Chapter 485: A Date Unfolds
Chapter 485: A Date Unfolds
As the clock in the tower struck eleven in the evening, the few remaining lit torches along the walls of the castle corridors began to gradually extinguish, plunging the serene passageways back into darkness.
Suddenly, faint voices could be heard from an unknown source, as if someone was speaking in the corridor.
No, to be precise, there were indeed people conversing in the corridor.
In the darkness, a pale light suddenly appeared out of thin air, arousing the displeasure and reproach of the portraits of wizards who were preparing to sleep nearby.
"It seems rather lively tonight." Isabelle paused and cocked her head, listening to the distant whispers, then turned to her boyfriend and said, "It's fine to reschedule our date another day."
"It's okay, with this thing, we won't run into any other professors." Albert brandished the Marauder's Map in his hand; it was only natural to bring important items like this on a nighttime date to avoid interruptions that would ruin the mood.
"That map has a high concentration of magic." Isabelle continued walking as she spoke, "It utilizes advanced tracking and human presence spells, as well as disguise charms."
"I know." Albert replied, "By the way, can you make one yourself?"
"Can't you?" Isabelle was a little surprised. In her eyes, Albert was pretty much capable of anything.
There was no helping it; this guy seemed to know and be able to do just about everything.
"My tracking spells aren't that advanced, and I don't know the human presence spell either." Albert shrugged, feeling amazed at how well Isabelle understood him; sometimes, it felt a bit surreal.
However, being a natural Legilimens was indeed impressive! "I've been feeling a bit stressed lately." Albert reached out and held Isabelle's hand, leading her forward.
"Why do you say that?" Isabelle asked, curious. Her frequent use of the Time-Turner had indeed accumulated stress, and with the O.W.Ls approaching, the pressure was mounting.
"It's just an intuition, and you seem too concerned about your grades." Albert casually changed the subject, "Let's go to the Ravenclaw common room to chat. I haven't been to the common rooms of the other houses yet."
"You've been there before, and it's not a good time now. Some Ravenclaws are still studying." Isabelle suggested, "Why don't we go to the Gryffindor common room? I'm curious about what your common room looks like as well."
"Percy Weasley is probably still studying." Albert replied without hesitation.
"Are you trying to say I don't study hard enough?" Isabelle gave him a sideways glance and pulled him toward the Ravenclaw common room.
On their way, they encountered several disgruntled students returning to their respective common rooms. There were students from all four houses, and in the distance, they could hear Filch's scolding voice.
"Does that caretaker in the grounds really keep a dragon?" Isabelle asked curiously when the others had walked far enough.
"Yes, it's true. He secretly keeps a Norwegian Ridgeback."
Since the dragon would be sent away tonight, Albert didn't bother to conceal the truth.
"So, that rumor that was spreading like wildfire was true?" Isabelle looked at Albert with newfound realization, her expression curious, "The Ministry of Magic didn't find the dragon during their inspection because you hid it?"
"Yes, congratulations, you're right. As expected of my girlfriend, here's your reward." Albert pulled Isabelle by the waist and kissed her cheek.
"Actually, I suspect that you were involved in this matter from start to finish." Isabelle felt that her boyfriend was always shrouded in mystery and seemed to know a lot of things.
"If he helped hide the dragon, then it's highly likely that he was directly involved."
"You can say that I helped Hagrid get the dragon egg, fulfilling his dream of raising a dragon. I helped him hide it from the Ministry's inspection, and now I'm helping him send the young dragon away." Albert readily admitted his involvement.
"It's hard to imagine you doing something like that."
Albert sighed in resignation, "In my prophecy, it was destined that Hagrid would obtain that dragon egg. Raising dragons is Hagrid's dream, his obsession. Even I couldn't stop him, so I might as well lend him a hand since he's a friend."
Of course, there were some things Albert didn't mention, like how he had taken advantage of the dragon egg incident to gain tasks and rewards. That was the most important part; if there was no experience to be gained, Albert usually wouldn't bother getting involved.
"I understand." Isabelle nodded, recalling her own obsession with killing Rowena Smith, for which she had also made many sacrifices. In the end, she couldn't let go or give up, even if it meant making some irrational decisions.
