"I have a bad feeling about this." Fred sneezed a few times. "But Mom and Jenny shouldn't be home yet..."
"Me too." George shuddered. "Premonitions are often very accurate."
They walked along the empty corridor and did not meet anyone for a long time. Anna tried to ask about a portrait of a noble lady sitting upright, but got an eye roll.
"It's so quiet!
Why is no one here? "
Ron looked at the armors standing on the side. They had just come to a corridor full of armors. "Harry, how do you think these armors look like when they move?"
"It must be very impressive." Harry watched George and Fred open a helmet, but there was nothing inside. "But it's also a little scary. Why don't we go downstairs?" Harry suddenly remembered the horror movie that Dali had dragged him to watch.
"It's not good if we get lost." Anna pushed open a wooden door and came face to face with a podium. A huge floor-to-ceiling window was behind the podium, and purple curtains were tied on both sides. The distance between the window and the podium was piled with large and small books, and there were several rows of tables and chairs on both sides of the wall.
There was no one. Anna left the classroom and closed the door. "And the spiral staircase we just saw, not to mention anything else, if we accidentally fall down, I counted, it's almost four stories high."
"See you in St. Mungo!" Fred pretended to be hurt and fell 'weakly' into George's arms. "George..."
"No!
Fred!
No! "George played along.
Ron muttered to Harry and Anna. "Maybe when they get home, they'll be beaten up like this by Mom..."
"Of course, we won't forget you." The twins held Ron on both sides and pushed open a patterned door at the end of the corridor.
It was a showroom with black marble floors and a large number of crystal glass cabinets. All kinds of gold and silver trophies, medals and statues were neatly arranged in the room. The shiny shields hanging on the wall were even more attractive.
"It looks like real gold." Anna knocked on a gold shield hanging on the wall, making a scratching sound.
"Hey!
Look!
Here's a list of student council presidents! "
A group of people gathered around, and Ron looked around with wide eyes. "Have you seen Bill?"
Fred pointed to the bottom of Gryffindor's row. "Here, Bill Weasley. Not bad, not bad." He clapped.
Harry leaned over and saw Bill, but what caught his attention more were the two names on it. James Potter (1977-1978) and Lily Evans (1977-1978). They were his parents — once excellent student union presidents. Harry smiled and pointed to the two names proudly. "These are my parents. It's the first time I know they're so powerful."
"Of course!
They once fought with the Mystery Man! "Ron's eyes widened." Dad said that they were all very powerful wizards! "
"Meow —" A scrawny cat appeared in the corner of the room. No one saw when it came in. It was dark grey in color and had a pair of bulb-like eyes. It seemed to blend into the shadows.
Ron was startled. "When did this cat appear!?"
"This is …" Anna leaned closer to look at the cat. She wasn't sure if it was Ms. Mag or Mrs. Loris, but there was a big difference. The former was a professor with extraordinary magic power. If she caught her, she would have to leave quietly. If it was the latter, she would still have some leeway. At most, she would attract the Felcs' pursuit.
"Oh no!
Let's go! "George pulled Ron out of the room, and Fred pulled Anna and Harry.
"Charlie complained to us about that cat!
Grey!
Bristles!
Big eyes!
It always helps the castle manager to keep an eye on the students! "
They ran out of the showroom and hurried through the armor corridor. They wanted to go directly to the statue of the one-eyed witch, but they met a man on the way. He had a hunched back, a pale face, and sunken cheeks. A pair of bulging light-colored eyes stared at the group of children who were not wearing their uniforms properly. The flesh on his double chin trembled. "You!
Why are you not wearing your uniforms!?
And you are wandering around the corridor! "
"Are you trying to do something bad while the professors are watching Quidditch?!"
The castle manager, Argus Felcs, suddenly appeared in front of them. George covered Ron's mouth, which was about to scream. They were all sweating.
Anna couldn't describe Felcs' appearance. Maybe he was much better than Quasimodo in Notre Dame de Paris, but he kept muttering that he was "too lenient with these students" and "wanted to reinstate the caning." She could tell that his heart was not as beautiful as Quasimodo's.
"Er … Sir, no — we were not going to do anything. We just forgot …" Fred scratched his head and chose his words carefully.
Felcs looked at him strangely. His brows were furrowed so tightly that they could kill a mosquito. "Forgot. It seems that you have also forgotten about the deduction of marks and the confinement!"
He looked at the "unfamiliar" students carefully, and his brows furrowed even tighter. "Which school are you from?
Why haven't I seen you before? "
Anna signaled everyone to step back in the direction of the stairs. She covered her face with her long hair and stood in front of Felcs. "Sir, we are students of Ravenclaw. We spend most of our time in the library. You rarely see us. This is normal. We have always been well-behaved."
"Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw …" Felcs muttered for a while. "You are so troublesome. You don't wear your uniforms!
I still want to confine you — "
"Run!"
Anna did not wait for Felcs to finish. She ordered everyone to run backward. While Felcs was in a daze, she took out her wand and pointed at the stone floor. "Clean it up!"
"Bang —" Felcs, who was about to run after the "fugitives," fell to the ground in disbelief. He touched the smooth tiles on the ground. He never thought that the tiles could be so smooth. "You are using magic in the corridor!
I will definitely catch you! "
They did not care whether the stairs were moving or not. Before Felcs got up, they quickly went down the stairs. There were screams from the paintings on the wall. Harry could see the choir in gorgeous feather jackets screaming, the straw hat man with a fork jumping down from the haystack angrily, and a red bird flying from one painting to another, following them closely. It seemed that this was an interesting game. The whole castle was lively.
"Oh no!"
When they were about to reach the second floor, the stairs suddenly changed. Ron, who was running last, was left on the upper half of the stairs. Felcs, who was aggressive, cheered. "Now you can't escape!" He approached step by step.
"Ron!
Stay there and don't move! "
Harry shouted. He saw that Ron was in a hurry to escape. Felcs almost missed a step, but it was too late. Ron lost his balance.
Anna could see the shock on Felcs' face. His mouth was wide open. Perhaps he did not expect Ron to fall down the stairs. Speaking of which, although Felcs had always said that he supported whipping, and every year he applied to Dumbledore to oil the chains of the dungeon, it seemed that he had never done anything other than being a little fierce, confining the students, and making them do voluntary work — in fact, he did not do anything. Perhaps he could only hate him when he was confined.
Anna could see that Felcs was trying to reach out and grab Ron to stop him from falling. He was a mute without magic, and that was all he could do. He tried to straighten his bent back.
"Ugadim Leviosa!"
Ron was hit by Anna's levitation spell and crashed into the stairs on the upper floor. Fortunately, he covered his head and slowly floated towards Anna and the others. "That was so cool —" Fred caught him, and the group escaped under Felcs's curses.
"Da da da —" They ran wildly in the corridor.
After descending the gorgeous marble steps, they finally came to the first floor. It was a very large room. Anna guessed that this should be the entrance hall. It was so big that Anna's whole house could be moved in. The ceiling was so high that the top could not be seen. Even during the day, torches were burning on the stone walls. As expected of the only magic school in England, it was luxurious.
"Wow!
Look at this big hourglass! "
Ron exclaimed. Four huge hourglasses were placed on both sides of a huge oak door, and inside were shining gems.
"It seems that Gryffindor is better …" George lied through his teeth.
"Although I want to deceive myself," Fred looked at the hourglass with his hands on his hips. "Gryffindor should be a beautiful red, not a weird green."
"I don't know, if —" Ron winked at Harry and Anna. "I mean, if any of them go to Slytherin, what will happen?"
"It's impossible. If you ask me, all of us standing here —" George looked at Harry, Anna, and Fred who were standing in the entrance hall. "— will probably go to Gryffindor!"
"Harry, let's not talk about it. The boy who survived, Anna — it takes a lot of courage to slay a bear."
"As for Ron, George and I — the Weasley family has always been Gryffindor!"
Fred knocked on the hourglass with the red gems, probably trying to knock some of the gems off, but to no avail.
The twins' speculation was accurate. As far as Anna knew, this group of boys was indeed Gryffindor in the future.
However, Anna did not think that she would go to Gryffindor. Perhaps Hufflepuff would be more suitable for her. This thought took root in her heart when a girl wearing a black robe with yellow patterns appeared at the right rear of the marble stairs.
"Oh no, oh no, I overslept!"
Her hair was messy, and she was tidying her clothes with one hand while muttering. It seemed that she had just come out of the lounge.
As everyone knew, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw's lounges were towers — towers meant stairs.
Hufflepuff's and Slytherin's lounges were in the basement.
In order to avoid Felcs' pursuit, the group was forced to hide on the second floor. Anna found that there were many classrooms on the second floor.
Would she choose to climb the tower after class every day?
Or would she choose to comfortably eat in the auditorium and go back to sleep? Not to mention, the kitchen was near Hufflepuff's lounge.
Was there a need to choose?
As for Slytherin, it seemed that there was a bloodline requirement. Perhaps there was no chance?
Anna had no prejudice against Slytherin. There were also many good wizards there. She heard that Merlin had studied in Slytherin.