Come Night Roaming with Us!

Loren sat by the window, watching the full moon hanging in the sky. Ever since he discovered that Grandpa Bates was a Werewolf, the full moon had taken on another meaning.

The others in the dormitory noticed Loren's low spirits too. They kept their voices down, speaking in hushed tones through barely parted lips.

Harry gave Ron a meaningful look. "What's wrong with Loren?"

Ron secretly glanced at Loren, as though he were doing something shameful. "He's been like this since this morning. He's a little better now."

Neville asked blankly, "Should we ask him?"

"I think it's best not to disturb him at a time like this." Harry had been through it himself. During his days at the Dursley house, whenever he felt bad, he always wanted to be alone.

Loren heard what they were saying and let out the heavy breath lodged in his chest. His mood lightened.

He did not want to sleep so early, nor did he want to go to Flamel's. Loren felt he needed to do something else. "Let's go night roaming!"

"Count me in!"

Seamus shot upright in bed, his eyes wide and round. Now that you mention that, I'm not sleepy anymore.

Harry and Ron exchanged looks, communicating silently.

Is he okay?

I guess he's okay.

What do we do now?

Go along with him for now.

Having reached an understanding, the two nodded.

Harry was the first to speak up. "I want to see what the Three-headed Dog is guarding!"

Ron stared at Harry, his pupils shaking. "You just really wanted to go night roaming yourself, didn't you?!"

Hearing this explosive news, Seamus felt a deep barrier had suddenly risen between himself and the others.

"There's a Three-headed Dog in Hogwarts Castle?!" Seamus suddenly did not want to go night roaming quite so badly.

No one paid any attention to this hopelessly out-of-date nobody.

"Of course!" Loren readily agreed to Harry's request. There were challenges beneath the Three-headed Dog anyway, so it would be fine to let Harry prepare himself in advance.

Neville tightened the blanket wrapped around him. He did not approve of his roommates going night roaming, much less going to see a Three-headed Dog. But his roommates were in the middle of an animated discussion, and he did not want to spoil their fun.

"You go ahead. If you're not back by midnight, I'll go find a professor." Neville finally made up his mind.

Though Seamus was a little timid, he still did not want to miss this adventure. He was already behind enough; if he did not join in now, he would truly become nothing more than a background roommate.

The group slipped out of the common room. Loren and Harry walked in front, with Ron and Seamus following behind them.

Only a few scattered candles remained lit in the corridor. The people in the portraits spoke more cautiously too, afraid of disturbing something. The gray walls seemed even darker at night, and it felt as though something might leap out from the darkness lurking everywhere at any moment.

Seamus could not suppress the excitement on his face, grinning so widely that his gums showed.

As the four passed a suit of armor, a long axe suddenly dropped down, blocking their path.

"Ah!!"

The silence of the corridor was shattered at once, with faint echoes ringing out in the distance.

Seamus screamed as the axe suddenly appeared before his eyes. His heartbeat instantly became rapid and heavy.

The other three were startled too, but they did not scream. They stiffened their necks and froze, not daring to move.

Low complaints came from the surrounding portraits as well:

"What are you doing in the middle of the night?!"

"Are you going to let us sleep or not?!"...

A ghost floated out of the armor. It was Nearly Headless Nick.

He looked at them and laughed, his voice rough but cheerful. "Ha! Caught you boys night roaming."

Harry let out a sigh of relief, then complained once he came back to himself. "You awful Nick. You knew we were night roaming, and you still scared us."

It had been nearly a month since school started, and they had become familiar with Nick. They joked around with him from time to time.

"Has Filch already patrolled this floor?" Loren did not think Nick would bring Filch over to catch them.

"Hehe, clever boy. He's gone upstairs." Nick still wanted to chat for a while longer.

Harry did not want to waste any time. They had to get back before midnight, so he grabbed Loren and hurried away. "Goodbye, Nick. We've got things to do. We'll talk later."

Nick watched their retreating backs and muttered, "Rude little brats!"

Seamus was still a little dazed. Ron pulled him along and said as they walked, "Sooner or later, we'll teach him a lesson."

