Spartans Never Knock!

The Hogwarts trophy room is not a place where people often hang out, because it has a special attribute: when mischievous students are punished in class, professors sometimes make them polish every single trophy in here without the use of magic.

Gradually, students have come to keep their distance from this place.

However, it does have a distinct flavor—the flavor of history.

It is difficult to get a comprehensive view of Hogwarts' thousand-year history from books alone, but here, you can catch glimpses of the scenery that existed centuries or even a millennium ago, as well as the outstanding wizards who walked out of these halls.

Ezio even saw more than one Order of Merlin, First Class; the wizards who earned them may have sent these badges, which symbolized their glory, back to the school in their old age, because doing so would prevent them from being buried by history and allow them to be passed down alongside Hogwarts for a long time.

This is a very clever decision.

Fame! People will always embark on the path of chasing it.

The trophy room is very clean, likely because so many students have been punished here recently that there is almost no dust to be found; walking and stopping here, Harry quickly found what he was looking for according to the year labels.

"He was a Chaser."

Harry pointed at a Quidditch trophy and shouted to Ezio, "And not just one; he won the Quidditch Cup for six years while at Hogwarts. That's amazing!"

After all, it was his own father, so Harry naturally felt proud of his achievements.

"Do you think I'll become a Chaser like my dad?"

"Then you'll need to work on your physique; Chaser is a position that requires physical contact." Ezio stood still, arms crossed, looking at the medals and trophies in front of him as he replied, "Although you've put on a little weight since coming to school, you're still only at the point where you won't be blown away by a gust of wind."

"Then maybe I could be a Seeker? I'm quite agile."

Harry actually had self-awareness; among the Quidditch positions, the one he was most suited for was the Seeker, which required the most agility. As long as he caught the Golden Snitch, he could secure one hundred and fifty points for his team and end the game immediately.

"What are you looking at?"

Seeing Ezio staring at the trophy shelf in thought, Harry leaned over.

"Seeing what kind of performance our dear Voldemort had when he was at Hogwarts."

Ezio pointed to the shelf in front and said, "Tom Riddle, recipient of the Special Award for Services to the School; there are other honorary medals, but this one carries the most weight."

"He was an all-rounder with excellent grades in every subject, a perfect wizard with no weaknesses."

Hearing this and looking at the trophy shelf ahead, Harry fell silent for a moment.

"Don't be discouraged. If Voldemort weren't outstanding, how could he have become such a famous Dark Lord? Although it was limited to England, it's still not bad."

"Maybe I need to work harder."

Harry nodded silently; he felt he could be even more diligent.

"Everyone's constitution is different; there's no future in copying me. I can maintain absolute focus for 24 hours—that's a talent. Trying to learn from me will only ruin you, Harry."

"Look at Hermione. Didn't she try to keep up with my pace at the beginning? But in less than a week, she nearly went crazy, was dazed during class, and then gave up at lightning speed to return to her own rhythm."

"That's true." Harry shrank his neck; he didn't think he had Hermione's brain, and since even Hermione was forced to give up, he had better not try to learn from Ezio—he would likely die halfway through.

"Then what do you think I need? I always feel that if I just read books and study, my progress isn't very obvious."

Harry was also a bit troubled by this; it wasn't that he didn't want to improve, but that he found it difficult to do so. He had no problem focusing on one or two subjects, though.

"Maybe you're the practical type, rather than a theoretical learner like Hermione. At least you've performed well in your self-study of Defense Against the Dark Arts, haven't you? You can already handle two students of the same year at once now; you're doing great."

"Maybe... I am!" Harry suddenly gained some confidence. "I can add more practical exercises for myself. It seems the school is planning to establish a dueling club or something; I feel I should try participating."

"The Ouroboros Dueling Club—I had Labas set it up. After all, some idiots aren't just plain stupid; they just don't know how to study. I still have to give them some hope of advancement; only then will they be willing to work like slaves."

"You sound just like a capitalist from the Age of Discovery."

"I haven't used a whip to make them move faster, so I'm already being very merciful, okay? The people in the colonies had it much worse than them."

Ezio shrugged; at least he was doing something related to human resources now.

After seeing what they wanted to see, they left the trophy room, but Harry paused at the door.

"The fourth floor... isn't this the place Professor Dumbledore mentioned at the start of the term?"

Harry suddenly remembered this and looked toward the depths of the corridor.

"What? Want to go take a look?"

Ezio had originally intended to bring Harry to look around here later, but since they were already here, it didn't matter if they went early.

"Shall we come at night? Wearing the Invisibility Cloak?" Harry was a bit tempted, so he suggested.

"Why come at night?" Ezio asked in confusion. "It's not like it's a place that can't be seen; why not just go now?"

"You're blatantly breaking school rules by doing this!"

"The school rules don't say that."

Ezio walked forward with his hands in his pockets.

"That's true."

Harry pondered for a moment, realized this made sense, and his courage grew; he quickly followed Ezio.

Before long, they arrived at the end of the corridor. On one side was a locked wooden door that didn't look very sturdy, and visibly, there were traces of people having been here, and even... some unclean things, because there was a smell similar to urine near the door.

"Could someone have been scared into peeing themselves here?" Harry laughed uncharitably. He suddenly remembered Draco's dark history, but this was a secret, and Harry hadn't told anyone.

"Maybe. Dumbledore has quite a few eccentric tastes."

Ezio walked up to the door, and just as he prepared to draw his wand to cast an unlocking charm, his movements paused.

A flimsy-looking wooden door, a worn and loose lock.

He felt as though he had forgotten something, so he rested his chin on his hand and began to ponder on the spot.

"Perhaps I should just kick the door down."

He muttered to himself, recalling the three new milestones he had unlocked at Hogwarts; the last one, which had a countdown, had prompted this very phrase.

Ezio waved his wand and chanted: Silencio, then lifted his right foot.

"OPENTHEDOOR!"

Slytherin-style Gate of Opening—Bang!

The door flew open at the sound!

[You have unlocked a hidden milestone: Spartans Never Knock!]

[Spartans Never Knock: You have learned the Legendary Spartan Kick. When used from the front, you will deliver a powerful front kick capable of stunning any creature for 1-5 seconds. When used from behind the target, the target will suffer a massive impact and be sent flying 10-100 meters; if the target is near a cliff edge, the knockback distance is doubled. If you shout "This is Sparta" while executing the kick, the power of the kick will be doubled.]