Wayne and Glace started from the first floor, exploring level by level. Whenever they approached a classroom, Wayne would pause to listen as Glace reminisced about the castle from a thousand years ago.
"This place didn't have classrooms before. Later generations must have magically altered it."
"This isn't either... wait, no, this used to be the punishment chamber..."
"Punishment chamber?" Wayne froze, looking at her in confusion. "Didn't you dismantle it when renovating the castle?"
Ravenclaw designed Hogwarts, but it wasn't built from scratch. It was acquired from a Muggle noble and slightly modified, expanded in area, and given magical staircases.
Glace chuckled softly. "Do you think Hogwarts a thousand years ago was like it is now? Slytherin designed the punishment chamber, and I was responsible for its construction—specifically for disciplining disobedient students."
Wayne was shocked. "You physically punished students?"
The legend portrayed Ravenclaw as elegant and wise—how could that align with physically punishing students?
"Aside from Helga, which of us three didn't physically punish students?" Glace said with a smile. "Even Lena was a frequent visitor here. Those unruly children wouldn't behave unless disciplined. A good beating would keep them in line for at least half a month, and no parents would complain."
"And if any dared to complain, we'd just send Godric to have a 'reasonable discussion' with those parents."
"Children these days are much luckier. The professors are all so gentle now."
Wayne fell silent. Perhaps this was just a difference between eras.
In tenth-century Britain, human life was treated as worthless. Beating a student was hardly something to make a fuss about.
It took them quite some time to reach the eighth floor. The students had already left for lunch. This reunion spanning a millennium left Glace with complex emotions.
Especially when she stood before the Room of Requirement, she couldn't help but smile.
"I heard this place has become a dumping ground for students. It used to be my bedroom, you know."
She didn't pace back and forth three times. Instead, she extended her pale hand, and a smooth door materialised out of thin air.
Pulling the door ring, they stepped inside. The clutter accumulated over a thousand years was stacked like fortress walls. Glace pursed her lips and swept her hands outward. The room spun continuously until all the junk vanished, transforming into a clean, spacious chamber.
Bookshelves, a dining table, a laboratory bench, and an enormous round bed draped with blue curtains.
Glace's hand brushed over each object in turn.
"I spent most of my time living here. It was originally just an ordinary bedroom, but I found it too troublesome to go downstairs to the laboratory. So I transformed it into a universal room connected to my thoughts. Anything available within the castle could be summoned here."
Wayne laughed. "No wonder the Sorting Hat called you a shut-in. You're lazy to the extreme—you didn't even want to leave your room."
Glace stretched and leaned back, lying down on the soft mattress. Even after a thousand years, these items remained pristine under magical protection.
"I just didn't want to see Godric and Salazar anymore. Both of them changed after founding the school, either arguing or fighting all day. At first, Helga tried to mediate, but eventually, even she got fed up, so the two of us would hide here drinking and chatting..."
Grace's face was filled with nostalgia; clearly, that period was the most beautiful time of her life.
"Speaking of Hufflepuff..."
A heavy golden cup appeared in Wayne's hand. "Could you check if this thing is genuine for me? I can't see anything special about it."
As he spoke, he made the cup float over to Grace's side.
Taking it in her hand, Grace merely glanced at it before smiling. "It's authentic. Helga often drank from this - I couldn't possibly mistake it."
"Actually, it's just an ordinary cup. Of course you wouldn't discover any secrets."
"How could that be?" Wayne sounded sceptical. "Have you forgotten? The Hufflepuff portrait in our common room holds this very cup."
"That shows it's as important as your diadem and Slytherin's wand."
"What's special isn't the cup itself, but Helga personally." Grace sat up to explain to Wayne. "Helga had unimaginable talent in herbology. Her magical power could accelerate the growth of various rare medicinal plants and create sacred water to help crops flourish - she often did that in the past."
"The cup was merely a container she found very handy. She carried it everywhere, sometimes even transforming it into a cauldron to brew potions."
"Alright then." Wayne finally gave up, somewhat disappointed.
"Wayne, could you give me the cup?" Grace said seriously. "This is Helga's only remaining possession. I want to keep it with me."
"If I weren't sure about your normal preferences, I'd suspect you had something with Hufflepuff," Wayne couldn't help but tease.
"Feeling jealous?" The young woman raised her eyebrows.
"No." Wayne pouted.
"Alright then, how about I make it up to you?" Grace's appearance began to change gradually, her voice becoming slightly husky yet carrying an indescribable allure - this was her former appearance, just as beautiful as now.
"What are you still standing there for? Ravenclaw wants you to impart some... lessons~"
Wayne thought that if he could still resist this, he wouldn't be much of a man.
He immediately pounced, and the two engaged in some intense... exchange of experiences.
...
In the afternoon, just before the Halloween feast, Hermione finally saw Grace looking radiant.
The two women chased Wayne out, and no one knew what they discussed in the small cabin. When Wayne saw Hermione again, she had become Grace's little fan, her words filled with admiration.
"I should have joined Ravenclaw house back then - that would have been perfect."
"Is that really necessary?" Wayne teased. "You're a Gryffindor Prefect, mind your influence."
