Chapter 50: The Shrieking Shack

Saturday morning.

The castle's front courtyard was exceptionally lively today.

A large group of students had gathered there.

They lined up in an orderly fashion and walked out of Hogwarts across the castle bridge.

Many horseless carriages were waiting outside, and the students boarded them one after another, setting off toward Hogsmeade.

Only the third-year seniors remained in the front courtyard.

Because it was their first time going to Hogsmeade, the professors were giving them instructions before they departed.

The seniors' faces were filled with excitement and anticipation.

Except for one boy wearing glasses, Harry Potter.

Unfortunately, it seemed he hadn't received permission to go to Hogsmeade.

But these weren't things for John and his friends to consider, as they were only first-years.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" ×3

John held Big Orange and led his three friends to a spot not far from the Beating Willow.

They were all carrying large and small bags, with quite a few things on their backs.

Anyone who didn't know better would think they were planning to go camping.

For this reason, they had deliberately avoided routes with students and teachers, sneaking all the way to this place.

"Go ahead, Big Orange."

Seeing that his friends were ready, John put Big Orange down and signaled for it to press the Beating Willow's mechanism.

Big Orange had no choice but to let out a helpless meow and obediently ran into the Beating Willow's attack range.

Then, under the nervous gaze of John and the others, Big Orange nimbly jumped to the mechanism and pressed it lightly; the Beating Willow instantly stopped swaying.

Seeing the Beating Willow stop its movements, Ryan and the others felt it was truly magical.

John didn't hesitate any longer and immediately led his friends into the secret passage behind the Beating Willow, following Big Orange.

Looking at the dim secret passage, they all took out their wands and cast the "Glow Flicker" spell, and the dim passage was instantly illuminated by a soft light.

"Let's go; this secret passage isn't short."

John chuckled and walked in the front to clear the way.

He was actually afraid that Xiaohei would be stressed if it saw several strangers, so he thought he would block the front to avoid any accidents.

As they walked quickly, they soon reached the end of the secret passage, beneath a small wooden hut.

"Xiaohei?"

John threw Big Orange out first, then poked his head out from the secret passage and called out tentatively.

Soon, there was movement from the second floor, and a big black dog walked down the stairs.

It had been almost a month since they last met, and Xiaohei was dirty again, but it was still acceptable.

When it first came down, its expression looked very vigilant, but after seeing Big Orange and John, it relaxed and sat at the foot of the stairs.

However, John didn't go out immediately, but said softly.

"Xiaohei, I brought a few friends today."

Hearing that John had brought people, Xiaohei, who had just sat down, stood up again, its ears pricked, and its eyes became vigilant.

"Don't be nervous, Xiaohei, they are all my good friends."

"Look, this little chubby guy is Titus."

John reached out a hand and pulled Titus up, who also poked his head out.

Titus looked around curiously, his little mouth slightly agape, looking like someone who had never seen the world.

"Wow, so this is the secret base you were talking about, John."

"And that must be Xiaohei, hello there, Xiaohei."

Titus, looking innocent and naive, greeted Xiaohei.

But before Titus could continue saying anything, John pressed Titus's head down with one hand.

Then he pulled Ryan and Ethan up, also only poking their heads out.

"This is Ryan, and this is Ethan."

John introduced them to Xiaohei again.

The two of them also looked around curiously.

Finally, they looked at Xiaohei and greeted it with a smile.

Xiaohei looked at these three new faces vigilantly, its ears twitching.

Big Orange slowly walked to Xiaohei's side and meowed a few times.

It seemed to be explaining to Xiaohei that these people were good people, just like John.

After hearing Big Orange's meows, Xiaohei gradually lowered its guard again and sat back down.

Seeing this, John breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that Xiaohei wasn't stressed; Big Orange really was the best.

Only then did he lead everyone out of the secret passage and into the wooden hut.

"Wow, what happened here in the past? There are scratch marks everywhere."

Ethan walked to a wooden wall, reached out to touch the ferocious scratch marks on it, and asked in confusion.

"Who knows? Looking at those marks, I don't know how many years ago they were made."

John patted the dust off his body and used the Floating Spell to move the large and small bags they had brought into the wooden hut from the secret passage.

"Xiaohei, we specially prepared a big bag of food for you, enough for you to eat and drink for a week without worry."

John picked up a bulging backpack and smiled.

Hearing there was food, Xiaohei finally wagged its tail.

The first floor was nothing special, and couldn't even be considered a room; there was only a staircase leading to the second floor.

After going up to the second floor, there was only one room.

Ever since John gave it a simple cleaning last time, the room was no longer as dirty and messy as before.

But now the floor was covered in Xiaohei's dirty footprints; clearly, Xiaohei had made the place dirty again after going in and out of the secret passage.

John waved his wand lightly and gave it another simple cleaning, and also washed Xiaohei.

Then he waved his wand again, and a light breeze swept the flying dust in the room out through the window cracks, and the room instantly became fresh.

Next, John took a small rug out of a bag.

He threw it on the ground and waved his wand; the rug instantly returned to its original size, covering half the room in one go.

Xiaohei walked up, stepped on it twice, and lay down to roll around a few times.

John took a few soft cushions out of the bag and also used the Restoration Technique; those small cushions turned into soft backrests large enough for an adult to sit on.

They were arranged in a small circle in the middle of the rug.

It was convenient for them to sit around and chat and play.

These things were all second-hand goods they had scavenged from seniors while visiting various dormitories, and now they were all used to decorate their secret base.

"Yay!"

Titus shouted excitedly, took off his shoes, and jumped straight in, making the floor shake.

John was really afraid that this old floor wouldn't be able to hold up and would collapse.

Ryan, on the other hand, curiously fiddled with the piano that was about to fall apart.

He carefully pressed a few keys, producing intermittent, unpleasant notes.

Ethan walked to the window; although the window was sealed and couldn't be opened, he could look at the scenery outside through the window cracks.

This seemed to be some kind of highland, with only a small path leading to this wooden hut.

At the end of the path was a forest, and behind the forest, some cooking smoke could be seen rising.

Clearly, there was a village nearby.

"I think I know what place this is."

Ethan pointed at the scenery outside the window and said to the others.

"Really? How do you know?"

Titus immediately asked curiously.

"This is Hogsmeade Village; to be precise, it should be outside Hogsmeade Village."

"Within a ten-mile radius of our school, the only village where people gather is Hogsmeade."

Ethan said excitedly.

This was a place only third-years could come to; he didn't expect them to stumble upon it through a secret passage from decades ago.

Hearing Ethan's words, Titus also climbed up and observed the outside world through the window cracks.

"There's such a small wooden hut outside Hogsmeade Village?"

Titus was the one among them who knew the wizarding world best, so naturally, he knew Hogsmeade Village very well.

A look of doubt appeared on his face; he noticed that the end of the path to the wooden hut seemed to be surrounded by a wire fence.

Titus suddenly thought of something, and his expression changed.

"Oh my god! This place is the Shrieking Shack!!"

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PS: Asking for leave tomorrow ===== CHAPTER 51 =====