Ravenclaw's Library

"Oh, honestly, they lost nine whole points! And Slytherin has already earned fifteen." Hermione hugged her textbooks and complained. Meanwhile, Snape said, "Malfoy, good potion. You seem to have learned well. But you made a few mistakes because of Potter, so Slytherin gets three points. You managed to make such an excellent potion even with Potter's influence..."

Well, Hermione was even angrier now. She'd been worried about Neville earlier and hadn't added the slug in time, so she hadn't earned a single point.

She stormed out of the Potions Classroom without even looking at Breeze or following the other Little Lions. She seemed a little dejected.

"Such a proud little girl..."

Of course, Breeze wasn't belittling Hermione. He just felt that her temper would get her into trouble. Breeze had plenty of pride himself, no less than anyone else, but he knew how to protect himself and when to strike back.

"Hey, little snake!"

Who was that?

Breeze calmly parted ways with Millicent.

"I'm going to check out the view from the tower in a bit, so I'll head off. When you get back, you should review some more. I can tell you have a talent for Potions, Millicent."

Millicent blushed. "All right. See you later, Breeze."

Breeze watched the last few Slytherins leave, then turned and headed the other way.

Oh, it was them.

Breeze had thought the Weasley Twins had already been expelled.

"Oh, don't look at us like that, cutie. We've just been through the most brutal detention imaginable." George clutched his chest and put on a comically mournful expression. "Professor McGonagall actually had time to give us detention herself these past few days."

Fred pretended to be heartbroken as well. "Oh, we even have to eat at the appointed times."

George and Fred exchanged a look, then said, "Fortunately, she's been busy again lately, so she handed us over to old Filch, who's even more pitiful than we are."

"Hahaha, so when we heard you had Potions Class, we came to find you."

Breeze watched their antics helplessly, then took a cloth bag from his own bag. "Here. Take it before I throw it away. It's taking up space in my satchel."

Fred took the bag and smiled.

"Oh, all right, good little snake. Then..."

George continued, "Then we'll keep our promise. How about next Monday? We need to make the thing first, before we can get Peeves to cooperate."

"Mm, I think the afternoon would be best. I'll be at the library then, and Slytherin will probably be having tea."

Breeze wasn't the least bit curious about what kind of mischief Peeves would get up to. He'd only been there a few days, but he'd already heard about the ghostlike creature's "glorious deeds." Peeves gave Filch even more headaches than the Weasley Twins did.

Fred's eyes lit up. "Oh, of course. That's useful to know... Well then."

The two said in unison, "See you later. We have to go comfort our little Ronnie, a brother who just had points taken off him by Snape."

Breeze shrugged. Seeing that no one nearby had heard their conversation, he headed toward Ravenclaw. He really was planning to visit the tower. He had no classes that afternoon, and it was Friday, with the weekend free. He wasn't going to waste the opportunity.

When Cho Chang had come to see him the day before yesterday, she'd told him about one of Ravenclaw's rules: anyone could enter the common room, as long as they answered the question posed by the eagle-shaped knocker correctly. Inside the common room was also a small library exclusive to Ravenclaw. Breeze planned to take a look.

Hogwarts Castle had nine floors: one underground and the other eight forming the main structure. Above them stood many towers of various sizes, of which Ravenclaw Tower and Gryffindor Tower were the largest. The entrance to Ravenclaw's common room was on the eighth floor. This was where he had to go in.

When Breeze reached the eighth floor, he followed the location Cho Chang had given him and soon found a door with a bronze eagle-shaped knocker.

The eagle looked him over, without pretending to be asleep just because of his silver-and-green robes.

"Is the world fair?"

Breeze paused. Was this a philosophy question?

After thinking for a moment, he answered according to his own beliefs. "Under nature, everything is fair."

The knocker looked Breeze over, then said, "Of course. You're right."

Clang. The door swung open, and a little snake stepped into a flock of eagles.

"That's... Breeze Order. He answered the question correctly."

"It's not surprising, is it? He's brilliant in class. Maybe he should be in Ravenclaw. I often see him in the library."

The young eagles chattered away, sharing their opinions. Meanwhile, Cho Chang had already stood up and come over to Breeze. "Welcome, Breeze. I knew you'd come after I told you Ravenclaw had a library."

Breeze smiled warmly. "Mm, it's hard to resist. And I don't have any more classes, so I can focus on studying things outside the curriculum."

"Of course. Ravenclaw welcomes everyone who loves learning."

