A warm duvet possesses a mysterious magical power capable of sealing a person away, though clearly, this fragile seal is easily torn apart by external forces.
Just as Lynn was dozing in a daze, he suddenly felt a chill wash over his body, followed by a shout ringing in his ears.
"Lynn, get up!"
Harley's charming figure appeared in his dormitory. His roommates, who had woken up earlier but hadn't yet gotten out of bed, all cast their gazes toward the scene.
"Huh?"
Lynn, still groggy, rubbed his eyes and mumbled, "What time is it?"
"It's past eight."
Harley flipped her wrist, revealing a mechanical watch. Mechanical watches were not affected by the magical magnetic field at Hogwarts.
"Didn't I tell you to get up early today? Cho and I have been waiting for you for ages."
"Alright, alright, I'm getting up. I'm getting up right now."
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Lynn slowly sat up, letting his legs dangle over the edge of the bed.
"Shirt, pants, then hurry up and brush your teeth and wash your face. You don't expect me to bring the water to you, do you?!"
"That would be lovely of you."
"Do you want me to feed you breakfast too?" Harley crossed her arms, squinting at Lynn.
"Just bring the food; I'll eat it myself."
Stifling a yawn, Lynn took off his pajamas and put on the clothes Harley had just fetched for him, stretching lazily.
"By the way, how did you get into my dorm? You should be mindful of your status; you're a girl, you know."
"And have Cho and I wait hours for a lazybones like you to finally get out of bed?"
"Brush your teeth, hurry up. Where's your towel?"
Harley handed him his toothbrush and rinsing cup, then rummaged through Lynn's trunk. "Found it. Cho is waiting for us in the common room, so hurry up."
"Okay, okay, give me a minute."
Lynn walked to the washbasin, brushed his teeth in record time, and took the towel Harley handed him to wipe his face.
"Don't just wander into my dorm next time."
"I knocked. It's not like I just barged in."
"Fair enough."
As soon as Lynn and Harley left, the dormitory immediately erupted into discussion.
"I'm so envious! I want a cute girl to wake me up too!"
"They must be childhood sweethearts who've known each other forever! I know this because I've been jealous of this before," Dean said, his face streaming with tears. "Animals! They are absolute animals!"
"Give us the details, Dean. What happened?" Seamus rolled out of bed, pricking up his ears as he leaned in.
"When I was in primary school, my desk mate had a neighbor girl he grew up with. She was afraid he'd be late, so she woke him up every day and even brought him jam, bread, and milk. Sob..."
"And then what happened?"
"Then he got hit by a car and died," Dean wiped his tears. "Thinking about that makes me less jealous."
"If you put it that way, I think I had one too." Seamus immediately put his hands on his hips, looking proud.
"You got hit and died too?" Dean looked at Seamus in shock, suddenly feeling a chill down his spine.
"No, I'm alive and well. It's just that whenever that girl saw me, she'd punch me. She said I used to bully her, but I have absolutely no memory of that—she was the one beating me up every day!"
Towards the end of his sentence, Seamus's expression suddenly drooped. "It's a pity. Two years ago, she and her parents moved to France to settle down. I haven't seen her since. She should be studying at Beauxbatons now..."
"Beauxbatons?"
"It's a magic school with a lot of girls," Seamus waved his hand dismissively. He only knew the basics, so he tossed the conversation to Neville. "Neville, did you have a girl you played with before?"
"Yeah... I guess so..." Neville nodded carefully. "We've known each other for a long time, it's just... I'm not very good at talking..."
"Who? Is she at Hogwarts?"
"She is, it's just..." Neville's face flushed red. He shook his head vigorously and looked up pitifully. "Can I not say?"
The atmosphere of the dormitory chat grew thicker, leaving only Ron, who couldn't get a word in, to cover his head with his quilt.
After being dragged down the stairs by Harley, Lynn saw Cho sitting quietly in a Gryffindor armchair, wearing a plain white floral dress. Although each House's common room was independent, they didn't refuse visitors from other Houses. For instance, anyone who answered the eagle knocker's question could enter the Ravenclaw common room, and the Hufflepuff common room password hadn't changed in centuries—one simply had to tap out the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff" to open the entrance.
Gryffindor and Slytherin changed their passwords frequently simply because the two rival Houses had suffered serious conflicts in the past. It was a remedial measure, just in case.
After all, neither House wanted to wake up and find their common room full of troll dung or something equally disgusting.
"Cho! I dragged this lazybones down!"
Harley skipped over to Cho's side and linked arms with her.
"Did you stay up late reading?" Cho asked thoughtfully, looking at Lynn.
