Midnight Phantom

In the dark, damp tunnel, water dripped from time to time, making a steady pitter-patter. Threads of fluorescent fungi occasionally grew among the cracked bricks and stones, their age unknown.

Faint panting drew nearer, and spider-like crawlers lurking in the darkness quickly scuttled away at the sound.

A goblin emerged from the dark passage, supporting a boy. It was Yinduo and Hoffa.

Hoffa crushed a patch of fluorescent mushrooms beneath his foot. He let Yinduo stop and rest for a while, then helped him up again and continued onward.

It had taken Yinduo an hour to get there. On the way back, weakened as he was, he walked for nearly two hours straight, having to stop and rest from time to time.

At last, they returned to the back of the Hunchbacked Witch statue at Hogwarts. Hoffa dropped heavily to the floor, leaned back against the wall, and panted as he weakly tore off the mask on his face.

Only then did he feel a little safer. No matter how capable those German wizards were, they could not possibly follow him into Hogwarts. Even if they did, they probably would not end well.

Adventure was certainly thrilling, but he preferred the solid feeling of having his feet on the ground.

Yinduo slumped against the wall of the secret passage opposite Hoffa, gasping, "Behind there... is Hogwarts?"

"What else would it be?"

"I've never been inside. The three major schools are the most heavily guarded places in Europe."

"Got your wish, then?" Hoffa sneered.

Yinduo rubbed his hands together, smiling somewhat awkwardly.

Hoffa ignored him. After sitting on the ground and catching his breath for a while, he said, "I brought you back to school. You can leave now. Go find whoever you want."

After saying that, Hoffa ignored Yinduo's resentful little look. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began restoring his magic through meditation. He still had to sneak his way through the school. Until he returned to his dormitory, he could not be considered truly safe.

He had to eliminate any possibility of being expelled.

As he meditated, Hoffa reviewed the valuable experience he had gained from this battle.

This time, his eyes had truly been opened. Dark wizards who controlled magical creatures. The coordination between different spells, and the use of Transfiguration in battle.

These were things he had never known in his previous life. This world was far larger than he had imagined, and far more dangerous as well.

There was no doubt that he was no match for them.

Without the system, relying solely on the magical ability of an eleven-year-old, he would definitely have died beyond saving.

He could not survive in this strange and ever-changing world by relying only on the scraps of information from the original story.

After sorting through what he had learned from the battle, Hoffa's thoughts grew heavy. The world was wonderful, and it filled him with the urge to explore.

But today, Hoffa had also recognized his own weakness.

A fatal weakness.

Insufficient magic.

He had once heard that how much water a barrel could hold depended on its shortest plank. Now it seemed that every part of him was a short plank. Other than having greater mental strength than ordinary wizards, he was practically no different from a Muggle.

Hoffa had never possessed exceptional magical talent. The only thing that stood out about him was that his mental strength surpassed that of ordinary people. He could basically learn ordinary spells as soon as he saw them, and even magic like Transfiguration was easy for him to control.

But now Hoffa realized that his modest amount of magic was enough for school and exams. In battle, however, it left him stretched thin.

No wonder so few people could become Aurors or dark wizards. The magical expenditure of combat was on an entirely different scale from the magic used in daily life.

People like Voldemort and Dumbledore had an endless supply of magic, enough to spend without ever running dry.

Even Harry in later years could cast spells as freely as he pleased. He had never suffered from insufficient magic.

Unlike Hoffa, who was left panting after casting only a few spells.

Hoffa now possessed two forms of invisibility: the ordinary Disillusionment Charm and the advanced Ghostwalk.

The ordinary Disillusionment Charm merely made him invisible, and his magic could sustain it for over half an hour.

Ghostwalk, on the other hand, was incredibly powerful. It could completely erase his physical form from this world, allowing him to avoid any harm.

But it consumed magic at a terrifying rate.

Even with his magic fully replenished, Ghostwalk could last less than half a minute—roughly twenty seconds at most.

In just half a day, he had meditated twice.

He did not dare imagine what would have happened if he had not possessed a meditation method to restore his magic. Perhaps he would already be a corpse beneath a dark wizard's wand.

Magic was the foundation of everything. Without magic, even the most powerful skills were useless.

If he possessed an endless supply of magic, if he could cast Ghostwalk at will and pair it with a few combat spells, it would be terrifying.

He had to solve his weakness in magic.

After meditating for nearly three hours, as magic gradually filled his depleted body, Hoffa slowly woke. He had recovered considerably, at least no longer as drained as he had been after the battle.

He had planned to turn invisible and return directly to the dormitory to rest, but when he stood up, he saw the goblin leaning against the wall of the secret passage, already asleep. His head drooped, and he looked utterly exhausted.

Hoffa was stunned. He shook Yinduo's shoulder hard. "Hey, why are you still here?"

Yinduo opened his sleepy eyes.

"What?"

"Didn't you say you were going to find Headmaster Dippet?"

"It's so late. It's already the middle of the night. Can't I go tomorrow? It's pitch-black. How am I supposed to find him?" Yinduo muttered.

Hoffa widened his eyes. What Yinduo said made sense, but he also felt that this lying goblin was plotting something.

"Then go tomorrow. I'm leaving," Hoffa said.

But after taking only two steps, his trouser leg was bitten.

Hoffa turned around and saw that Yinduo had become a badger, pitifully clamped onto his trouser leg.

The badger's fur was black and white, as though it were wearing a suit. It even had a distinctive tuft of yellow hair on its forehead. Most striking of all, the badger Yinduo had transformed into wore an earring.

