Chapter 93: Searching for the Crown
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The gloomy and rainy weather lasted for several days. Finally, the sky cleared up, and the temperature around the castle suddenly dropped. Winter arrived in Scotland without warning.
In the dormitory, Fred, humming a tune and carrying a small watering can, stood by the window, watering the sprouting garlic shoots in the flowerpot.
After being carefully taken care of by everyone, the garlic had finally grown tender sprouts in the pots. They were now about as tall as a thumb.
"I really don't understand. Back then..." George was putting on a hand-knitted sweater and couldn't help muttering in complaint, "Back then, why didn't we think of planting garlic in flowerpots?"
"Don't water and fertilize the garlic shoots in the flowerpot all the time. Be careful not to kill them." Albert, fastening the button on his robe, reminded them, "Today is a rare sunny day. Don't forget to take the flowerpot outside and let it soak up some sun. Plants can't survive for long without sunlight."
The weather was getting colder, and it had been intermittent rain throughout October. The weather was exceptionally lousy, and sunny days were a rare sight.
The garlic in the flowerpot in the dormitory hardly had a chance to bask in the sun. Since sprouting, it had been taken outside to sunbathe only a handful of times.
"What on earth are you doing?"
As they passed through the entrance hall, they were stopped by Filch.
"Hogwarts doesn't have a rule against keeping potted plants, does it?" Fred pointed to the flowerpot in his hand and said, "I don't think this violates any school regulations, right?"
"This is a plant, you think I'm blind?" Filch pointed at the garlic seedlings in the flowerpot.
"Well, uh, before garlic was discovered to be edible, it was considered a weed," Albert raised an eyebrow as a reminder, "Besides, it's not a dangerous plant."
"Hmph, don't let me catch you doing anything suspicious behind my back," Filch glared fiercely at the four of them and walked away, holding his cat.
"That guy is so annoying," George gestured rudely towards Filch's retreating figure.
"You could give him a few cloves of garlic after the garlic is fully grown. Cats hate the pungent smell of garlic," Albert's expression became rather peculiar, as if he had come up with a mischievous idea.
During the meal, the senior students around them were constantly discussing Hogsmeade. Even Charlie, who rarely took a break from the weekend Quidditch training, gave the official team members a day off.
Percy was sitting not far from them, incessantly talking about interesting things in Hogsmeade Village with others.
No one knew that Albert and his friends had already sneaked into Hogsmeade through a secret passage and explored it.
At nine o'clock in the morning, students planning to go to Hogsmeade started gathering in the entrance hall.
Filch stood in the middle of the entrance, holding a long list and checking the names of students going to Hogsmeade one by one. His wrinkled face leaned in close to the list, and after reading each name, he looked at the student's face with a suspicious gaze, on guard against younger students trying to sneak out.
The four of them returned to the common room, which was now mostly empty, with only first and second-year students remaining. They were happy that no one was competing for the comfortable seats.
Of course, there were a few older students who had been to Hogsmeade many times and no longer found it exciting.
Chapter 94: The Room of Requirement
"Should we continue doing homework?" George asked, "I still have an inch left on my Transfiguration essay."
"I've already finished mine," Albert reached out and lightly patted George's shoulder, "You guys keep going. I'm going for a walk and maybe take some photos."
As he spoke, he raised the camera in his hand and asked, "Anyone want to join me?"
"I'll pass!" Fred replied somewhat dejectedly. He couldn't believe how Albert managed to finish the never-ending pile of homework assigned by the professors.
The others shook their heads as well. They hadn't finished their Transfiguration essays due next Monday, and if they couldn't submit them on time, Professor McGonagall might put them in detention.
Moreover, they hadn't mastered the Levitation Charm in Charms class yet and needed to spend time practicing the spell.
"Then forget it, I'll go by myself." The responses from his roommates were entirely within Albert's expectations.
"Lend us your homework...for reference!" Lee Jordan said to Albert before he turned to leave.
"Forget it. Do you think Professor McGonagall wouldn't be able to tell? Be careful or she'll put you in detention." Albert waved to the group before turning and disappearing at the entrance of the common room.
Today, Hogwarts Castle was mostly empty, with most of the older students going to Hogsmeade for a trip, while the new students enjoyed the luxury of having the common room to themselves.
For Albert, it was a perfect opportunity. He arrived at the tapestry on the eighth floor of the castle, where the Bandon Ban takes on the trolls, and took a photo of it with his camera. After ensuring there was no one around, he closed his eyes and paced back and forth in front of the opposite wall:
"I need a place to hide things... I need a place to hide things... I need a place to hide things..."
After Albert walked past the empty wall for the third time, the patterns of a door appeared on the wall, and the Room of Requirement once again opened for Albert.
After confirming there was no one around, he pushed the door open and walked in.
On the other side of the door was a spacious hall reminiscent of a grand auditorium. Sunlight streamed through the windows above, illuminating the small hills of abandoned furniture stacked in the room. It was evident that these hills were made up of items used by generations of Hogwarts students or professors.
"Success!" Albert raised his hand in a triumphant gesture. Even though he knew he could find this place, actually entering the Room of Requirement where items were stored still made him a little excited.
There was no choice. The fact that Voldemort's Horcrux was hidden somewhere here was the reason Albert entered this place.
Finding Ravenclaw's crown was his goal.
Every protagonist in a Harry Potter fanfiction would attempt to enter the Room of Requirement to search for Voldemort's Horcrux and consider the great task of defeating the Dark Lord as their own.
Well, Albert, the protagonist of this fanfiction, was no exception.
However, Albert had no intention of bestowing upon himself such noble sentiments and engaging in a confrontation with the "noseless freak" who had intelligence problems. It was clearly not something a rational person would do.
Moreover, defeating the Dark Lord was the job of the chosen one, Harry Potter.
"Stealing the limelight from the protagonist isn't very honorable."
Moreover, the chosen one, Harry Potter, naturally had the protection of the protagonist's aura. When it came to dangerous situations, he was expected to be at the forefront. Even in the face of life and death crises, he could rely on the power of the protagonist's aura to endure. The title of the "Boy Who Lived through Perils" was not just an empty name.
However, Voldemort was ultimately a trouble that needed to be dealt with.
In Albert's eyes, this final boss was nothing more than a nuisance. He didn't mind assisting from behind and speeding up the demise of the guy people jokingly called the "noseless freak."
Of course, this was on the condition that the death of this big boss in the Harry Potter novel would bring him enough benefits.
In fact, Albert never doubted this.
After all, regardless of how you looked at it, Voldemort was a big boss. In any case, he could extract enough benefits from him through the character panel.
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(End of this chapter)