"Honey Lemonade." Kyle spoke the password before an enormous, incredibly ugly stone monster in a third-floor castle corridor.
The monster suddenly came to life and jumped aside, while the wall behind it split open.
Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that slowly moved upward like an escalator.
Kyle stepped onto it, and with a rumble behind him, the wall closed again.
The moving staircase rose higher and higher before finally stopping in front of a gleaming oak door, fitted with a brass knocker shaped like a griffin.
Kyle thought this sort of escalator ought to be installed throughout the school.
Otherwise, every time he went up to the eighth floor to find the Weasley Twins in Gryffindor's common room, he had to climb the stairs.
He could scale the walls directly, using the same method he used for climbing trees, and scamper up to the eighth floor in a few quick moves.
But Hogwarts was full of people coming and going. He had no desire to be gawked at like a circus monkey.
Kyle pushed open the door and walked in.
It was a spacious, beautiful circular room filled with all sorts of comical little noises.
Many strange silver instruments sat on spindly-legged tables, spinning and puffing out tiny wisps of smoke.
The walls were covered with portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses.
They all remained within their frames, regarding Kyle, a descendant of the Dumbledore family, with friendly gazes.
There was also a huge desk in the room, its legs shaped like claws.
On a shelf behind the desk sat a battered, wrinkled wizard's hat—the Sorting Hat.
Kyle gave a slight bow to the portraits of Hogwarts's past headmasters, then made his way familiarly to Dumbledore's desk and sat down.
Without the slightest hesitation, he took the candy