"Lumos!" To guard against any mishaps, Allen transformed the Miaomiao Wizard Robe into protective gear, then lifted the tapestry behind the children's bookshelf and crouched into the tunnel.
The tunnel walls were exceedingly smooth, as though they had been magically treated, solid and compact.
Allen descended the tunnel step by step, then passed through several stretches of level ground.
Before long, Allen saw light ahead.
It was a low storage room. Afternoon sunlight shone straight down through a skylight in the ceiling, landing precisely where Allen emerged.
Allen immediately raised a hand to shield his eyes. Only after a while did he adjust to the brightness.
Pushing the door open, he stepped into an abandoned garden, where snow lay thickly piled over the uneven ground.
Beyond the garden, the surroundings were bleak and desolate. Farmhouses built of wood, mud, and straw stood sparsely scattered across the wilderness.
Allen looked back and saw a manor, enclosed by tall walls, standing not far from the farmhouses.
From here, he could see patches of snow on the castle roof within the manor gathering the scattered sunlight and glittering brightly.
Behind the manor, lofty peaks thrust into the clouds, resembling reefs in the sea from afar.
Allen checked the time. Emily would probably wake soon. He hurried back the way he had come, already forming a rough plan in his mind.
After restoring the tapestry to its original position, he reached the bedroom door. The little girl in red who kept a toad appeared on it again. She cast Allen a quick glance before vanishing instantly.
Allen pushed the door open and entered. Aunt Josephine was nowhere to be seen, but fortunately, Emily was still sleeping soundly.
Allen crept over, carefully climbed onto the bed, lay down beside Emily, closed his eyes, and called for the system.
"What does the host need?" The ethereal voice rang out. What a good system—always there when called.
"During the Lizard-man mission last time, you provided me with a map. Will future missions also have map assistance?" Allen asked.
"Yes. To help the host complete missions more effectively, map assistance will be provided."
"Then can I actively request a mission?" Allen continued.
"The host may issue an active mission. However, the system will determine the mission difficulty, and the reward is pending."
"Fine. Then please issue a mission to find Albert Harris."
Allen really was cunning, probing step by step until he got the result he wanted.
"Please wait patiently, host. Assessing mission difficulty."
"The system has determined that the difficulty is too low. It is recommended that the mission be changed to obtaining the 'Moonstone.' Does the host accept?"
"Accept." Allen kept it brief. He felt Emily's little hand shift. The girl was about to wake up.
"As this is an active mission, the system imposes no time limit. Please continue your efforts, host." The system was equally straightforward. A map appeared directly in Allen's mind.
There was no need to mention how Allen spent an afternoon playing with Emily, or how he chatted with Aunt Josephine.
At nine that evening, after putting Emily to sleep once more, Allen cast the Good Sleep Charm on the little girl. According to the Encyclopedia of Spells, it was an Incantation invented by a wizard plagued by insomnia.
After kissing Emily on the forehead, Allen turned and left.
Emerging from the farmhouse once again, Allen summoned Neptune from his storage space, swung onto it, and sped into the distance at top speed.
The frigid night wind howled past Allen. Fortunately, he had prepared in advance, transforming the Miaomiao Wizard Robe into a close-fitting outfit that was windproof, warm, and protective of his eyes.
Luckily, the moon was bright and the stars sparse. Through the occasional thin clouds drifting past, the farmhouses below looked as though they had been flattened and spread out. Allen raced at an incredible speed, and as he neared his destination through the hazy night, a bell tower soaring into the sky came into view.
When Allen's feet touched the ground, he strangely felt as if he were stepping on cotton.
Allen secretly decided that once he returned to Hogwarts, he had to sneak a look at the upper-year students' Apparition training.
He climbed the bell tower steps, where an outdoor staircase wound around its pointed roof like a long snake suspended in the air.
Even after reaching the very top of the bell tower, Allen found no trace of Albert or the Moonstone.
But the map showed that the target location was roughly within this area.
Looking out, the direction of the target was utterly barren.
Could the gem fly into the sky or burrow underground?
Wait. Seeing such a towering bell tower, Allen's first instinct had been to climb it. Perhaps he needed to do the opposite!
How would he know if he did not try?
Allen swiftly darted back down the stairs.
Sure enough, in the plaza outside the first floor of the bell tower, Allen found an abandoned dry well. He sensed traces of magic around it.
Brilliant. With such a towering building standing before them, who would pay attention to an abandoned well?
Skilled and bold, Allen relied on the Miaomiao Wizard Robe for protection and slid down along the well wall.
After an unknown length of time in the darkness, Allen finally stopped sliding. A narrow, dark passage led ahead to a massive stone cavern. Its pitch-black entrance resembled a gaping mouth, ready to devour everything.
"Lumos." The faint blue glow from his wand did not make him feel any safer. Against the black stone cavern, it only made the place seem fraught with danger.
Yet Allen grew excited instead. The map in his mind had once again provided a clear route.
Without hesitation, Allen entered the stone cavern and continued his search.
The jagged stone walls were rough and uneven. He successfully crossed a stretch of flat, compacted ground.
Gradually, the ground became increasingly muddy. If a Muggle had passed through here, every step would have been difficult.
Streams frequently blocked Allen's path, forcing him to wade through them.
This underground Maze seemed to have nothing remarkable about it: muddy ground, monotonous scenery, and an oppressive mood.
But thinking back on his route, without the map's guidance, he would likely have become lost among one fork after another long ago, because many of the stone walls looked much the same.
It should be said that so far, everything had gone fairly smoothly.
Aside from the tedium, there was really nothing to complain about.
Suddenly, after a turn, a steep slope carried Allen deeper underground. The incline was terrifyingly sharp, and he had to concentrate on maintaining his balance.
After a series of descents, the slope gradually leveled out. In the vast underground palace, there was no sound besides Allen's breathing and footsteps. The silence was deathly.
Winding paths crisscrossed one another, and Allen even lost his sense of time amid the monotonous walking.
Just then, Allen heard a loud sound, like intermittent muffled thunder, before it gradually faded into the unknown darkness.
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