The Tower Struck by Lightning

Nelson sat up from the chaise lounge, picked up his backpack, pushed open the door, and left the Common Room. He passed through a dungeon-like corridor, long and damp, until he reached the passage connecting to the tower. The corridor was empty in the dead of night. Everlasting lamps lined the bluestone walls on either side, their light flickering as the candles within swayed merrily, as though a breeze were passing through the hallway.

The walls on both sides were covered in paintings. Judging by their styles and ages, the artwork seemed to span the entire development of human civilization. Nearly all of them depicted outstanding Slytherin graduates from years past. They wore peaceful expressions as they gazed levelly at passersby outside their frames.

"Boom—" The entire corridor suddenly lit up like day. Thunder erupted at once, while dark clouds gathered outside the windows and cold winds howled. Lightning occasionally streaked across the sky, dyeing the entire heavens red. It stood in stark contrast to the tranquil castle, carrying the ominous feeling of a storm about to break.

Another bolt of lightning flashed, and a pale face flickered into view at the end of the corridor before vanishing. Nelson had never encountered anything like this. I should have gone with Tom. He tucked his hands into the sleeves of his school robe and gripped his Wand tightly. Though he knew almost nothing about powerful spells beyond first-year textbooks, the simple act of holding it gave him enough reassurance to calm himself.

"Boom—" Lightning and thunder again. He had already crossed half the corridor. Looking closely, he realized, It's just the armor in the corridor. Nelson's heart settled. I really scared myself...

"Sir MacLaggen, is anyone on watch at Ravenclaw Tower today?" To ease the anxiety lingering in his heart, Nelson could not help asking the most talkative painting in the corridor. This medieval Knight was vain and pompous, but as long as one spoke respectfully, he was willing to help students in urgent need.

"..."

"Sir MacLaggen?" Nelson turned toward Sir MacLaggen's frame and suddenly saw a shocking gash running across the canvas. The subject of the painting lay in a pool of blood within the picture, his fate unknown...

Nelson sucked in a sharp breath and suddenly noticed something strange: every painting at Hogwarts was magical. Whenever students passed by, the figures would be doing something of their own, sometimes even striking up a conversation. But the corridor was too quiet today—so quiet that it made his skin crawl. He turned and peeked back, only to discover an even more horrifying sight—all the portraits were staring straight ahead, their peripheral gazes angled toward him, like actual photographs.

He lowered his head and hurried forward, firmly embracing the principle that if I pretend I didn't see it, then it didn't happen. He headed toward the brightly lit Ravenclaw Tower. At the end of the corridor stood a life-sized portrait. Inside it, a silver-haired girl held a silver metal box like a Rubik's Cube. Vigorous flames drifted from the seams in its casing, illuminating the end of the corridor.

At last, a moving painting!

As though he had found family, Nelson greeted her with a bright smile and headed for the staircase on the left. Seeing what he was doing, the girl stared at him in surprise, raising the box in her hands a little higher toward the right and lighting up the stairs even more brightly.

Without looking back, Nelson hurried upstairs.

After climbing several flights with his head lowered, he felt the warmth of the orange candlelight around him. Ahead was a huge wooden panel on the wall, fitted with a smooth metal door knocker, with several students beneath it deep in thought. Nelson stood at the stairway entrance and looked around. Light shone through the crack beneath the door of the Ravenclaw Head's Office. He let out a long breath and leaned against the wall as he wiped his Wand.

"What is the difference between zero and one?" Hearing the question asked by the door knocker, Nelson carried his bag and continued climbing upward until he reached the top of Ravenclaw Tower, where Hogwarts' Owlery was located.

Tonight's lightning was even more violent, striking at the grandest building in the valley like a pack of Dragons. Nelson's vision suddenly turned white. Then he heard an earth-shattering crack of thunder and piercing bird cries mixed into it, before he could no longer see or hear anything—lightning had struck the towering structure. His body trembled uncontrollably, and the floor beneath his feet shook as well, making it difficult to stand steady. He had not been struck directly; merely the aftershock of the blow against the building had made such an enormous tower quake. The power of nature was truly astonishing. Even in a world of magic, it remained something most humans could scarcely challenge.

He reached into his pocket, gripped his Wand tightly, held his bag, and stood quietly where he was.

After a while, Nelson's sight and hearing returned. Ignoring the ringing in his ears, he looked around the Owlery. Almost every owl had hidden inside its cage, trembling in fear. Some had even collapsed flat on the ground.

"I wonder if you're related to Thunderbirds," Nelson said as he picked up one lying at his feet and placed it on a nearby perch. "It's a bird of prey too, yet it can summon thunder like that. It's on a completely different level."