As they spoke, the couple had already reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room.
"You or me?"
"You go ahead, after all, I'm just an invited guest." Albert smiled and gestured for her to proceed, then leaned in close to Isabelle's ear and whispered, "What does it feel like to sneak your boyfriend into your house's common room?"
"What feeling?" Isabelle repeated, "There's no particular feeling. You can get in by yourself anyway."
"How about taking me to your dormitory instead?" Albert suggested with a mischievous smile.
Isabelle's expression turned odd as she cautioned, "Are you sure? Do you know about the strict rule Hogwarts has about that?"
"I know. In 'Hogwarts, A History', it mentions that the founders believed boys were less reliable than girls. So, they enchanted the stairs in the girls' dormitories, but the four founders didn't consider one thing. We can enter the girls' dormitory without climbing the stairs." Albert winked playfully, "And I have a flying broom here!"
"Alright, you win." Isabelle conceded, "You'd better not go to the girls' dormitory. The noise would disturb the girls who haven't fallen asleep yet. If the other girls found out that you were planning to sneak into the girls' dormitory in the middle of the night...well, you don't want to know what would happen!"
"I thought the girls would warmly welcome me for afternoon tea." Albert teased.
"If you came during the day, that might be possible."
"Good evening, Madam Grey." Albert smiled and greeted the Ravenclaw ghost, feeling no embarrassment about being caught on a date.
"Good evening, if I were you, I wouldn't wander around at night."
Madame Grey eyed the two genius wizards of Hogwarts before her, "Although many people think it's romantic to date after curfew."
With that, Madame Grey floated away.
"It seems you're quite familiar with that lady."
Isabelle began to introduce Albert to Ravenclaw's unique features, insisting that if he had come to Ravenclaw, he wouldn't be as adventurous as he is now.
Albert merely smiled in response.
As they chatted, the couple touched upon some family matters, sharing insights into each other's home lives.
Isabelle also learned from Albert why he had become the heir to the Wildsmith family.
"A Squib?"
Isabelle nodded slightly, "I had guessed that you might be a wizard or related to a Squib. But I never expected you to be a direct descendant of the Smiths."
"That doesn't matter anymore."
Albert brushed it off nonchalantly.
Indeed, it no longer mattered! "But your sister might cause some trouble!" Isabelle suddenly said, "She admires and depends on you now. To her, you are a very special person whom she can call her own. In her heart, I'm probably the evil woman who took away her brother, and she couldn't possibly like me!"
"Don't overthink it," Albert replied, "As Nia grows older and wiser, she'll change. Time will take care of this; people evolve, especially young girls."
"Let's go to the Astronomy Tower," Albert suggested with a smile, "If we're lucky, you might even get to see the Norwegian Ridgeback." He added playfully, "You must be curious about what the little dragon looks like, right?"
With Isabelle's agreement, the couple left the Ravenclaw common room and made their way towards the tower. Along the way, they encountered Filch, the caretaker, patrolling near the tower.
As Filch disappeared at the end of the corridor, Albert whispered to Isabelle, "You may have noticed that Filch is a Squib. Any decent Disillusionment Charm would easily fool him."
"You do know a lot," Isabelle said, looking deeply into Albert's eyes.
"If you observe carefully, it's not difficult to figure out his identity," Albert explained, "Filch has never used magic from start to finish, not once. A Muggle couldn't possibly hold the position of caretaker at Hogwarts, so he must be a Squib."
Isabelle shook her head imperceptibly as she watched Filch's retreating back.
As they reached the corridor of the floor below the Astronomy Tower, they spotted a skulking Draco Malfoy, who seemed to have somehow evaded Filch's patrols.
"Malfoy will definitely get caught, deducted points, and put in detention," Albert said as they began ascending the spiral staircase.
"I heard you made a prophecy for Mr. Malfoy," Isabelle asked curiously.
"Yes, I did make a prophecy, and it's starting to come true," Albert replied as they finished climbing the steep spiral staircase and opened the wooden door to the tower's top floor.
"How do they plan to enter Hogwarts?" Isabelle asked, gazing at the cloudy night sky and then turning to Albert, "I recall from 'Hogwarts, A History' that due to ancient magic surrounding the school, outsiders cannot directly fly into these grounds."