The Ravenclaw common room soon settled back into silence. Cho Chang led Breeze to the library entrance and said, "Sorry, I'm going to the Quidditch pitch this afternoon. I need to practice, and then I want to try out for Seeker, so I can't keep you company. But I'm sure you'll fit in here. Ravenclaw is unbelievably quiet."

"Of course. See you later, then."

Breeze didn't know much about wizarding Quidditch. Perhaps it was something like Muggle football.

After saying goodbye to Cho Chang, Breeze picked up a book about spells and began reading. To his surprise, he spotted a book called Ancient Magic.

"It's incomplete, and it looks like lots of people have read it, but the later pages are newer. Did people give up on it?"

Curious, Breeze took that book and Analysis of Common Spells, then sat in a corner of the common room. The breeze there was wonderfully soothing, and the Ravenclaw students were all quiet. It put Breeze in a good mood and cleared his mind.

Slytherin was just as quiet, but its gloomy surroundings left Breeze feeling stifled. He'd always felt he wasn't a true little snake, and it was hard for him to adapt to Slytherin, no matter how hard he tried.

What Breeze didn't know was that he would never be a little eagle, either. Why did he study? He wasn't sure. Maybe it gave him a sense of security, and security came from power, influence, and respect.

That was also why Breeze liked earning house points. Besides, the process of gaining recognition felt good, and the way people had no choice but to acknowledge him had become somewhat intoxicating...

"No, Breeze Order. It's fine to seek glory, but you can't fall into its trap and become its slave. That's driven many people mad. You have to stay vigilant about everything."

Breeze couldn't help but focus and admonish himself. He understood what he needed at every stage of his life. Reason was his most resilient strength.

"But... why does Ravenclaw pursue knowledge?"

Slytherin sought glory, Ravenclaw sought wisdom, Gryffindor was fearless, and Hufflepuff was honest...

As Breeze read, time slowly passed. He seemed to forget that he hadn't eaten lunch, because the books in his hands had him utterly absorbed.

Breeze had finished reading Ancient Magic and still wanted more, but there was nothing else. All the knowledge from the book was now in his mind. To make sure he didn't forget it, he pulled the diary from his satchel, hurriedly flipped to a page, and organized his notes.

"Ancient magic all comes from nature, but as time passes, it no longer reveals itself to wizards. Perhaps only those 'simple' creatures can glimpse a little of it, but no one can control it anymore, let alone write it down..."

"Nature... Ancient Magic?"

According to the book, nature gave birth to magic, and magic in turn created nature. It recorded things similar to Breeze's special powers, such as Nature Affinity and a healthy physique. Of course, the word "simple" definitely didn't describe Breeze, so simple here didn't mean simple.

The book also mentioned one crucial word—meditation.

Meditation was a way to commune with nature, and Breeze had never meditated.

The power described in the book... Breeze was tempted. He urgently wanted to try it, but he didn't know whether it was dangerous.

Putting down his quill, Breeze returned the two books to their places. Watching the sunlight fade beyond the window and feeling the breeze, he decided to find somewhere secluded.

"Thanks for having me. See you next time." Breeze politely said goodbye to the Ravenclaws and left their common room. Many older Ravenclaws didn't look up, remaining immersed in their sea of books, while some of the younger students, especially the first-years, happily waved goodbye to him.

Only after Breeze had left did they start talking.

"He's so handsome, but it's easy to overlook him."

"Mm-hmm, but he's clever, and just looking at him is soothing. I barely read any of the words just now. I was sneaking glances at him the whole time." It was a first-year girl.

"Oh, you were sneaking looks at him in Herbology, too. You're not very Ravenclaw at all. How can you let good looks distract you? You're neglecting wisdom."

Some of the older students glanced up and exchanged smiles but said nothing.

Breeze didn't hurry off to eat. Instead, he used the time to explore the tower. He wanted to find a good place to test his discovery. It was important to him.

After searching for quite a while, Breeze found something unusual behind a secluded corridor.

"A painting, but... there's a breeze coming through."

Breeze had a keen sense of the air's movement. He gently ran his hand over the enormous portrait before him and looked at the lush, verdant tree in the painting. "If you have a spirit, please grant my wish."

Sorry, the portrait had no spirit. But Breeze followed the wind's guidance anyway and drew his wand.

"Alohomora!"

It didn't work?

No, there was a faint movement. Breeze could tell it wasn't his imagination.

"It's this brick. There was a flow of magic just now. Could it be like Diagon Alley?"