"There's no need to apologize for this." Vid reached out and patted his shoulder, saying, "Professor Snape is indeed quite scary."
"But you're not afraid." Leian, with a look of concern, said hesitantly, "You dared to approach Professor Snape and try to solve this... I get nervous just answering questions normally."
"Actually, I'm nervous too, I just try not to show it."
Vid shrugged and said, "And to be honest, because Professor Snape is relatively lenient with me, that's why I did it. In terms of bravery, I'm not much more than you guys."
Leian laughed.
"Alright... though I know you're just trying to comfort me..."
Vid sighed helplessly, "Leian..."
"Hmm?"
"You know, you don't have to say everything that comes to mind..."
Leian puzzled, "Really? I usually don't like to talk much."
Vid and Theo exchanged a glance and laughed simultaneously at Leian's bewildered look.
Indeed, externally, Leian was always the most silent one among them.
But when among friends, he was so frank and direct that it was overwhelming.
By now, it was late at night, and as they were talking, Theo yawned, his eyelids drooping, looking immensely sleepy.
Vid then suggested bidding farewell.
"It's too late, and after going out, we might run into Filch. Why not just sleep in our dorm tonight?" Theo suggested, "Ernie and the others won't mind."
Leian chimed in encouragingly, "Our house's dorm is interesting, a cave dug underground. We even have a Boston fern that looks like a green waterfall."
Vid was tempted for a moment, indeed feeling curious. But after a brief hesitation, he still shook his head and declined.
Although Hufflepuff students were generally amiable and easy-going, they were also strongly territorial. If tomorrow morning they found an outsider in the common room, they might have an opinion about Theo and Leian.
"Don't worry, I won't get caught by Filch." Vid said, "Since the Hufflepuff common room has never been entered by anyone from another house, you also shouldn't mention that I came."
Hufflepuff students proudly claimed that in over a thousand years, no one outside their house had entered their common room, a claim Vid doubted.
Creatures like Peter's rat or Skeeter's bugs could easily sneak in with students, and most students couldn't identify Animagi or those under a Disillusionment Charm.
But since the Hufflepuff students took pride in this, Vid decided not to be the first exception to break their record.
"Alright then..."
Seeing Vid's firm attitude, Theo had no choice but to let him go and took two lemons from a nearby shelf for Vid to carry along.
"Cats hate the smell of lemons. If you run into Mrs. Loris, you can use this to drive her away."
Vid took them and put them in his pocket, then brushed aside a vine that had silently dropped onto his shoulder, grooming his hair, before leaving through the oak cask door.
The entrance to Hufflepuff could only be crawled through, and Vid couldn't help but wonder—when Professor Sprout came to the common room, did she have to crawl too?
He grabbed the edge of the cask, feeling like a prairie dog peering out, just about to leave when he suddenly sensed something off.
Vid looked up as Theo's voice seemed to echo in his ear—
"Filch should be coming around!"
"Malfoy reported to Filch..."
"Might run into Filch..."
"If you run into Mrs. Loris..."
Theo, oh Theo, the more you say such ominous things, the more likely they are to come true!
Not far away, Filch, holding an oil lantern, and Mrs. Loris, her eyes shining like light bulbs, were staring at Vid.
Vid, hanging on the cask, felt a bit awkward. He thought for a moment and decided to come out first.
"Meow~"
Mrs. Loris meowed softly, wagging her tail as she walked over to Vid.
"Let's go, Mrs. Loris."
Filch turned around with his lantern, saying, "There's no one here; let's check elsewhere."
Mrs. Loris looked back at her master, then at Vid, her big green eyes seemingly saying, "Isn't this big one a person?"
But Filch had already walked several meters away, and after a moment's hesitation, Mrs. Loris still trotted to catch up with him.
Vid smiled silently.
With a forceful push, he squeezed out of the passage, landed on the ground, stood up, and brushed off the dirt from his hands, watching as the cask lid spun shut, making this entrance indistinguishable from the other casks nearby.
Vid didn't delay any longer, heading towards the corridor's window. After a few steps, he suddenly transformed into a peregrine falcon, gliding through the narrow window, spreading his wings to fly.
The peregrine falcon circled the lawn and the Black Lake before flying towards the tall tower.
At this moment, the castle was mostly in darkness, except for the Great Hall with its never-extinguishing magic candles, and only a few windows were still lit.
The Headmaster's Office, a few professors' offices, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor dormitories.
Hufflepuff and Slytherin common rooms were hidden underground, and even if they were brightly lit, they were hard to see from outside.
Vid flew past the Gryffindor Tower, finally stopping outside the window of his own dormitory.
The window was open, and the house-elf had already lit the dorm's oil lamps, guiding the late-returning Vid.
Vid thought about the entrance to his house's common room.
It was a wooden panel at the end of the stairs, which wouldn't even suggest it was a door if it didn't have a knocker on it.
Anyone who couldn't answer the knocker's question correctly couldn't enter the common room.
The Hufflepuff entrance masqueraded as an utterly convincing cask, which reportedly required knocking in the correct sequence to open.
The Slytherin entrance was hidden in a stone wall, and without the correct password, the stone door wouldn't even appear.
The Gryffindor entrance was probably the most conspicuous of all the houses—a huge portrait, again requiring a password to enter.
The portrait of the Fat Lady, though conspicuous, was so "hidden in plain sight" among Hogwarts' numerous paintings that those uninformed would hardly suspect a large space lay behind it.
The founders of Hogwarts went to great lengths to conceal their house entrances, as if enemies could at any moment breach the defenses and invade the school.
They even seemed unable to trust people from other houses within the same school, and cross-house visits were rare.
One can imagine that their circumstances at that time must have been very difficult and dangerous.
But Vid had no way of knowing whether, over the past thousand years, these designs for the house common rooms had ever fully realized their purpose.
Even in "Hogwarts: A History," it mainly introduced various aspects of the school, while the historical discussions were light-hearted anecdotes like Peeves' antics with successive headmasters or inter-school activities like the Triwizard Tournament.
Subjects about war, house-elves, the rift between wizards and Muggles affecting the school were brushed over, or even not mentioned at all.
Vid returned to his original form, sitting on the high window ledge, gazing at the dark Forbidden Forest stretching to the horizon, faintly hearing the roars of animals.
This night, Hagrid's hut was also dark, with not a glimmer of light.
In the Black Lake, a Giant Squid extended its long tentacles, clinging to the maze walls. From here, it looked like a dinosaur raising its neck from the lake, curiously peering around.
Vid watched for a while, then got up to return to his dormitory.
A moment later, this one lamp also went out.
Not far from Hogwarts, but not quite nearby either, a wizard village echoed with a distant roar.
It startled some creatures on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, disturbed the birds near the village, and the Giant Squid suddenly withdrew into the water, sending up a splash.
Yet the distant sound didn't wake the sleeping students.
A moment later, the Headmaster's Office window was suddenly forcefully opened, and Dumbledore, in his pajamas, stood at the window, the night wind blowing his white beard wildly.