Hogwarts' Trophy Room wasn't a place where students often hung around. It had one special feature: when students were punished for misbehaving in class, professors sometimes made them polish every trophy in the room without using magic.
Gradually, students began to give the place a wide berth.
Still, it had a certain charm—the charm of history.
It was hard to get a full picture of Hogwarts' thousand-year history from books, but here you could see what the school had been like hundreds, even a thousand years ago, as well as the remarkable wizards who had once walked its halls.
Ezio even spotted more than one Order of Merlin, First Class. The wizards who had received them might have returned the badges that symbolized their glory to the school in their old age. That way, they wouldn't be forgotten by history, but would live on alongside Hogwarts.
It was a very clever decision.
Fame! People were always chasing after it.
The Trophy Room was spotless. Perhaps a lot of students had been sent here to polish things lately; there was hardly a speck of dust to be seen. After wandering around for a while, Harry quickly found what he was looking for by checking the dates.
"He was a Chaser."
Harry pointed at a Quidditch Cup and called out to Ezio. "He won the Quidditch Cup for six years in a row at Hogwarts. That's amazing!"
After all, James was his father, so of course Harry was proud of his achievements.
"Do you think I'll become a Chaser like my dad?"
"Then you'll have to work on your physique. Chaser is a position that involves a lot of physical contact." Ezio stayed where he was, arms crossed as he looked at the medals and trophies ahead. "You've put on a little weight since coming to school, but you're still only at the point where a breeze won't blow you away."
"Maybe I could be a Seeker, then? I'm pretty agile."
Harry knew his own strengths. Of the Quidditch positions, the one that suited him best was the Seeker, which demanded the most agility. All he had to do was catch the Golden Snitch, and he'd earn his team a hundred and fifty points and end the match immediately.
"What are you looking at?"
Seeing Ezio staring thoughtfully at the trophy stand, Harry went over to him.
"I'm seeing how our dear Voldemort did at Hogwarts."
Ezio pointed at the stand in front of them. "Tom Riddle, winner of the Special Award for Services to the School. He had other honors, too, but this one carried the most weight."
"He was a well-rounded wizard who excelled in every subject and had no weaknesses."
Hearing that, Harry looked at the trophies in front of him and fell silent.
"Don't be discouraged. If Voldemort hadn't been exceptional, how could he have become such a notorious Dark Lord? His reputation may only extend as far as England, but that's still impressive."
"Maybe I need to work harder."
Harry nodded quietly. He felt he could still put in more effort.
"Everyone's built differently. You won't get anywhere by trying to study like me. I can stay completely focused for twenty-four hours straight—that's a talent. If you try to imitate me, you'll burn yourself out, Harry."
"Look at Hermione. Didn't she try to keep up with my pace at first? But in less than a week, she nearly went crazy. She was half-asleep in class, then gave up in record time and went back to her own pace."
"That's true." Harry hunched his shoulders. He didn't think he had Hermione's brains, and since even she had been forced to give up on studying like Ezio, he'd better not try it himself. He'd probably collapse halfway through.
"Then what do you think I need? I feel like I'm not making much progress just by reading and studying."
Harry was troubled by this. It wasn't that he didn't want to improve; he just found it difficult. He had no trouble focusing on one or two subjects.
"Maybe you're more of a hands-on learner, rather than a theory student like Hermione. At least you did well in Defense Against the Dark Arts during our self-study sessions, didn't you? You can handle two students in your year at once now. You're doing great."
"Maybe... yeah!" Harry suddenly felt a little more confident. "I could give myself more practical exercises. I heard the house is planning to start some kind of Dueling Club. I think I should try joining."
"The Ouroboros Dueling Club. I had Labas set it up. Some idiots aren't stupid so much as bad at studying. I figured I'd give them a chance to advance, so they'd be willing to work like slaves."
"You sound like a capitalist from the Age of Exploration."
"Hey, I'm being kind by not whipping them to make them work faster. Those n****** have it way worse than they do."
Ezio shrugged. At least what he was doing now was decent.
After seeing what they'd come to see, they left the Trophy Room. But as they stepped outside, Harry slowed to a stop.
"The fourth floor... Isn't that the place Professor Dumbledore mentioned at the start of term?"
Harry suddenly remembered, and looked down the corridor.
"What? Want to take a look?"
Ezio had planned to bring Harry here later, but since they were already nearby, there was no harm in going early.
"Should we come at night? Wear the Invisibility Cloak?" Harry was tempted, so he made the suggestion.
"Why come at night?" Ezio asked, puzzled. "It's not somewhere we need to sneak into. We can go now."
"You're openly breaking the school rules!"
"That's not in the school rules."
Ezio strolled off with his hands in his pockets.
"Fair enough."
Harry thought it over, decided Ezio had a point, and immediately felt bolder. He hurried after him.
Before long, they reached the end of the corridor. There was a locked wooden door on one side. It looked flimsy, and it was obvious someone had been here before. There was even something rather unpleasant about the place; a smell like urine hung around the door.
"Did someone get so scared they wet themselves here?" Harry laughed without a shred of sympathy. He suddenly remembered one of Draco's embarrassing moments, but it was a secret, and Harry hadn't told anyone.
"Maybe. Dumbledore's got plenty of wicked humor."
Ezio walked up to the door. Just as he was about to draw his wand and cast Alohomora, he stopped.
A flimsy-looking wooden door. An old, loose lock.
He had a feeling he'd forgotten something. He rested his chin on his hand and stood there thinking.
"Maybe I should just kick the door in."
He muttered to himself, remembering the three new milestones he'd unlocked at Hogwarts. The last one, which had a countdown, had given him that very prompt.
Ezio waved his wand and said, "Silencio," then raised his right foot.
"OPENTHEDOOR!"
The Slytherin way of opening a door—BANG!
The door burst open!
[You have unlocked the hidden milestone: Spartans Never Knock!] [Spartans Never Knock: You have learned the Legendary Spartan Kick. When used from the front, you deliver a powerful front kick that can stun any creature for 1–5 seconds. When used from behind the target, the target is hit with tremendous force and sent flying 10–100 meters. If the target is near the edge of a cliff, the distance they are sent flying is doubled. If you shout, "This is Sparta!" as you kick, the power of the kick is doubled.]
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