Percy stared at the parchment in his hands, his breath coming in slow, measured beats.
"Beware the One Who Walks Between."
The words felt heavy, pressing against his mind like a storm on the horizon.
The phrase wasn't familiar—at least, not from anything he'd read about Hogwarts or magic so far. But it felt important, like a thread he needed to follow.
Glancing around the dimly lit library, Percy quickly folded the old parchment and slipped it into his robe pocket. He needed to show Hermione.
But just as he turned to leave—
A shadow moved between the shelves.
Percy froze.
He wasn't alone.
The candlelight flickered, stretching the dark shapes along the walls. Someone was watching him.
He forced himself to stay calm, listening. His years in the orphanage had sharpened his instincts. He could feel the weight of eyes on him, the silent pressure of someone standing just beyond his sight.
Then—
A whisper.
Too soft to make out the words, but definitely a voice.
Percy's grip tightened around his wand. He took a slow step backward, his heartbeat thudding in his ears.
"Who's there?" he asked, keeping his voice steady.
No answer.
Only the faint rustling of fabric—someone moving in the shadows.
Percy clenched his jaw. He wasn't going to wait for them to make the first move.
With a swift flick of his wand, he whispered, "Lumos."
The tip of his wand flared to life, flooding the aisle with white light.
For a split second, he saw movement—a figure cloaked in black, vanishing behind a shelf at the far end of the aisle.
Percy didn't hesitate. He took off after them.
Bookshelves blurred past him as he sprinted down the narrow aisle. Whoever this was, they were fast—but Percy had spent years outrunning people at the orphanage.
The figure darted around a corner, their robes billowing. Percy turned sharply after them, nearly slipping on the smooth stone floor.
"Stop!" he called, but the figure didn't slow.
Instead, they reached the far wall of the library—a dead end.
Percy grinned. Got you now.
But then—
The figure raised a hand and pressed it against the stone.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, without warning, the stone shimmered and rippled like water.
Percy's eyes widened.
The figure stepped through the wall.
Gone.
Percy skidded to a halt, his breathing heavy. He stared at the solid stone in front of him. It looked completely normal now.
Cautiously, he reached out and pressed his palm against it.
Cool, solid rock. No give. No shimmer. Nothing.
His mind raced.
A hidden passage?
He had read about secret rooms and passages in Hogwarts, but this… this wasn't normal. This wasn't a door or a trick wall. This was something different.
And that meant whoever that was, they knew something he didn't.
Percy took a deep breath, stepping back. He wasn't going to get any answers standing here. He needed to tell Hermione.
And fast.
Percy found Hermione in the common room, hunched over a book with her quill moving furiously across a piece of parchment.
"Hermione," he said, dropping into the seat beside her. "We need to talk."
She looked up, frowning. "What happened?"
He glanced around. The common room was half-full, but no one seemed to be paying attention to them. Still, he lowered his voice.
"I found something in the library," he said, pulling the old parchment from his pocket and setting it in front of her.
Hermione's eyes scanned the words.
"Beware the One Who Walks Between."
Her brow furrowed. "This… this doesn't sound like anything I've read before."
"That's not all," Percy said. He quickly explained what had happened—the shadow in the library, the chase, the way the figure had vanished into the stone.
When he finished, Hermione looked troubled.
"That sounds like a Vanishing Enchantment," she murmured, flipping through one of her books. "But usually, they're temporary. And they don't allow people to step through solid objects."
"Exactly," Percy said. "This was something else. Something different."
Hermione tapped her quill against her book, thinking. "If they were watching you, it means they know you found the parchment. And if they didn't want you to have it—"
"They know something we don't," Percy finished.
Hermione looked up at him, her brown eyes serious. "We need to figure out what The One Who Walks Between means. And we need to do it fast."
Percy nodded.
Because deep down, he had the sinking feeling that whoever had left that warning…
They weren't trying to scare him off.
They were trying to save him.
That night, Percy lay awake in his four-poster bed, staring at the ceiling.
The words on the parchment wouldn't leave his mind.
The One Who Walks Between.
What did it mean? Between what?
Was it a person? A creature? A spell?
And why did it feel like it was connected to him?
The wind howled outside the tower windows, rattling the glass. The room was quiet—his dormmates were fast asleep.
But Percy couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him.
Not in the common room. Not in the library.
Here.
Right now.
Slowly, he turned his head toward the window.
The storm clouds shifted, revealing the moon. Pale silver light streamed into the room, casting long shadows across the walls.
And standing in the corner—
A figure.
Tall. Cloaked.
Watching him.
Percy's breath caught.
But before he could move—before he could even think—the figure vanished.
No sound. No movement.
Just—gone.
Percy sat up, heart hammering.
He wasn't imagining this.
Something was watching him.
To Be Continued... Next week!
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