Secret Passages and Filch

Come to think of it, was his panel some stripped-down version? It did not even have a map function. Albert was still in the mood to poke fun at his panel's features. After finding the Room of Requirement, he was in quite a good mood.

It could not be helped. In the web novels he had read before, the protagonist's built-in system was usually absurdly overpowered. Once they activated the scanning function, nothing could remain hidden.

Now that he thought about it carefully, his panel really had pitifully few functions.

Still, Albert was already very happy just to have a cheat like this panel.

"I remember the Headmaster's Office is on the Eighth Floor too. I just don't know where exactly on the Eighth Floor," Albert muttered.

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

After all, portraits were everywhere in Hogwarts Castle. 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 it down and began wandering aimlessly through the castle, only to helplessly discover that he was lost.

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

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

Still, Albert suspected there was a secret passage here. The Griffin carving on the wall was simply too suspicious. Places like this usually hid secret doors or hidden passages.

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

The sudden voice gave Albert quite a fright. He felt as though his heart was about to burst out of his chest.

Albert hurriedly took several deep breaths to calm his racing heart, then could not help complaining to Nick, "Don't appear and disappear like that. You'll scare someone to death."

"Sorry, I didn't expect to frighten you." Nick raised an eyebrow 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 very early.

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

"Oh, I believe exploring the castle is one of the great pleasures of being a new student." Nick declined tactfully.

"You're right." Albert did not mind Nick refusing him. After smiling and saying goodbye, he continued studying the Griffin carving before him.

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

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

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

It was very narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through. For anyone with claustrophobia, it was definitely not 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 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 inside glared at him unhappily, grumbling 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 get lost again.

This time, however, Albert found the Moving Staircase.

No matter how many times he saw it, he still found the Moving Staircase an impressive sight.

It was said that both the Moving Staircase and the Room of Requirement were Rowena Ravenclaw's work. Could he ever reach such a level in the future? And speaking of which, might Rowena Ravenclaw have hidden some secret in the Room of Requirement?

After all, had Slytherin not raised a basilisk in his own secret chamber?

The more Albert thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. The next time he went there, he could give it a try. Perhaps he really could uncover some secret.

It took Albert ten minutes to walk down the stairs. The staircase shifted once along the way, forcing him to wait where he was until it returned to its original position. Fortunately, he did not have to wait long. Thank heaven—no, he should be thanking Merlin instead.

As soon as he entered the Entrance Hall, Albert's attention was drawn to a cat. It was rather thin, with dark gray fur. It simply could not compare to his Tom.

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

Albert knew it was probably Filch's cat, though he could not remember what it was called. Although he had read Harry Potter and watched the films, after so much time, he could not 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 would probably have forgotten even faster.

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

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

Just as Albert was about to enter the Great Hall, he heard a series of puffing sounds. The somewhat elderly Filch was walking over with an oil lamp.

Albert noticed that Filch was still dressed in sleepwear, with only a cloak draped over himself. A pleased smile hung at the corner of his mouth, the smile of someone who had caught prey.

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

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

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

Filch froze for a moment, because Albert deliberately moved his wand closer to the pocket watch so he could see the time more clearly.

Filch had thought he had caught a student out wandering at night, but his face immediately fell, like a child who had just heard that the Halloween Party had been canceled.

In fact, it was already morning, even though the sky was still dark and the other students had yet to get up.

"Seven." Filch turned and left irritably, throwing out one last sentence before he went: "You'd better not let me see..."

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

Filch really did hate students, did he not? It was as though he wanted to catch them all and put them in detention.

Albert pushed open the doors and entered the Great Hall. It was very dark inside, and the floating candles had all gone out. The lively scene from last night was nowhere to be seen.

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