Hoffa gritted his teeth. "What are you doing?"

Yinduo said, "I have nowhere to sleep. You can't expect me to sleep in the tunnel, can you?"

"Get lost. Weren't you sleeping just fine a moment ago?"

"That was because you were here. If you leave, this place will be dark and scary." The badger shuddered as it spoke.

Hoffa clenched his teeth. The goblin had to be putting on an act. From his fight with the dark wizard, it was clear that Yinduo was definitely stronger than him.

Hoffa kicked him aside and insisted, "No."

With that, he turned and left.

The goblin darted in front of Hoffa and blocked his way.

"Just one night. I'll leave after one night. I promise that when you open your eyes tomorrow morning, I'll be gone."

Hoffa ignored him and walked around him, but the silver badger spread its little paws and hugged Hoffa's thigh.

"Really, just one night. Please."

"Merlin's beard."

Blocked in place, Hoffa held his forehead and turned in circles twice, silently cursing his bad luck.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Damn it. If you still don't leave tomorrow, I'll throw you off the top of Ravenclaw Tower!"

With that, he picked Yinduo up and placed him on his shoulder.

After opening the Hunchbacked Witch statue, Hoffa entered the ordinary Disillusionment Charm state.

It was already midnight at Hogwarts.

If he were caught wandering around in the middle of the night, Headmaster Dippet's punishment would place him on probation. If he offended again, he would be expelled.

Hoffa did not want to test the rules himself.

The school at night was pitch-black.

The wind outside blew through the castle corridors with a low moan, mingling with the faint midnight chimes in the distance and making the place seem even quieter.

The only source of light was the moonlight, spilling down from the high windows in pale streaks across the floor.

The shadows cast by the stone statues overhead looked strangely warped, giving the place an utterly bizarre feeling.

This Hogwarts was completely different from the Hogwarts of daytime.

Although Hoffa walked very lightly, people in the paintings beside him still woke from time to time.

"Who's there?" someone in a painting asked.

Not only that, the suits of armor standing along both sides of the corridor seemed to possess minds of their own. Whenever Hoffa passed by, their heads turned, watching him through the dark, empty gaps in their iron helmets, as if every suit of armor housed a soul.

Hoffa walked on edge. The only good thing was that Filch had not been born yet, so he did not need to worry about that annoying Squib appearing with his cat.

Click.

Suddenly, a faint sound came from behind him.

It sounded like someone had bumped into a suit of armor.

Hoffa immediately turned around.

In the haze, he seemed to see a phantom figure racing through the corridor atop the moonlight.

Hoffa was startled.

The goblin asked quietly, "Why do I feel like there's someone else here?"

Hoffa frowned and looked behind him. After a long while, he softly shushed Yinduo. "This is a magic school. We're not getting involved in anything."

After crossing the corridor, Hoffa arrived at Ravenclaw Tower.

Ravenclaw Tower rose high above him. Holding onto the castle staircase railing, Hoffa climbed the tower step by step.

The castle stairs seemed to be asleep in the middle of the night. They no longer helped Hoffa ascend, so he had to stop and rest after every stretch.

After climbing for more than ten minutes, Yinduo quietly asked from his shoulder, "Where exactly is your common room?"

Hoffa panted. "Shh. Play your part as a badger."

Yinduo fell silent.

At last, Hoffa reached the top of the towering spire without incident. Before him was a huge portrait of a knight. To enter the common room, Hoffa still had to pass one final test.

Hoffa dispelled his Disillusionment Charm. The knight in the painting tilted his head and silently dropped to one knee.

The metal eagle beside it slowly spread its wings.

It asked, [You look at me, I look at you. You have eyes, I have none. You can speak, I can speak. You have a voice, I have none.]

After speaking, the eagle remained motionless, quietly waiting for Hoffa's answer.

The badger Yinduo on his shoulder sucked in a breath. He had never seen such a strange question.

"What kind of school is this..."

Hoffa tapped Yinduo's badger head, making him quiet down.

[You look at me, I look at you. You have eyes, I have none. You can speak, I can speak. You have a voice, I have none.]

Was the question at night harder than the one during the day?

Hoffa paced in circles twice before raising his head with a frown.

"A mirror."

The eagle slowly folded its wings and lowered its head, crossing them over its chest.

The knight in the painting rose to his feet, and the passage leading to the Ravenclaw Common Room appeared.

Hoffa sighed in relief and hurriedly climbed inside.

Back in the common room, the crazy day had finally come to an end.

Yinduo muttered in his ear, "Does it ask you a question every time you come back?"

"That's right..." Hoffa cursed softly. "Didn't I tell you not to talk? Idiot."

The silver-and-black badger shut up.

Hoffa crossed the dim common room and brought Yinduo back to the dormitory. Whatever they needed to do could wait until tomorrow.

The room was pitch-black.

Several roommates were already asleep, breathing evenly.

Hoffa let out a breath. He was exhausted beyond measure. He locked Schmidt's thick wand in the wardrobe.

Then, before he could even say goodnight to the goblin, he collapsed onto his pillow and fell asleep.

That night, Hoffa had a very strange dream. He dreamed that a black figure led him through a winding, dark passage, and he could never find the exit.

There was no light, no hope.

It was cold, oppressive, impossible to breathe, as if he were in a bottomless ocean.

The figure stayed neither too close nor too far away. It seemed to face Hoffa, yet he could not see its face at all. He wanted to catch up and see who it was, but when he drew near, he found that the figure's face seemed split apart. One side was laughing, while the other was crying.