"Boo hoo hoo..."
The low, lingering sobs around Harry made him feel a chill down his spine. He instinctively raised his hand to grab his shoulder—only then did the boy realize his body seemed to have returned to normal—
His gaze swept over the dim, dilapidated, dust-laden corridor. The purple-black wooden floorboards twisted and deformed, with scorch marks from fire, making it look like a battlefield just after a war.
"Boo hoo hoo..."
The mournful sobbing continued to echo in the boy's ears. Harry took a deep breath, summoned his courage, and stepped cautiously down the corridor—the hallway was lined with twisted, deformed black wooden doors on both sides. Harry tried to pull one on his left, only to find it tightly locked by some invisible force.
Second door, locked; third door, locked; fourth... Finally, with a crisp "click," the doorknob in Harry's hand gently turned. He instinctively pushed the door open a crack, and in that instant, the previously distant sobbing suddenly became crystal clear.
"Bang—"
Harry slammed the door shut again, exhaling heavily.
Whoa, if he had opened the door just now, there probably would have been a jump scare, right? Thanks to the Dream VR game (like those skeletons or corpses falling from the sky), Harry felt he could now predict those possible jump scares. He closed the door again and continued to twist the next doorknob to see if there was another way out.
Ten minutes later, Harry found himself standing once again in front of that marked door that warned of potential jump scares.
"..."
In the past ten minutes, Harry had tried everything on those doors that wouldn't open: Unlocking Charm, The Blasting Curse, Reductor Curse... even ramming with his body, biting, kicking—nothing worked. It seemed the only exit from here was that room with the sobbing behind the door.
He didn't know where he was, but Harry instinctively wanted to escape. Taking a deep breath and building up his mental fortitude, he finally reached out and turned the handle of that door to the unknown. But even when the door was fully open, the expected jump scare didn't happen—
Instead, Harry's attention was captured by a child squatting in the empty room, crying with his back to him.
Who is it...
Harry didn't speak rashly. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly circled from where the boy sat, keeping the boy at the center, and using the distance to the door as the radius, made a semi-circle around the room.
Perhaps sensing Harry's presence, the boy raised a blank expression halfway through Harry's approach, his dead and hollow eyes fixating on Harry, who continued to move slowly.
Tears continued to trickle down the boy's cheeks, and the mournful sobbing lingered in Harry's ears. Yet now, looking closer, the boy's mouth wasn't open, merely pressed into a thin line, creating a haunting and eerie atmosphere.
"...Hello?"
Harry braced himself and tried a greeting. Instantly, the boy's hollow gaze seemed to ignite with a spark at the sound of Harry's voice. The boy raised his head a little more, looking at Harry, lips moving slightly, "Did you... see my mom?"
"..."
Harry fell silent. What a textbook story plot, it was just like the horror movie tapes he'd seen in the Room of Requirement. A dim, perilous environment, and a mysterious child searching for his mom…
Was the next step for the child to pounce if he shook his head and answered no?
So, Harry nodded, "I saw her." Saw nothing at all. On the way here, he hadn't even seen a ghostly shadow except for this child.
"Your mom's in that room over there..."
Harry swallowed, the subsequent words 'do you need me to take you there' got caught in his throat. Upon seeing the direction Harry pointed, the boy turned his head to look, and when he turned back again, his eyes were filled with joy.
"Thank you, big brother!"
The boy's previously haunting and vacant voice gained emotion at last. Seeing the child brimming with joy, Harry paused—feeling a sudden pang of guilt. But he quickly shook his head and dismissed that inexplicable feeling. He waved to the boy who was standing up to find his mom.
"Hey kid, do you know the way out of here?"
"Through that door—"
Reflexively, Harry turned to look, only to find that at some point, an ajar wooden door appeared behind him. Unlike those purple-black corridor doors, Harry found this one oddly familiar, though he couldn't quite put his finger on where that sense came from.
Harry bid farewell to the little boy and turned to push open the door. Abruptly, a clamor of overlapping clinks and clangs burst into his ears.
The piercing white light made Harry close his eyes involuntarily. When he finally adjusted to the sudden change, he confirmed his surroundings—"Hogwarts Great Hall." The boy instinctively called out the name of the place he was in.
But there wasn't a single soul around.
Looking at the mist-covered, white jade-like tiles beneath his feet, a growing bewilderment shadowed Harry's gaze.
Since the chilling cold seared through him, events had spiraled uncontrollably like wild dogs, madly charging towards a completely unknown destination.
Where exactly was this place? What would be next? Could he return to Hogwarts?
A nameless panic surged within Harry's heart. What if he couldn't return to the real Hogwarts? He had just found his godfather, just found a caring family member, and now he was stuck in this mysterious place...
"Hello."
A gentle voice sounded behind the boy, like smoothing jade that calmed all Harry's fears and anxieties. Turning around to face the voice, he saw—the boy from before.
"...Hello, di-did you find your mom?"
Harry struggled to maintain composure, yet that soothing force was still in effect, so he didn't panic, just felt awkward asking.
"No, mom wasn't there."
The boy shook his head, a sorrowful look in his eyes.
"Alright."
Harry heard his voice sounding weak, unsure what to say, given the embarrassment of being caught in a lie. Finally, he couldn't resist asking, "Kid, do you know where this place is? How to get out of here?"
"I don't know, I only know you shouldn't be here—" The boy shook his head, looking at Harry with a sad gaze. "You are not me."
"Of course, I'm not... What do you mean?" Harry was taken aback, feeling as if he'd grasped something.
"Literally." The boy shook his head, seemingly confused by Harry's bewilderment. He hesitated for a moment, "What's your name?"
"Harry, Harry Potter."
"Hello, Harry, I'm Tom, Tom Marvolo Riddle."