As soon as the two stepped through the door, their gaze was drawn upwards by the excessively high ceiling, with exposed dark solid wood beams.
The floor is covered with large, old black and white marble tiles, worn and cracked in many places, and a row of wall lamps are fixed on the walls.
Directly opposite the main entrance is a wide main staircase, made of dark solid wood with polished handrails, spiraling upwards to the second, third, and fourth floors.
Long corridors extend from both sides of the staircase.
Old oak lockers stand against the wall for students to put their coats and backpacks. Portrait paintings hang on the wall; the people in the paintings don't move or talk like they do at Hogwarts, but just quietly watch people come and go. In the corner are two leather sofas covered in a thin layer of dust.
The two went up the main staircase to their floor. The long corridor stretched out in both directions, with doors to each dormitory room on both sides. A dormitory map was prominently displayed at the corner of the stairs.
The two studied the map.
I realized that each floor's corridor ends at a common area, which includes a rest area, public restrooms, a laundry room, and a small kitchen corner.
After noting down the approximate location on the map, the two found their dormitory room doors according to the room numbers and stood side by side.
Draco smiled and gestured:
"Try opening the door with your mind."
Hermione did as she was told, holding the card and sending it in a flash.
Without a sound, the door seemed to sense her thoughts, sliding smoothly and quietly open inwards.
Hermione put the card back in her pocket and said, "It feels similar to opening doors with a wand, only more convenient and faster."
"Honey, didn't you just say something pointless?"
"What?" Hermione, who was about to go in, turned around.
Draco stroked his chin, pretending to think, and asked, "Faster and more convenient, isn't that the difference between it and opening doors with a wand?"
" Mr. Malfoy, you're always finding fault, aren't you?"
Hermione glared at him, displeased.
Draco raised his hands in surrender, his smile impossible to suppress:
"I was just stating a fact. What you just said would get you at least half a point deducted in your logic class."
Hermione laughed out of exasperation and pinched his waist.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Draco shrank back and cried out, " Miss Granger is abusing me!"
"Who committed domestic violence?" Hermione released her grip. "You deserve a beating. Next time I say something, you'll nod, understand?"
"I heard you," Draco said, rubbing his back. " Miss Granger is absolutely right; she hit the nail on the head."
Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You look even more suspicious now than when you were being stubborn."
"Real."
"Shut up."
"Yes, ma'am." Dra zipped her mouth up like a zipper.
Hermione couldn't help but laugh.
Stop being so cheeky and come in.
The two went in one after the other.
The two entered the dormitory. The outermost room was a small shared living room. The room wasn't spacious, but it had a large, eye-catching bay window that faced several old oak trees and the stone courtyard outside the building.
Inside the room was an old fabric sofa, its color faded to a soft hue, and a few shallow scratches on the surface of the wooden coffee table.
Against the wall was an old-fashioned enclosed fireplace, its firebox filled with ash, looking as if it hadn't been lit in a long time. Next to the fireplace stood a row of tall, open bookshelves, empty and bare.
Walking further into the living room, there are doors on both the left and right, separating two separate bedrooms, which are unnecessary for the two of them.
Hermione's gaze fell on the lamp on the wall, and she said, "This lamp looks small; I wonder if it's enough for everyday lighting."
After she finished speaking, she pressed the light switch.
The light wasn't broken, but the light was dim, soft yet weak, just a hazy warm glow, making it difficult to see anything.
Draco walked over and tapped on the lampshade, the glass making a dull thud. "An old relic. But the dormitory door is a magical artifact, so this lamp is probably no ordinary electric light either."
Hermione thought it made sense and mentally adjusted the lighting.
In a flash, the dim lights suddenly came on, their warm, bright light filling the entire living room.
Hermione's eyes lit up with delight, and she exclaimed sincerely, "This design is absolutely brilliant! Hogwarts should really learn from it!"
"Each has its own characteristics," Draco said, sitting down. "The lights at Hogwarts are mainly for creating a mysterious atmosphere; strong light can interfere with certain Magical Creatures and make portraits and ghosts uneasy."
Hermione wholeheartedly agreed, "Indeed,"
"Like the Great Hall of Hogwarts, many candles floated, creating a warm and romantic atmosphere,"
"Yes," Draco chuckled, "And it can also scare away those timid wizards, keeping them from running around."
When the topic turned to timid wizards, Draco's eyes didn't wander elsewhere; his gaze landed squarely on Hermione's face.
Hermione understood his implication and retorted, "I'm not scared at all. At worst, I just can't see the road clearly in the dark."
"No wonder." Draco seemed to understand something.
" Miss Granger secretly broke school rules by going out at night. It turns out she wasn't fearless; she simply didn't take the darkness seriously."
"It's you--"
"What?" Draco, thoroughly enjoying the confession, wouldn't let her off the hook. "Just tell me the truth, did you go out at night?"
Hermione's mouth opened slightly, then closed again.
She couldn't deny it.
Those images were so clear.
The spiral staircase of the Astronomy Tower, the moving staircase, the secluded Room of Requirement, the unknown corners—he could always pull her away and hide a fraction of a second before Filch's footsteps turned a corner.
This guy always manages to find an excuse to go out at night, and even though she knows she should refuse, she can't resist her curiosity.
"It's all because of you." Hermione gritted her teeth.
"Because of what?"
"It seems like these rules were made specifically to restrict you!"
Hermione finally looked up and scolded, "It's you who's always thinking about how to sneak out of the dorm. That dim light is like a cover for you, and Filch can't do anything about it."
His tone was like an accusation, yet also like reliving some absurd yet joyful game that only the two of them understood.
Draco listened, a smile spreading from his eyes to the corners of his mouth. "But didn't Miss Granger also enjoy the Fawley?"
"You've corrupted me!" Hermione accused. "You've been tricking me out of the dorm every day. I used to be a good student, always in bed before curfew, never even lingering in the hallway."
"Really? Then who told me later, ' Filch often takes this road, take a safer one instead'?"
"Well, that's because I was afraid that if you got arrested, it would implicate me!"
Hermione's attempts to cover up her mistakes were becoming increasingly less confident.
"Afraid of being implicated?" Draco slowly recalled the past. "Because you were afraid of being implicated, you deliberately familiarized yourself with all the shortcuts?"
Hermione's lips moved, but she remained silent. Draco didn't dwell on Hermione's later change, instead saying, "Night hopping and being a good student aren't mutually exclusive, are they? Because night hopping doesn't prevent our Miss Granger from getting a perfect score."
"... Anyway, you're a bad person."
Hermione's voice was low, Draco continued, "So, does Miss Granger like a bad guy like me?"