Finally, Herman thought for a moment and added another line, "You and I know about this. You want to find a way to circumvent the Ministry of Magic's regulations. I think since you can trade stocks, this shouldn't be a big problem."
After writing it, he read the letter from beginning to end to make sure the wording was clear and there was nothing ambiguous.
Then he rummaged through his bag, pulled out an envelope, folded the letter, and stuffed it inside. He also included a separate note with his Hogwarts address and the message, "I have some business opportunities, quick money-making ventures that I think you'd be more interested in. I'll let you know in two months."
After finishing all this, he sealed the envelope and prepared to find some time to mail it from the Owlery. Xiao Hei was still angry about his empty promises and was difficult to manage, but the ingredients had arrived, so he could feed Xiao Hei. He hoped that Hagrid's recipe wouldn't have any problems.
11:20 PM, Slytherin Common Room.
The silver-blue flames in the fireplace had burned out, leaving only a few faint lights dancing in the ashes.
The lounge was almost empty, except for one senior student in a distant corner who was working on a paper, his quill pen making a soft scratching sound as it scratched across the parchment.
Herman sat on the sofa against the wall, wearing a dark coat over his school robe, with his wand in his pocket.
Harry arrived before him and sat in an armchair by the fireplace, a book in her hand, her posture relaxed. But Herman noticed that her gaze kept glancing toward the corridor, as if she were waiting for something.
Draco arrived last.
As she jogged down the corridor, her steps were lighter than usual. She was wearing a thick, dark green cloak, the hood off, and her hair swaying behind her shoulders.
"Coming, coming." She sat down next to Herman, catching her breath. "I almost got caught by the Prefect. I've been waiting behind the door for ages."
"You're in the common room anyway, what are you afraid of!" Herman asked.
Draco was stumped by the question, feeling a little guilty.
However, Draco quickly waved her hand, forcibly changing the subject, saying, "Let's go, it's almost time."
Harry closed the black book, stood up, glanced at the two men to make sure they were ready, then picked up a small oil lamp from beside the armchair and lit it with her wand.
The oil lamp lit up, but it didn't emit any light; only a pale blue flame danced quietly on the wick.
"Follow me, and don't make a sound." Harry carried the oil lamp in her hand and led the way toward the stone door of the common room.
The three of them exited the stone gate one by one. The corridor was quiet, with only a small, dim yellow light shining from a wall lamp in the distance.
It was obvious that Draco was overthinking it. The three of them went out without attracting anyone's attention. The students rushing to finish their homework didn't even glance at them, let alone the Slytherin who were supposed to be helping and loving each other.
Harry walked at the front, her pace neither too fast nor too slow. The light from the oil lamp didn't reach very far, but it was just enough for them to see the path beneath their feet.
Herman walked in the middle, with Draco following at the very back, one hand on his arm, probably afraid of falling behind.
They walked through underground corridors, climbed stairs, and bypassed several paths that Herman had walked many times before.
As they approached the corridor leading to the library, Harry suddenly stopped.
She listened intently for a moment, then handed the oil lamp to Herman, took out the simple Marauder's Map from her sleeve, and unfolded it by the dim light of the lamp to take a look.
"There are two people in Madam Pince's room; they shouldn't be coming out for a while," Harry said, looking at the map. "Now's the perfect time to go."
Herman leaned closer and glanced at the map. He hadn't looked closely last time, but on Harry's simplified Marauder's Map, there were also small dots representing people, though their names weren't displayed.
In Madam Pince's room, there were two small dots, presumably Madam Pince chatting with someone. But it's so late, isn't anyone going back to their own room to sleep?
Wizards don't have many forms of entertainment, so what do they do instead of sleeping?
However, Herman didn't think too much about it. As long as it didn't affect his access to the Restricted Section, he was fine with it. He even hoped that the other party Madam Pince would chat for a while longer, giving him ample time.
Herman then followed Harry into the corridor leading to the library.
The coolness of the stone floor beneath my feet seeped up through my boots. The portraits hanging on the walls along the corridor were all asleep, with only a few old wizards occasionally turning over and snoring that spilled from their frames and echoed through the corridor.
When they reached the library entrance, Harry stopped again.
She pulled a thin metal wire from her pocket. As soon as the wire came out, it seemed to come alive, twisting and turning. Harry bent down and placed the wire near the door lock, and the wire nimbly slipped inside.
Then the lock cylinder made a very soft click, and the door opened.
Herman silently made a mental note: he still needed to learn alchemy; this little gadget was so useful for sneaking in and picking locks.
The three of them slipped into the library. Harry gently closed the door, then took the oil lamp back and led them toward the Restricted Section.
Herman walked along the deep aisle between the bookshelves. He remembered the route he had taken last night very clearly. Potions was on the left and Herbology was on the right, with the numbers starting from 07 and increasing sequentially.
When she reached number 80-something, Harry slowed down.
The iron gate stood in front of us, clearer than when we saw it last night.
The black paint was mottled, and the iron rust was dark red. The gaps in the gate were small, just enough for one person to squeeze their hand through.
Harry stood in front of the gate for a while, then tapped the metal bars lightly twice with her finger.
"It's magical," she said, her tone flat. "Not particularly complex, but it's not something you can just open casually. Ordinary unlocking spells won't work; you need to know the corresponding counter-spell, which changes frequently, but it's been the same few spells for so many years."
She drew her wand from her sleeve, pointed the tip at the gate latch, and uttered a spell that Herman couldn't hear.
A very thin gray ray shot out from the tip of the staff, landed on the clasp, and sparked a few flecks.
The gate was not open.
Harry put away her wand, thought for a moment, and then changed to another spell.
This time, a dark red light struck the latch, causing the iron bars of the gate to emit a faint humming sound, as if something inside had loosened.
Then the latch popped open.
It's good that there's a tradition; Sirius must have taught Harry that magic for opening the fence.
I wonder how the protagonists got in in the original story. Maybe they had the protagonist's halo and forgot to lock the door, or maybe they were in school for a year or two and, as they got to higher grades, the method of unlocking the door would have spread to a small circle.
Harry put away her wand and glanced back at Herman: "Don't touch anything once you're inside. Most of the books in the Restricted Section are magical, and some of them can bite."
Herman nodded.
The Merpeople through the fence gate and entered the darkest area at the back of the library.