The Eighth Secret Passage

"Hannah?" Neville immediately took the bait. He asked nervously, "I nearly forgot. What happened to her?"

"You know she went to study at the Hog's Head Pub, right?" Ginny smiled smugly.

"I know." Neville nodded. "Her dream is to become the owner of a pub, so she went there to learn. There's nothing wrong with that, right? The owner is Dumbledore's brother. I heard from Hannah that he's a pretty decent person. For example, he never trades on his brother's reputation, and he doesn't allow anyone in the pub to mention him. The only bad thing is that because of this, Hannah returns to Hogwarts very late every time—around seven or eight."

"Every time?" As a frequent visitor to Hogsmeade, Harry voiced his doubts. "The passage between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts—the iron gate we use through the normal route—has long been closed by then. If she returned to Hogwarts late, Filch would be waiting by the gate to deduct points. How did Hannah get back to Hogwarts? She's never had points deducted."

"Oh no!" Neville looked as though a secret had been exposed.

But then he shook his head. "Since I can't hide it, I'll just say it. She came back through a secret passage."

"Oh, which one? The one beneath the floor of Honeydukes' storeroom? Or the Shrieking Shack? Let me think. There are seven secret passages on the map, and Filch knows about four of them. Other than the two I just mentioned, there's only one left. But it has already collapsed, so no one can enter through it." Harry asked eagerly.

"No." Neville shook his head.

"What? Is there an eighth secret passage?" Harry was so curious that his neck seemed to stretch longer.

Harry knew by now that his father had not been as spotless as he