"Yeah. I originally planned to sleep after finishing the last fifth of the book, but it was so interesting I lost track of time."
Lynn nodded and took the breakfast Cho handed him. The Great Hall at Hogwarts served breakfast from seven until nine-thirty, and one could get a full meal anytime during that window.
"This sandwich tastes good. I like the smoky flavor of the bacon."
Taking a bite of the sandwich, which was packed with meat, vegetables, and eggs, Lynn felt his lingering drowsiness vanish.
"There's milk too, though it's not that hot anymore." Cho handed him a lidded cup containing warm milk.
"That makes it even better!"
Devouring breakfast in no time, Lynn spoke refreshingly, "Let's go. Where are we heading now?"
The three of them climbed through the portrait hole behind the Fat Lady one after another, standing in the corridor on the eighth floor.
"We're going to find Hagrid! There's a surprise, Lynn," Harley said mysteriously, blinking her eyes.
"Is that so? That sounds interesting. Let's go this way; it'll be faster to get downstairs."
The two girls, who were about to head down the stairs, stopped and followed Lynn in the other direction.
"Is there a secret passage this way?" Cho had been at Hogwarts for a year and naturally knew about the castle's secret passages. It was a pity Ravenclaw Tower didn't have a shortcut; she felt like her calves were getting thicker from climbing that high tower every day.
"Yeah, it's called the Room of Requirement. Theoretically, it can appear in any corner of Hogwarts. As long as you have an urgent need in your heart—like getting lost in the castle at night and being unable to find a bathroom—just when you can't hold it in anymore, you'll find a door appearing on the wall in front of you. Just push it open, and a whole row of golden toilets is yours to use."
"But right here, opposite this tapestry on the eighth floor..."
Lynn pointed to the giant tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet. "You just have to think about where you want the door to lead, or you can mutter it out loud, then walk back and forth past the wall three times, and you'll see the door to your destination."
"We want to go to the place closest to Hagrid's hut..."
Lynn demonstrated for them, walking back and forth in front of the wall three times. A door then emerged from the blank wall.
"Let's go."
Lynn took the lead and pushed the door open, with Harley and Cho following behind him.
Air carrying the scent of grass immediately rushed into their noses. Before them lay the spacious grounds of Hogwarts; they had appeared at the outer wall of the castle, right where the lawn met the forest near Hagrid's hut.
"See? We're practically there."
Compared to going downstairs from the common room, crossing the Entrance Hall, and going through the Great Hall, this shortcut saved them at least twenty minutes. Hogwarts castle was huge—so huge that first-year students might get lost every day for the first few weeks of school. Without the enthusiastic guidance of the portraits, they might even faint from dizziness winding through the castle.
"Where did you learn about this, Lynn?" Harley asked curiously, but she immediately answered herself, mimicking Lynn's voice: "'You'll know if you just read more books, Harley~ Hahahaha!' Is that right?"
"What else can I say?" Lynn spread his hands. "It's not like I dreamt it."
"However..." As they walked toward Hagrid's hut, Lynn gave Harley a slightly odd look. "Why are you suddenly wearing a dress today?"
Like Cho, Harley had changed into a dress. It was moon-white and complemented her black hair very well.
"Does it look bad?" Harley lifted the hem of her skirt and twirled.
"Just unexpected. The dress looks nice."
"Summer is almost over, you know." Harley kicked her crystal sandals as she walked, swaying back and forth with her hands behind her back. "If I don't try wearing it now, I'll have to wait until next year. Aunt Petunia spent a long time picking this one out for me."
"Besides, we don't have classes this morning, and we aren't required to wear school uniforms when not in class."
"True enough," Lynn replied. He then looked at Cho beside him and whispered, "Did you teach her yesterday?"
Cho nodded. "Impressive, right?"
"Impressive!"
Lynn gave a thumbs up.
"What are you two whispering about?"
Harley, who was walking in front, turned around and caught them whispering.
"Saying that you look very nice in a dress."
"What about Cho?"
"Cho looks nice too, but you aren't allowed to ask me who looks better."
"Why?" Harley, ever the curious baby, hopped between Lynn and Cho, linking arms with Cho.
"Because neither of you looks as good as I do wearing one, okay?"
Lynn, having no desire to answer that fatal question, cleanly derailed the topic.
"Hahahaha~"
The laughter of the two girls rippled across the green lawn.
Before they knew it, Hagrid's hut appeared before their eyes. Smoke was curling up from the chimney, emitting the rich aroma of toasted wheat.
"Hagrid! We're here!"
Harley's energetic shout caused the door of the hut to be pushed open. A beaming Hagrid waved his gigantic hand, clearly in a very good mood.
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