"Though little elves counted as magical creatures, they were ultimately hard to appreciate in any direct way."
"Even if there was only one, the club needed a magical creature to uphold its image."
Not long afterward, Dark arrived with Professor Lily at the familiar entrance to the secret passage.
He asked Lily to wait a moment, then gently pressed the Door Card against the wall at the entrance. The wall immediately melted away like water, revealing an oval opening large enough for the two of them to pass through.
As the entrance turned transparent, the scene within the secret passage came fully into view.
Dark peered inside carefully, took the lead in entering, then stopped and pondered slightly.
Entering the secret passage again after three months, he felt that something had changed, yet he could not immediately tell what it was.
Still, entering the secret passage felt like coming home.
It had merely been redecorated. That was hardly enough to deter him.
Dark took a deep breath, letting the air of the secret passage flow into his nostrils, then raised the branch.
"It isn't glowing!"
After little Lily squeezed into the secret passage as well, the oval entrance automatically closed.
She stared at the branch from every angle, disappointment showing on her face.
After a moment of silence, Dark suddenly crouched down and placed the branch vertically on the ground before... slowly releasing his hand.
The branch immediately fell in a certain direction, just like the legendary "branch-guiding method."
However, when he tried the same method again, the branch fell in an entirely different direction.
Thus, the "branch-guiding method" failed!
When Lily asked him in confusion what he was doing, Dark had already put the branch away and pretended nothing had happened.
The two walked along the passage for