Harry Potter: The Dark ages

Lockhart finally relaxed this time and strode towards the end of the corridor.

Alfrina and Gary were hiding behind a suit of armor next to the corridor. Lockhart's sudden unexpected turn had stopped Gary's breathing for half a beat.

Fortunately, he reacted in time and pulled Alfrina, who was still trying to walk forward, back.

At this moment, Gary was holding Alfrina's slender waist, face to face, huddled in the corner.

"Hmm…" Alfrina pushed him away, her ears a little red, "Where did Lockhart go?"

In the blink of an eye, Lockhart had disappeared from their sight.

"He left from behind that stone statue." Gary was facing Lockhart directly and saw him move the statue aside and enter a passage.

The two hurried over, and the lifelike stone lion statue leaned against the wall, watching them.

"Come on, push." Alfrina bent down and exerted force, and Gary imitated her posture, pushing the stone lion.

It didn't budge.

The stone lion looked at them as if they were idiots.

"What's going on?" Alfrina was dumbfounded, "Are you sure he left from behind this stone statue?"

"Yes, Al," Gary said helplessly, "I'm not blind."

"Perhaps it's not meant to be pushed?" He reacted quickly, patting the lion all over, feeling for a mechanism.

He accidentally patted the lion's large head, and it actually turned, showing its back to the two of them.

After its head was turned, the stone lion's body separated from its head and sank below the floor, revealing a passage about one meter wide and two meters high.

It was pitch black inside, looking quite frightening, and there was a smell of dust wafting out.

"I'll go first, you follow behind me." Gary couldn't let Alfrina go in first; he didn't know what strange things might be inside.

Alfrina nodded. Gary held his wand and slowly walked in, with Alfrina following behind.

As soon as she entered the passage, the lion's body emerged and blocked the passage.

Alfrina wasn't afraid, but Gary was a little worried, "Hold my left hand, it's safer this way."

Alfrina instinctively wanted to refuse; she wasn't a coward, but the words died on her lips.

She thought about it carefully, extended her left hand, and accurately found Gary's hand in the darkness.

Their hands clasped tightly together.

The two could only grope their way forward in the dark; using the illuminating charm would likely alert Lockhart ahead.

"Where does this path lead?" Alfrina, fearing echoes, wrote on Gary's back with her finger.

Gary shook his head, his wand held low, and a thin mist floated up, forming words in mid-air: "It should lead outside the school."

Alfrina nodded. She was quite curious about Gary's method of communication; it felt very convenient, but at a time like this, she still controlled her curiosity.

The two resumed their silence, walking along the passage for over ten minutes without finding an end. Spending a long time in a boundless dark area can make one lose their sense of direction and time, leading to irritation and panic.

Both Alfrina and Gary felt a little apprehensive.

"Should we go back?" Gary walked ahead, and a line of text floated up.

"No!!!" Alfrina drew three exclamation marks forcefully on Gary's back. She felt like laughing; how could a boy be so timid? She squeezed Gary's hand hard to encourage him.

Gary could only grit his teeth and continue walking forward.

Fortunately, after another ten minutes or so, they reached the end of the passage, which was a section of stone stairs leading up to a wooden board.

Gary climbed the stairs and pushed hard, and the wooden board flipped open, revealing the ground.

He climbed out, then reached out to pull Alfrina up.

After stepping onto the ground, the two looked around. The surroundings were desolate, with only a few lonely trees standing there. Several crows perched on the treetops, and with the howling evening wind, it was quite frightening.

Gary quickly raised his wand in defense. Alfrina walked back and forth, "It's Hogsmeade." Her slender finger pointed to the distance, where a blurry mass could be seen, and by moonlight, the shapes of buildings were discernible.

Gary asked, "What is Lockhart doing in Hogsmeade?"

Alfrina shook her head, but she felt the truth was hidden behind a thin veil of mist, about to emerge.

What exactly was the reason for Lockhart's late-night visit to Hogsmeade?

Suddenly, a non-human-like, tragic howl came from afar, startling the crows in the trees, causing them to caw.

"...…" Gary and Alfrina exchanged glances. The mist had dispersed, and the truth had appeared.

...

Rewind to an hour ago, Gryffindor dormitory.

"Why does Remus take leave every month?" Sirius lay on the bed, crossing his legs.

"I've been meaning to ask," James replied. Peter said timidly, "Maybe Remus's mother's illness just isn't getting better?"

"Don't say such stupid things," Sirius snorted, "If his mom was that sick, why wouldn't she go to St. Mungo's?"

"Actually… I've noticed that every time Remus takes leave, the Shrieking Shack gets haunted," James said slowly.

"He wouldn't be keeping a ghost there, would he?" Sirius said something he thought was very funny, then gave two dry laughs, and Peter echoed him twice.

"Seriously, today is too boring. How about we go explore the Shrieking Shack?" Sirius suggested.

"No way, Sirius," James hesitated, "Tomorrow we have a match against Ravenclaw…"

"We don't need to be that serious about a Ravenclaw match, do we?" Sirius smirked, "After all, another loss awaits us when we wake up."

"You're right," James was swayed, "Even if I score ten fewer Quaffle goals, they still can't win."

"So the Marauders are ready to strike!" Sirius was very excited, bouncing on the bed.

Hearing that Ravenclaw had named their organization "A Maverick Pig," James and Sirius decided to give their own organization a more imposing title: "Marauders."

"We'll bring the Invisibility Cloak," James dragged his trunk from under the bed and pulled out a thin, transparent piece of fabric, "With Remus gone, it's just enough for the three of us!"

Peter, being the shortest, went in first, followed by James and Sirius. The two of them each put an arm over Peter's shoulders, so the Invisibility Cloak just covered all three of them.

"We'll take the portrait passage on the fifth floor; it's the closest to us!" James knew all of Hogwarts like the back of his hand.

The three of them woke up the Fat Lady at the entrance of the common room and climbed out.

Then they rushed to the fifth floor. At the staircase entrance hung a landscape painting, depicting a vast green meadow.

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