He barely managed to find an owl among the dispirited flock that still seemed somewhat alert. He rolled up the letter for Uncle Jonas and tucked it into the message pouch on its leg. "Please deliver this letter once the weather clears." Nelson took out a small Tomato and fed it to the owl, patted its wing, picked up his bag, and went downstairs.

"What is the difference between zero and one?" The door knocker was still repeating its earlier question, and even more Ravenclaws had gathered outside the door.

"Maybe one attacks and the other defends?" As he passed the door knocker, he turned his head and added the comment, though his feet did not stop moving.

"Creak—" The wooden panel beneath the door knocker rotated aside, and the door opened.

Nelson sucked in a breath. "This door really gets it." His pace unconsciously quickened. He slung his bag onto his back and headed toward the Ravenclaw Head's Office.

"Gioconda! What you did was reckless—" Nelson raised his hand to knock, but the door was not locked, only ajar. With the force of his knock, it silently swung open. The Head of Ravenclaw was inside the office, angrily berating the fireplace.

She lacked her usual severity and composure from the classroom. Instead, she looked like a parent driven frantic by a rebellious teenager. Warm flames danced in the fireplace, and within them was the head of a woman with dreadlocks. She spotted Nelson, raised an eyebrow, and watched the uninvited visitor to the Head's Office with great interest.

Noticing the woman's gaze, the Head turned around. Her expression darkened as she looked at Nelson, who had pushed open the door. She said nothing and did not move.

"I'm sorry, Professor Sakes!" Nelson felt the heat from the fireplace wash over his face, yet it was as piercingly cold as an ice pack. He jumped back a step and shut the door.

Knowing full well that he had made a serious mistake, Nelson paced anxiously outside. A Ravenclaw student who had just left the Common Room called to him from afar, "Nelson, do you know why zero and one are one attack and one defense?" Starting from the second lesson, Ravenclaw's Transfiguration Class had been held together with Slytherin's. The two of them had once been assigned to the same group and turned each other's collar buttons into wooden ones. His name was also Dwight, the same as Nelson's roommate.

"I don't know, Dwight. I just said it casually," Nelson replied irritably. He found it hard to face that question, and even harder to face Professor Sakes in a moment. He continued pacing along the corridor outside the Ravenclaw Common Room entrance and ran into Myrtle, who had just climbed the stairs. The two came face-to-face. A month into the school year, Myrtle was still acting strangely. She always avoided Nelson, and now, seeing him in her own tower, she let out a "Wuh!" before turning and fleeing downstairs...

"Myrtle! We need to talk!" Nelson shouted after her. "I'm very sorry about that, but—"

"Mr. Williams, what do you intend to do to my student?"

Nelson turned around and saw Professor Sakes' displeased face.

"Williams, what are you doing at Ravenclaw Tower?" Nelson followed Professor Sakes back to her office with his tail between his legs. Looking at Professor Sakes, who was already seated behind her desk, he thoughtfully helped close the office door.

"I'm sorry, Professor, just now—"

"That was merely one use of Floo Powder. I was only asking why you came here, Mr. Williams." Professor Sakes interrupted Nelson. She seemed unwilling to discuss what had just happened.

"Professor, I came to the Owlery to find a Hogwarts owl to send a letter. I don't have my own owl," Nelson explained quickly. "When I came over from Slytherin, I found that Sir MacLaggen—he's a painting—had been slashed. Sir MacLaggen in the painting looked injured too. I thought something might have happened, so I came to tell you. Then, when I knocked on the door—"

"All right, I understand." Professor Sakes interrupted him again. It seemed she truly did not want to discuss the matter of him opening the door. "You did the right thing by reporting what you found to a teacher."

"I'll go check it later. You may leave now." She picked up the cup beside the fireplace and took a sip. "Wait, Mr. Williams." She called Nelson back again.

Nelson withdrew the paw he had been about to use to open the door and prepared to listen to the professor's lecture.

"I noticed," she said, setting down her cup and staring at Nelson, "that your Charms homework from last week appears somewhat similar in content to Mr. Black's."

"I understand, Professor." Nelson admitted his mistake at once. "I'll submit a new assignment as soon as possible."

"No." Professor Sakes stood and looked at Nelson. "Your homework included second-year material. I will not punish someone eager to learn without reason. I merely want you not to do it again."

"If you want to help your friend, what you should do is help him master the spells taught in class, not lend him your homework to copy." Professor Sakes leaned back in her chair and rested her right hand on the desk. "Hogwarts has stood for over nine hundred years. Countless people have come here to study, and it has never lacked talent. You are not fooling the teachers—you are only fooling yourselves."

She casually raised her left hand, and the door opened.

"Thank you, Professor." Nelson bowed, left the office, and closed the door behind him.