Hermione ignored him and continued, "Rowena... no, Emelia has agreed that I can ask her directly about anything I don't understand in magic. Wayne, should I prepare a thank-you gift for her?"
"No need, your man has already paid on your behalf."
"What?"
"A man."
Hermione understood, rolling her eyes, but she couldn't help admiring Wayne's capabilities from the bottom of her heart.
This was Ravenclaw, after all...
Entering the Great Hall, the two stopped discussing Grace. She had already returned home, with no intention of spending the holiday at school with the students.
The expanded Great Hall had grown much wider. A high platform had been erected between the long tables and the staff table, where the Weird Sisters and the Headless Hunt had been invited as guest performers.
The Weird Sisters were singing their hit single—"Kill That Witch"—while the Headless Hunt charged through the hall on their ghostly steeds, repeatedly startling the students and drawing gasps of surprise.
Nearly Headless Nick was crying with envy.
Wayne very cooperatively conjured a wizard's robe covered in patterns of ghosts and demonic bats, waving to the students. Once the performance ended, he directly announced the start of the feast.
Everyone wore a smile. Professor McGonagall had smeared blood at the corners of her mouth to play a vampire, though Wayne sniffed and confirmed it was tomato sauce. The Longbottoms wore headless hats from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, so people could only see them continuously sending food into thin air, where it then disappeared.
At the feast, roasted potatoes were piled into small mountains, accompanied by various flavoured sauces, such as beef gravy and cheese sauce. Nearby, roasted chicken and meat chops emitted tempting aromas.
For Britain, this was already a very lavish feast. Recently, the young wizards' physical activity had surged dramatically, and along with it, their appetites had grown considerably. Reluctantly, Wayne had to request twenty more house-elves from the Ministry of Magic to serve as cooks.
Amidst this harmonious and joyful atmosphere, even Wayne had forgotten one pattern.
It was a pattern more accurate than Voldemort's curse—whenever the Halloween feast arrived, something always happened to stir up trouble.
Only this time, the disturbance wasn't within Hogwarts, but... beyond the world.
Simultaneously, dozens to hundreds of attracted minor worlds merged into the main world's embryonic membrane. A white light vibrated intensely, finally breaking through a certain critical point and suddenly expanding by a noticeable margin.
...
Greek Aegean Sea.
An island seemed to squeeze up from beneath the sea, appearing out of nowhere on the water's surface. The spatial compression instantly formed colossal hundred-foot tsunamis around it.
On the largest island, a burly man wielding a trident leapt into the air, swinging it forward fiercely. The tsunami immediately crashed against what seemed like an indestructible wall before slowly receding.
Humanoid figures materialised across the islands. Seeing the vast world in the distance, they let out excited, strange cries.
...
Japan.
Mekura Koko and Ifaru Kon came to a nearby shrine to give thanks. Mekura Koko excitedly told the shrine that, after a year-and-a-half-long business trip, his wife had become pregnant. He believed it was divine intervention that allowed the Mekura family line to continue.
As he spoke, the mountains suddenly shook violently. The people praying at the shrine weren't surprised; they merely exited in an orderly fashion. In this country, earthquakes occur dozens of times a day, and people are accustomed to them.
But as they stepped out of the shrine, several green-faced men with wings on their backs, wearing monk robes and holding war fans, descended from the sky.
Just as they doubted their own eyes, these monsters began to sneer menacingly.
"A sacrifice delivered right to my doorstep? The ancestors truly didn't deceive me, this... this is paradise indeed."
After speaking, it flapped its wings and pounced, biting through a person's neck.
Screams echoed continuously, but before long, everything returned to normal, with only the sound of chewing remaining.
...
North America.
A group of bronze-skinned savages dressed in deerskin appeared on the bustling streets of New York, staring blankly at urban office workers who had different skin tones and completely different attire.
After a chaotic exchange of incomprehensible dialogue between both sides, the police soon arrived in patrol cars, aiming their guns at them.
"Bloody hell, are these savages indigenous people who ran out from the mountains? Is this still New York?" one officer complained.
Perhaps sensing hostility, the savages launched the first attack. Several beams of white light shot out, instantly blowing the police officers in front of them into minced meat.
"God! What kind of witchcraft is this!"
The few officers who narrowly survived were terrified, hurriedly grabbing their radios: "Fifth Avenue! Fifth Avenue needs backup! We've encountered monsters!"
...
Britain.
A small island in the Atlantic Ocean.
Boom!
The Death Hall, perched on the cliff, exploded violently, and then the entire cliff collapsed. A lake appeared out of nowhere on the island, its water shimmering with captivating rainbow colours.
A bewitching, flower-like figure slowly emerged from the lake water, her swaying waist radiating astonishing charm. Unfortunately, there was no one around to appreciate this scene.
The woman took a deep breath, feeling the vitality and energy completely different from that within the small world, and slowly revealed a smile.
"Merlin... the one who laughs last laughs best."
"I, Morgana... have returned!"
Letting out a series of silver-bell-like laughter, Morgana observed her surroundings, detected traces of magical power, and slightly furrowed her brows.
"It seems... I've been noticed?"