"Then how do you think they got in?" Albert asked, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he looked up at a particular window in the school, where the light in the headmaster's office still shone.
"Are you saying the headmaster let them in?" Isabelle immediately realized what was going on, "Does the headmaster know about this?"
"Congratulations, you're right!" Albert said cheerfully, "I wrote a letter to the headmaster explaining Hagrid's situation. Since he didn't intend to get involved, it meant he tacitly approved of Potter's actions."
"Are you saying that all of this was within your expectations?" Isabelle raised an eyebrow.
"You could say that," Albert replied.
"I like your confident self," Isabelle kissed Albert's cheek and reminded him, "But you should know that not everything will go as you expect."
She didn't want Albert to be too complacent, as that could lead to mistakes and trouble down the line.
"To be honest, finding you as my girlfriend was beyond my expectations." Albert moved his head close to Isabelle's ear and whispered, "I never imagined that there would be such an excellent girl like you in Hogwarts."
"Are you saying that you've been looking for a girlfriend since your first year?" Isabelle covered her mouth and giggled, but she did enjoy Albert's words.
"I didn't feel that way about girls in my year, but your sister is quite pretty. However, I think her personality might not match mine. As for Gryffindor's Seana, her personality is fine, and since she's also Muggle-born, we get along well." Albert secretly observed Isabelle's facial expressions as he continued, testing the waters, "I think Seana might have a little crush on me."
"What are you looking at me for?" Isabelle couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"To see if you're jealous," Albert said seriously.
"Jealous? Why would I be jealous? There's nothing to be jealous about. Those girls are just unfortunate losers." Isabelle said with pity.
Her words made so much sense that Albert was momentarily at a loss for words.
He suddenly understood why Fred, George, and Lee Jordan often fell silent after he teased them.
Just then, footsteps sounded from outside the spiral staircase.
It was Potter and Hermione.
They were whispering about Malfoy being caught and put in detention.
As the pair was about to open the wooden door to the top floor, Albert suddenly felt his cheeks being cupped and his mouth being covered.
Then, the door opened, but no one else entered the Astronomy Tower.
Albert was puzzled as to why Isabelle had done that.
Suddenly, the sound of a box being placed on the floor echoed through the tower.
The couple immediately separated and looked towards the source of the sound.
"Who's there?"
An eerie atmosphere filled the tower.
At that moment, Harry, hidden under his Invisibility Cloak, felt a twinge of panic as he hadn't expected anyone else to be in the tower.
"Potter, nice Invisibility Cloak. I couldn't even tell where you two were hiding." Albert illuminated his wand, using the light to look towards the direction of the opened door, and took the initiative to break the silence.
"What are you doing here?" Harry crawled out from under his Invisibility Cloak and asked Albert in confusion.
"Sorry, we seem to have interrupted your date." Hermione wasn't as clueless as Harry; the couple had just been caught kissing when they entered.
All the students in school knew that Albert already had a girlfriend, but no one had ever seen them on a date together.
Unexpectedly, they had stumbled upon them here.
"Isabelle is interested in the little dragon, so I brought her here to take a look. Also, isn't this a great spot for a date?" Albert winked at Harry and reminded him, "Potter, when you have a girlfriend of your own, you can bring her here for a date."
Harry felt a little embarrassed and even forgot about Malfoy being caught and put in detention.
"So, this is the dragon?" Isabelle curiously examined the little dragon in the crate, as this was her first time seeing a live dragon.
"Its teeth are venomous." Albert took out a pair of dragon-hide gloves from his deerskin bag and handed them to Isabelle, reminding her, "If you want to touch it, remember to wear the gloves. I don't want you ending up in the hospital wing."
Seeing Albert take out the gloves, Hermione's expression became complicated.
"It's really feisty!" Isabelle exclaimed as she got bitten while petting the dragon.
The crate containing Norbert was shaking violently.
"Norwegian Ridgebacks are quite aggressive!" Albert drew out his wand, and after the stunning spell hit the dragon, it stopped struggling.