The corridor on the right side of the Fourth Floor.

Loren waited for Harry and Ron to make a move, since they had been here before.

Harry and Ron did not react. The group stared at the locked door, facing one another in confusion.

"Open the door already!" Seamus could not wait any longer. He did not understand what they were waiting for in front of it.

Harry and Ron looked a little embarrassed. Harry scratched his hair and said, "Last time, Hermione came with us. She opened the door with the Unlocking Charm, but we don't know that spell."

Loren clicked his tongue. "Hermione and two useless boys."

Seamus understood as well. He remembered a spell he had a talent for, one that was especially suited for opening doors.

Seamus's eyes grew brighter and brighter as he pulled out his wand. "I know a spell that's perfect for opening doors!"

Loren hurriedly reached out to stop him. "Colloportus would also be perfect for setting off fireworks after we're expelled."

If Seamus cast Colloportus here, with the explosion and the Three-headed Dog's barking, they would earn themselves expulsion notices from Hogwarts.

"Alohomora." Loren had learned the spell before school started.

The Iron Lock on the door sprang open with a clatter.

"Nice one, Loren," Ron praised.

Harry hurriedly pushed the door open. Just as he was about to enter, he saw the sight inside the room and froze.

The other three noticed that Harry had opened the door only to block the entrance, standing completely still while wildly waving one hand behind his back.

Seamus asked in confusion, "What are you doing? Go in!"

As he spoke, he pushed Harry inside. Loren and Ron followed after them.

The sight inside stunned the three behind him.

Dumbledore was in the room. He was placing some food beside the Three-headed Dog, and in the corner stood the Mirror of Erised, which Harry recognized.

At that moment, Harry wanted nothing more than to shout into Seamus's ear. Are you a pig teammate?! My hint was so obvious. Why didn't you leave? You even rushed inside!

The four of them stood dumbly in the doorway, and no one spoke first.

Seamus wore a miserable expression, on the verge of tears. Why? Why had he finally joined a night-roaming trip, only to walk right into the headmaster's hands?

"Unexpected guests! Come and meet my friend."

"This is Fluffy. I need him to help guard something that must remain secret."

Dumbledore beckoned them closer and introduced Fluffy to them.

Loren was not nervous at all. He felt that Dumbledore must have discovered them long ago and had deliberately waited for them here. The old headmaster was truly going to great lengths to help Harry level up.

Loren was not nervous at all. He picked up a raw steak, held it up to Fluffy's middle head, and took the chance to give him a good rub. "Hello, Fluffy."

The Three-headed Dog happily nuzzled Loren before focusing on gnawing a bone.

Seamus stared in amazement. When he entered the room, he had already thought about how he would apologize to his mother after being expelled. Yet his friend was this fierce.

Dumbledore looked at the other, somewhat restrained boys. "When I was a student at Hogwarts, I went night roaming too."

Ron and Seamus were immediately captivated. Dumbledore—the greatest wizard of this century—had gone night roaming too.

"However, every rule at Hogwarts has its reason for existing."

Their hearts were lifted again.

"Let this be a little secret between us." Dumbledore winked at them, making a clumsy attempt at a meaningful look.

"Long live the headmaster!" Seamus cheered.

Dumbledore pulled out candies of every color from his sleeve and invited them over.

Loren introduced Ron and Seamus to Dumbledore in turn. "This is Ron, from the Weasley family. This is Seamus, our roommate."

Dumbledore was in high spirits. "Oh, I know. Arthur and Molly's child. We met once in my office last time, though it was rather hurried." He looked at Ron. "I hear you're very good at Wizard's Chess."

"Yes!" Ron was happy too, though also a little nervous, his face turning bright red. "No, no, I just play chess often, that's all."

Dumbledore turned to Seamus. "I know you too. You're especially skilled at a certain type of spell."

Seamus's face reddened as well. He stammered for a long while without managing to say anything.

With Loren smoothing things over and Dumbledore deliberately playing along, the group began chatting aimlessly about their friends, the clever Miss Know-It-All, the timid but kind Neville...