crossroads, with two long corridors dividing the area into four sections, each shrouded in fog.
"I need to check your essays first", Felix said to the group. "You can explore... though it's not quite complete yet, I assure you there will be surprises waiting for you."
As he spoke, he transfigured a comfortable armchair for himself and sat down.
The students exchanged glances, unsure of what the professor meant.
The girl with short brown hair spoke calmly, "Will we encounter the same things?"
"It depends on the area you choose", Felix replied after a moment's thought.
"Is it dangerous?"
"It depends on how you define it, but don't forget why you're here."
The short-haired girl nodded slightly, drew her wand, and turned to enter the nearest fog. The mist parted to let her through and closed again once she was inside.
A few seconds passed, but no sound came from the fog.
"We should choose one too", Hermione said decisively. Harry and Ron saw Davis already running after the girl into the same area, so they decided to go in a different direction.
"Let's go this way!" Harry pointed to the right, remembering the light laugh he had heard from that direction.
Ron and Hermione had no objections, "Neville, what about you?" Harry asked. Neville scratched his head, "I'll go with you guys; I'm a bit worried about going alone."
Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, and two other Slytherin students entered a new area, while Cedric, Susan Bones, Cho Chang, Angelina, and others chose the last remaining area.
The remaining students quickly picked their directions, leaving Felix in the center, rapidly flipping through the essays.
...
The students each embarked on their own adventures.
Cedric found himself lost, and Cho Chang had vanished. After walking for a while, he saw a corner of a structure emerging from the fog. It was a large, open platform, similar to the gilded stage from their Duelling Class, but much bigger.
"Professor Flitwick?" Cedric's mouth dropped open when he saw who was standing on the platform.
He had expected to encounter some bizarre creatures. Professor Hup's strange tastes had gradually become known, and some wizards from Muggle families had even compiled a list of monsters from movies.
A witch who loved horror films had provided extensive material. When Cho showed him the list, he had pretended to be calm, but inside, he was quite anxious.
Young Flitwick smiled and said, "It's not good to daydream here. Are you waiting for your friends to arrive?" He pointed to one side and asked.
Cedric then noticed that Cho Chang was cautiously making her way from another direction, accompanied by Susan Bones, the Weasley Twins, and Angelina Johnson.
"Hey, Cedric, you got here first", Fred greeted him.
"We waited outside for a bit, and sure enough, we caught a few more", George said with a smile.
"Now that everyone is here, what's your decision?" Flitwick raised his wand. "One by one or all together?"
In the second area—
Harry saw a young student with reddish-brown hair. He felt that this face was somewhat familiar, especially the hooked nose, which seemed to remind him of someone he had seen before. This suspicion was only confirmed when the student introduced himself.
"Are you Headmaster Dumbledore?" Harry was taken aback.
"Headmaster?" the young Albus Dumbledore smiled, "I only have memories of being Head Boy. Would you like to share some of my experiences, Harry?"
Harry found everything in front of him extremely strange. He was seeing a younger Dumbledore, and Dumbledore was about to discuss Head Boy topics with him. He wasn't sure if this was some kind of strategy. He cautiously said, "Professor Dumbledore, I came in because Professor Hup told me to. Are we... uh, are we going to fight?"
"Fight?" the young Dumbledore looked at him with a smile, "Certainly, if you wish."
Ten seconds later.
Harry was struggling desperately on the ground. His clothes seemed to have turned into a cage, completely restricting his movements. He couldn't even lift a hand.
"You were too close, and you didn't notice the casting vibrations. I assume you haven't learned wandless magic yet?" the reddish-brown-haired Dumbledore said, waving his hand to dispel the magic. "Alright, let's try again..."
In the third area—
Young Felix yawned, "Just the two of you? That's a bit boring with so few people."
Collins Fry clenched her teeth and waved her wand repeatedly, casting silent spells. "Bang, bang, bang!" The spells were deflected by a hand, and Roger Davis couldn't get close. The spells that Felix casually deflected all flew toward him. He wanted to make Collins stop, but he couldn't spare the effort, jumping around to avoid the spells.
Young Felix said lazily, "Human-form armoring charm. Interested in learning it?"
In the fourth area—
Draco Malfoy was cornered by a ten-foot-tall manticore, which loomed over him, its scorpion tail gleaming with a metallic sheen. He leaned back as far as he could, trying to put as much distance between himself and the creature as possible.
"Mr. Malfoy, I've told you three times already, don't run..." Professor Mcgonagall adjusted her square glasses, looking at him with a mix of frustration and disappointment. A row of humanoid puppets followed behind her.
...
After about half an hour, Felix finally finished his essay.
"Tsk! I wonder what they encountered." He stood up and walked into the thick mist, circling around to lead the students out.
The students followed behind him, looking dejected and completely different from when they first arrived, their faces showing signs of severe shock.
"So, each of you met at least one of the secret realm's administrators. They come from the memories of the four professors when they were young, including myself. You might notice that some of their personalities differ slightly from reality, and that's correct, slightly different..."
Felix said somewhat sheepishly, "This is all normal. You need to learn to distinguish." His own memory had been a bit too mischievous. When he went over to check, he found his memory version performing spells with his eyes closed, much to Collins' fury.
While he had thought about doing it, it was just a thought, never put into practice. He wouldn't risk his own safety.
Felix sighed. Whether it was the portraits or the young memory versions in Classroom Seven, they were all more cheerful and lively than he was. Perhaps this was because he hadn't given them his darker, more secretive memories.
This gave him an uneasy feeling and a suspicion: If he hadn't experienced those things during his school days, would he have grown up to be a somewhat absurd person like his memory version?
(End of Chapter)
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