"What did you do?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"A Stunning Spell, you wouldn't want Filch to cause trouble for you, would you?" Albert casually explained, then changed the subject, "By the way, what were you two talking about just now? You seemed pretty happy."
"We saw Malfoy being caught by Professor McGonagall on our way here." Hermione excitedly said, "It's all his fault that Hagrid almost got expelled. He finally got what he deserved."
"I wonder what expression Snape would make when he sees McGonagall bringing Malfoy to him." Harry also had a face full of schadenfreude.
"Well, it would indeed be interesting." Albert turned to Isabelle, who was rubbing her fingers, and asked, "Are you okay?"
"It's still so young!" Isabelle sighed, "It's probably not even a month old yet. Dragons are indeed extremely dangerous creatures."
As they chatted, a few dark spots appeared in the sky, probably Charlie's friends that he mentioned in the letter. They soon landed on the Astronomy Tower.
"What's wrong with it? It looks rather listless." A male witch checked on the little dragon in the crate and asked curiously.
"I cast a Stunning Spell on it to calm it down." Albert replied.
"That's not easy, dragon hide has strong resistance to magic." The other witches and wizards also showed surprised expressions, as they had experience dealing with dragons and knew how difficult these creatures were to handle.
"Maybe it's because this dragon is still too young and its resistance to magic isn't that strong yet." Albert casually brushed it off, "Please send my regards to Charlie!"
"Alright, Mr. Anderson."
Charlie's friends were all cheerful people. After a brief self-introduction, they started to tightly wrap the crate with ropes. They dared not linger at Hogwarts and quickly flew away with the young dragon on their brooms.
After all, if the Ministry of Magic found out that they were illegally keeping a dragon, they would likely face imprisonment.
"Then we'll take our leave as well!"
Harry and Hermione waved at the gradually disappearing figures and bid farewell to Albert and Isabelle.
Then, they left, even forgetting to take their Invisibility Cloak with them.
"Why didn't you remind them?" Isabelle looked at Albert in confusion.
"Let them learn their lesson, so they won't wander around after curfew in the future." Albert wore an expression as if he was doing this for their own good, leaving Isabelle speechless.
She felt that Albert simply wanted to see those two suffer. Without the Disillusionment Charm, they would likely be caught by Filch on their way down.
Massive point deductions and detention.
It was not difficult to imagine what would happen when everyone woke up and realized that Gryffindor's points had plummeted.
"You're so mischievous!"
Isabelle looked at Albert, who was checking the Invisibility Cloak, and asked, "Is there something wrong with it?"
"It truly lives up to its reputation as one of the Deathly Hallows!"
Albert couldn't help but marvel in his heart. This Invisibility Cloak felt weird to the touch, as if it was woven from water.
"It's very special, I can't tell what it's made of." Albert handed the Invisibility Cloak to Isabelle and glanced at the new task that appeared on the task panel: Collect the three Deathly Hallows.
Seeing this task, Albert was left speechless.
However, he soon regained his focus as Isabelle pulled him back.
"What do you plan to do with this?"
"Hmm, I'll return it to Potter later." Albert replied without hesitation.
As they prepared to leave the Astronomy Tower, they heard footsteps coming from the spiral staircase below.
"Perhaps, Potter told others about us sneaking out at night." Isabelle teased.
"Who do you think it is?" Albert looked towards the source of the footsteps and greeted the person, "Good evening, Headmaster Dumbledore."
"Good evening, Mr. Anderson." Dumbledore looked at Albert and Isabelle, neither angry nor blaming them for being here at this late hour.
"Has the dragon been sent away?"
"Yes, it has been taken away!" Albert promptly handed the Invisibility Cloak to Dumbledore, "Potter forgot to take his Invisibility Cloak, I think he will regret leaving it behind on the rooftop!"
"Yes, they encountered some minor troubles." Dumbledore didn't reach out to take the Invisibility Cloak that Albert offered, instead gently saying to Albert and Isabelle, "I suggest that you move your dates to the daytime. Breaking school rules is never a good thing, and staying up late is not good for your health."
With that, Dumbledore turned and left.
"Let's go too!" Albert smiled at Isabelle, "Don't be surprised, it's Dumbledore after all, he's quite open-minded and easy to get along with."
(End of Chapter)
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