Fighting a Battle of Wits with Thin Air

After enjoying the Christmas feast, Harley joined her fellow students for a snowball fight on the Quidditch Pitch.

Although most of the students had gone home, they could still gather enough people to make up a few teams.

Professor Snape seemed quite interested in the snowball fight too, watching quietly from the stands.

However, when Harley called out, "Professor, come join us!"

Professor Snape merely smiled and shook his head, declining.

After an exhilarating snowball fight, Harley said goodbye to two older Ravenclaw students she had just met and headed back to wash her hair.

Fred and George had been aiming at Harley's conspicuous long hair the entire time, leaving her wine-red locks soaked with snow.

That evening, after enjoying a turkey sandwich, rum-soaked fruitcake, and Christmas cake, Harley went back to rest.

After all, she had an adventure to look forward to in the early hours of the morning—a mission she had been eagerly anticipating.

In the early hours, Harley woke right on time. She changed into a lightweight pink tracksuit and a pair of running shoes.

Harley also changed her wine-red hair back to black, combed it behind her head, and tied it into a ponytail.

After preparing all the nighttime tools she might need, Harley snapped her fingers softly, and her entire body vanished into thin air.

The Gryffindor common room was empty. After eating their fill, the few students who had stayed at school had all gone back to their rooms to sleep.

Harley quietly pushed open Fat Lady's portrait.

Fat Lady was already dead drunk. In a hoarse voice, she asked, "Who's there?"

Harley didn't answer and quickly moved away. With a clear destination in mind, she headed straight for the library.

The library was pitch-black, and its entrance was firmly secured with a rusty padlock.

But the lock hadn't even been protected by a single counter-curse, so Harley easily opened it with "Alohomora."

This couldn't help but make Harley suspicious. She wondered if there were more unknown traps inside the library.

After all, a place where a faction stored its knowledge should, in theory, be one of its most important locations.

How could such an important place not even have a proper protective spell cast on the padlock at the entrance?

Harley instinctively wanted to activate Spirit Vision and check for traps, but immediately restrained herself.

After all, there were demigods in this school, so the traps couldn't be too weak.

If Harley saw something she shouldn't, even with the high status she had once possessed, she would suffer considerable harm.

Harley drew two wands, one of which she had made herself.

She casually tossed the wand she had made to the library entrance, ready to switch places with it at any moment.

Then, Harley cautiously crept toward the Restricted Section. She didn't even dare light a lamp, relying entirely on her night vision.

The Restricted Section was at the very back of the library. The school had used a rope to separate those books from the rest of the collection.

Harley cautiously tested the area with a few simplified rituals, only to conclude that it was completely safe.

Of course, Harley didn't dare believe the Restricted Section was entirely safe. After a little thought, she took out a square mirror and sent it over with a Levitation Charm.

Then, Harley took out another mirror, set it down where she stood, and poured a great deal of Spirituality into it.

As she infused it with Spirituality, an invisible passage opened between the two mirrors.

Harley lightly touched her toes to the ground and leaped toward the mirror. Though it wasn't large, it miraculously swallowed her whole.

Harley's figure then appeared above the other mirror.

But after steadying herself, Harley looked puzzled. She felt as though she hadn't encountered the slightest obstacle!

After a moment's thought, Harley's long hair rapidly grew and stretched past the rope. Only then did she realize she'd been making a fuss over nothing!

"I can't believe I was fighting a battle of wits with thin air!" Harley furrowed her brows, pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed.

The prestigious Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—a school with a demigod—hadn't placed a single protection on its most important repository of knowledge!

"I can't blame myself for making a big deal out of nothing. Who could've expected this?" Harley silently grumbled as she put away her gear and began examining the books classified as restricted.

On the thick, heavy tomes, peeling, faded gold lettering spelled out words that were difficult to understand.

Many of the books didn't even have titles, but bore dark red stains that looked like blood left to dry for ages.

Harley closed her eyes and sensed an invisible malice emanating from many of the books.

"Some of these books must be the equivalent of Sequence 5 Sealed Artifacts, right?" Harley murmured.

She wandered fearlessly among the shelves, quickly recording the titles and locations of the books that had names.

But Harley didn't force herself to make sense of the titles of certain books that felt especially dangerous. Knowledge itself could be corrupting, after all.

If one wasn't strong enough, trying to learn certain things could lead to death.

After recording things for half the night, Harley stopped in front of a book. Her hair quickly grew and gently touched it.

The book was called Powerful Potions.

Harley could usually get books from the Restricted Section. Even if books about the properties of rare Potions were kept there, Professor Snape would give her permission to read them.

But Professor Snape wouldn't agree to let Harley read a book like this, which was likely to contain recipes for dangerous Potions, anytime soon.

Harley pressed her lips together, but in the end, she quickly pulled the book from the shelf.

After skimming the table of contents, a hint of delight appeared on Harley's face.

"There are quite a few interesting Potions in here!"

Harley's fingertip brushed lightly over the table of contents, and she finally decided to borrow the book in secret.

Clutching the heavy tome, she quickly left the library, remembering to lock the door behind her.

Harley put the heavy book into the Mirror World and picked up the wand she had made. Then she hurried along the stairs, planning to head straight back to the Gryffindor dormitory.

But she didn't seem to be having much luck.

The Grey Lady had cast a spell on the stairs at Hogwarts Castle, so they were constantly shifting.

Unfortunately for Harley, she ran into one of these changes and saw the stairs turn in a different direction in midair.

But Harley didn't mind. The Christmas holidays were still long, and nobody would care if she slept in tomorrow.

Harley continued along the passage, doing her best to reach the Gryffindor dormitory, but she eventually arrived somewhere unfamiliar.

Harley lightly tapped her chin with a pale finger, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face.

"Have these stairs been drinking too much? Are they always this wild on Christmas night?"

At that, Harley decided to wait a while, until the crazed stairs calmed down a little, before returning to her dormitory.

So, Harley casually pushed open the door to a classroom, intending to rest for a moment.