Secret Passage and Filch

Come to think of it, could his interface be some stripped-down version? It didn't even have a map function. Albert was still in the mood to poke fun at his interface. After finding the Room of Requirement, he was in quite a good mood.

It couldn't be helped. In the web novels he had read before, the protagonist's built-in systems were usually ridiculously overpowered. Once they activated their scanning functions, nothing could remain hidden.

Now that he thought about it carefully, his interface really did have pitifully few functions.

Still, Albert was already happy enough to have an interface as a cheat.

"I remember the Headmaster's Office is also on the eighth floor. I just don't know which part of the eighth floor," Albert muttered.

Of course, he had no intention of sneaking into the Headmaster's Office. If Dumbledore noticed him, life at school would become difficult from then on.

After all, Hogwarts Castle was filled with portraits. It would be very easy for Dumbledore to find out what a student was doing.

Albert turned another two corners and found a staircase leading downward.

He followed the stairs down and began wandering aimlessly through the castle, only to helplessly realize that he was lost.

Well, perhaps it was not really being lost. He had simply never been here before.

Albert stopped before a wall. The light from his wand swept over the carving on it, and he reached out to tap it lightly. It was solid.

However, Albert suspected there was a secret passage here. The gryphon statue painting on the wall was simply too suspicious. Places like this usually hid secret doors and secret passages.

"Child, what are you doing here?" Nick drifted out from the wall beside him and looked at Albert, who was inspecting the painting, in surprise.

The sudden voice gave Albert such a fright that he felt his heart was about to leap out of his chest.

Albert hurriedly took several deep breaths to calm his racing heartbeat, then could not help complaining to Nick, "Don't just appear out of nowhere like that. You'll scare someone to death."

"Sorry, I didn't think I would frighten you." Nick raised a brow and asked again, "What are you doing here?"

"Taking a walk," Albert answered honestly.

"Taking a walk at this hour?" Nick looked down the corridor in confusion. It was still quite early.

"Yes, taking a walk. Sir Nicholas, do you have time to introduce Hogwarts to me? This place is practically a maze, and I accidentally got lost while walking around." Albert smiled at Nick. If the other party was willing to help, he could save himself a lot of time.

"Oh, I believe exploring the castle is one of the greatest pleasures for new students." Nick politely declined.

"You're right." Albert did not mind Nick's refusal. After smiling and saying goodbye to him, he resumed studying the gryphon statue painting before him.

Nick watched Albert's back and shook his head before reminding him, "If you want to open that door, the switch is on the gryphon's claw."

"Thank you." Albert reached toward the gryphon's claw and tapped it lightly several times. The stone door slowly opened, revealing a narrow secret passage within.

"See you later, Sir Nicholas." Albert gave the ghost a slight nod of thanks, raised his wand, and stepped into the secret passage.

It was very narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through. For someone with claustrophobia, it would definitely not be a pleasant place.

Albert could feel that he was heading downward. He had no idea where the secret passage led, but simply discovering its existence was already good news to him.

Sure enough, the ghosts and portraits living in the castle knew Hogwarts better.

The exit was hidden behind a portrait. When Albert moved it aside, the old man in pajamas within the painting glared at him unhappily and grumbled that Albert had disturbed his rest.

"Sorry for disturbing you!" Albert apologized to the old man in the portrait and continued onward. He felt that he might be about to get lost again.

However, this time Albert found the moving staircases.

No matter how many times he saw them, he found the sight of those moving staircases magnificent.

It was said that the moving staircases and the Room of Requirement were both Rowena Ravenclaw's work. Could he reach such a level someday?

Come to think of it, could Rowena Ravenclaw have hidden some secret in the Room of Requirement?

After all, hadn't Slytherin raised a basilisk in his Chamber of Secrets?

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. The next time he went there, he could try it. Perhaps he really might uncover some secret.

It took Albert ten minutes to get down the stairs. Along the way, the staircase shifted once, and he had no choice but to wait where he was for it to return to its original position. Fortunately, he did not have to wait long. Thank heavens—no, he should be thanking Merlin instead.

As soon as he entered the entrance hall, Albert's attention was caught by a cat. It was rather skinny, with dark gray fur, and could not compare to his Tom at all.

He bent down, intending to tease it, but the cat was incredibly quick and vanished in a flash.

Albert knew it was probably Filch's cat, though he could not remember what it was called. He had read Harry Potter and watched the films, but after so much time, he could no longer remember some of the less important details, especially the names of minor characters.

If he had not written fanfiction before and looked up plenty of information, he probably would have forgotten even faster.

The cat had run off, likely to fetch someone. Albert was not worried that Filch would come looking for trouble.

After all, it was already past six. The sky had not fully brightened only because it was raining outside.

Just as Albert was preparing to enter the Great Hall, he heard a series of wheezing breaths. The elderly Filch was walking this way with an oil lamp in hand.

Albert noticed that Filch was still wearing pajamas beneath a cloak, and a pleased smile hung at the corner of his mouth—the smile of someone who had caught his prey.

"Good morning, Mr. Filch." Albert raised a hand in greeting, as though he had encountered a familiar friend.

"Good morning?" Filch reached out to grab Albert, but Albert easily stepped back and dodged him.

"Of course. It's already 6:15, Mr. Filch." Albert took a pocket watch from his pocket, checked the time, then held it out before Filch. "When does the Great Hall start serving food?"

Filch froze as Albert deliberately shifted his wand toward the pocket watch, allowing him to see the time more clearly.

Filch, who had thought he had caught a student out past curfew, immediately fell flat-faced, like a child who had just heard that the Halloween feast had been canceled.

In fact, it was already morning, though the sky was still dark and no other students had risen yet.

"Seven." Filch turned and left irritably, throwing one sentence over his shoulder: "You'd better not let me see you..."

Albert did not catch the last few words, but they were not important anyway.

Still, Filch really did hate students, didn't he?

It was as though he wanted nothing more than to catch them all and put them in detention.

Albert pushed open the doors and entered the Great Hall. It was very dark inside. The floating candles had all gone out, and none of last night's liveliness remained.

Albert turned and left, intending to take advantage of the time to continue exploring the castle kitchens.