Chapter 32: Hidden Room

Wizard Sean Green placed the consideration of Professor Snape’s whereabouts at the highest priority.

Although Professor Snape had never explicitly told him he was no longer allowed to visit the dungeon to brew potions,

he still decided to avoid Professor Snape.

There was also considerable room to maneuver.

After all, Professor Snape could be called one of Hogwarts’ busiest people.

First, as a professor, he had to grade student assignments, track the progress of at least twelve classes, and prepare lessons;

second, as head of house, he had to mediate student conflicts, catch students in early romances, and handle student issues;

finally, there were the special tasks assigned to him by Headmaster Dumbledore.

Seen this way, Professor Snape’s temper was entirely understandable,

not only because his classes kept him running nonstop, but also because he had to deal with unlucky students every day,

Wizard Sean could guess what Professor Snape often faced—

Merlin’s beard! Come quick, Professor Snape, those Gryffindors are causing trouble again!

Total workload exceeded, yet no teaching assistant assigned.

If Wizard Sean remembered correctly, Professor Snape’s office was even on the other end of the underground level…

Plenty of room to maneuver.

Thinking this, the hearths in the Great Hall seemed warmer.

On the stone walls, the hearth flames flickered until two shadows blurred past.

“Oh, I must say, I’ve never found Potions essays so easy to write.”

Jia Jia Siting smiled faintly, his left hand holding a magical lantern,

his right hand placing a five-inch Potions essay and a light blue notebook into his bag.

“Alright, Jia Jia Siting, I wonder who was complaining just a couple days ago that magical theory essays were harder than horseback riding.”

Hermione lifted her chin, squinting slightly at Jia Jia Siting with a look that said, “You’re not right in the head,”

then walked into the Great Hall carrying a large stack of books.

They had clearly just returned from the library, still carrying a faint scent of ink.

Completing an excellent class assignment was difficult—for example, a Potions assignment—

in summary:

This is how you wave your wand, this is how you say the incantation,

now write me a five-inch essay on the Levitation Charm.

The young wizards’ expressions were probably: Huh? Me?

Though it seemed merely written work, completing it required far too much independent exploration and thought from the young wizards.

So it was nearly impossible to finish the assignment without spending time in the library,

and learning how to locate proper references was the essential first lesson,

which is why Hermione and Jia Jia Siting often lingered in the library.

Compared to Hermione, who had memorized all first-year textbooks and could swiftly find needed materials,

Jia Jia Siting, less familiar with the textbooks, progressed slowly—especially with Binns’ confusing essays—

so young wizards—especially those who wanted to do their assignments properly—suffered greatly.

But today, Jia Jia Siting had not only finished a one-foot-long History of Magic essay, he’d also completed the Levitation Charm essay in three hours,

and since it was extra work assigned by Professor Flitwick, even Hermione hadn’t moved that fast.

“You wrote a decent Potions essay, yet your Levitation Charm practice showed not even a single bit of improvement…”

Hermione lifted her face, glancing at Jia Jia Siting,

“I bet you copied someone else’s work—someone named Wizard Sean.”

“Oh well, you’re half right—Wizard Sean told me the method.”

Jia Jia Siting showed no embarrassment at being caught, only smiled sincerely,

“Though I think Wizard Sean would agree I should share this method with you, I still needed to ask his permission first…

Look, he’s right there.”

Hermione “oh”ed, not thinking a young wizard’s method could be valuable,

even if that wizard was Wizard Sean.

Still, she unconsciously scanned for the young wizard’s figure.

The Great Hall was filled with wizards in identical uniforms walking about; Hermione began to doubt whether Jia Jia Siting had mistaken someone.

Just then, Jia Jia Siting suddenly sat down:

“Wizard Sean.”

Jia Jia Siting greeted him enthusiastically.

“Hmm.”

Even while engaged in a fierce battle with a roasted chicken, Wizard Sean found time to respond.

“Would you mind…”

Jia Jia Siting whispered,

“No.”

Before he could finish, a voice came from inside the roasted chicken.

“Oh good,”

Jia Jia Siting’s smile widened as he passed the parchment to Hermione,

“You’ve got to see this, Hermione.”

“Alright, but I must say, I don’t think…”

Hermione pushed back her hair and took the parchment from Jia Jia Siting.

Ten minutes later.

Wizard Sean sipped pumpkin juice; its sweet flavor always lifted his mood.

“I must say, this is a brilliant structure—oh… if only I’d seen this earlier…”

Just then, Hermione let out a pained sigh beside him; Wizard Sean’s hand jerked, spilling pumpkin juice.

He looked over and saw Hermione’s face turning red, her earlobes flushed pale pink.

“Wizard Sean, ah, I mean…”

Hermione stammered; she was never used to having praise for someone heard aloud.

Fortunately, Wizard Sean was always absorbed in his own affairs and heard nothing.

Jia Jia Siting, ever quick to react:

“I mean—not that Hermione said—the method in that essay is amazing!

And your notes on Potions—if only I could apply the theory to practice…”

He was always timely, answering the previous question while smoothly shifting the topic to Potions.

“Hmm, practice is what matters.”

Wizard Sean nodded.

He was still wondering whether the dungeon would welcome him tonight.

The answer was obvious.

The dungeon was dangerous tonight,

Professor Snape had entered the dungeon to brew potions, and brewing potions never took a short time.

So Wizard Sean decided to allocate his evening to the other six subjects,

the most practical of which was naturally Potions.

Thus, finding a place to practice Potions

became his goal for the night.

“Let’s go practice Potions, Wizard Sean—want to come with?”

Jia Jia Siting suddenly spoke; his pale gray eyes brightened noticeably as he said it.

Wizard Sean paused slightly.

A few minutes later,

three figures slowly passed through the corridor and climbed the spiral staircase.

Hogwarts had a total of one hundred and forty-two staircases.

Some were wide and spacious;

others narrow and tiny, and swaying;

some led to different places every Friday;

some vanished halfway up, requiring you to remember exactly where to leap.

There were also many doors—if you didn’t politely ask them to open, or tapped the exact right spot, they wouldn’t open for you;

some doors weren’t doors at all, only solid walls disguised as doors.

Remembering what was where was difficult, since everything seemed to move constantly.

The people in the portraits constantly visited each other; Jia Jia Siting swore confidently that even suits of armor walked.

In such a shifting castle, a hidden room didn’t seem so strange.