"Hiss hiss (Come this way..)"
Nagini nodded, motioning for Wade to follow her.
"Hiss hiss hisss.. (Are we going to catch this girl?)"
"Nope," Wade said through a whispering charm.
"Hiss hiss hisss..? (What will you do after finding out who she is?)"
"Heheheh~" Wade let out a low chuckle
"Hiissss.. hiss hisss..? (You are not thinking of anything perverted, are you?)"
"Ew, shut up." Wade nearly broke the whispering magic at that remark as he looked at Nagini like he was betrayed, and Nagini seemed.. smug? How can a snake look smug..?
...
The moonlight was bright and clear, casting an eerie glow over the castle corridors.
Wade walked quietly through the corridor, his gaze fixed on the seemingly empty space ahead.
At this moment, all was silent, so even without Nagini leading the way, he could faintly hear the subtle sound of footsteps up ahead.
With his Disillusionment Charm enhanced by ancient magic, Wade's figure was completely hidden within the shadows of the castle, like a viper lurking in the darkness, staring intently at its prey.
"Hiss hiss... (Ok, now turn left)," Nagini directed at a fork in the corridor.
"I like this GPS very much~" Wade turned into the left corridor.
"Hiss hiss.. (What's a Gepeas?"
"You."
"Hiss. (Hpmh!)"
This hallway was lined with many old suits of armor, and numerous paintings hung on the walls.
From within the paintings came the soft sounds of snoring, as if the characters inside had already fallen asleep.
A few suits of armor creaked at their joints, as though someone was moving inside them.
Suddenly, a window at the end of the corridor slowly opened, and right after, a small footprint appeared on the windowsill.
Wade approached the open window and realized that outside lay a garden, not far from the greenhouse used for Herbology class.
There was a soft rustling coming from the garden, likely the sound of the person's robes brushing against the grass.
Wade followed, climbing out the window. Thanks to the Silencing Charm he had placed on his shoes, his landing made no sound at all.
At the same time, he felt a bit puzzled. He couldn't figure out what this person was doing near the greenhouses.
Soon, his question was answered.
He saw that, on the path leading from the greenhouse to the castle, a manhole cover to the sewers had been silently moved aside, then just as quietly placed back over the opening.
Wade frowned and quickly followed.
"Nagini, is she still down there?"
"Hiss hiss hiss (In the sewers, moving away...)," Nagini responded.
Wade understood immediately. The person was using the sewers to get away from Hogwarts Castle...
Clearly, they really didn't know about any of the secret passages.
If Wade wanted to sneak out of the castle, he would never have chosen to crawl through the sewers.
However, in order to figure out the other person's purpose, and whether it had anything to do with the Senior's notebook, he had no choice but to move aside the manhole cover and climb down.
This sewer had already dried up, and it wasn't too long.
This time, even without Nagini's guidance, Wade could follow the clear footprints left on the ground to track their direction.
Before long, Wade reached the end of the sewer.
The exit was hidden in a patch of overgrown weeds. After pushing them aside and stepping out, he turned back and saw that the entrance was completely invisible from the outside.
From the looks of it, this was practically a "secret passage" leading into the castle.
Considering Hogwarts's thousand-year history, who knew how many secrets it held? This path was probably left behind by some ancestor sneaking off to explore the Forbidden Forest.
Wade quickly followed. With Nagini acting as his "thermal tracking GPS," he never lost track of the target.
Very soon, Wade had followed the trail straight into the Forbidden Forest.
The person ahead occasionally stopped, then after a while would move again.
Wade didn't know how long he had been following when a strange sensation suddenly rose within him. A moment later, the ancient magic inside his body stirred faintly.
Wade immediately pulled out the lighter from his pocket. The pale blue glow from the lighter was brighter than it had ever been!
"Hmm.."
Seeing this abnormal reaction, Wade realized he was getting close to the truth.
He tucked the lighter back into his pocket and quickened his pace.
It wasn't long before, with the aid of his night vision spell, Wade spotted a ruined stone structure amidst the trees.
He could clearly sense that something within those ruins was very familiar to him!
Suddenly, a ripple spread through the air in front of the ruins.
Then, a figure appeared there, holding a piece of silvery fabric in her hands.
So that was it—she had just removed the invisibility cloak.
She stuffed the cloak into the backpack she carried, then took off her outer cloak as well, revealing a head of blonde hair.
Under Wade's Eagle Eye Charm, the person's face was clearly revealed.
Anne Rosier.
Wade wasn't particularly surprised.
Anne took a deep breath of the cold night air, then pulled out a notebook from her pocket.
When she opened the notebook, Wade's eyes narrowed at once.
Anne flipped through the pages, then looked up at the ruins in front of her, a puzzled expression on her face.
Using the light from her wand, she compared what was in the notebook and cautiously stepped into the ruins.
Wade quietly crept closer and watched her through a gap in the broken wall.
Anne moved carefully within the ruins, as if she were searching for something with great caution.
At that moment, Wade's gaze shifted from her to something else.
On a toppled column, he spotted the same glow as the one from his lighter.
Wade glanced at Anne, then followed the trail of those bluish glows and stepped into the ruins as well.
Before long, he spotted a large cluster of silvery-white magic beside a collapsed staircase.
It was ancient magic!
It looked exactly like what his senior had shown him in the dream.
At the same time, Anne also walked over, glancing at her notebook as she surveyed her surroundings with a puzzled expression.
Wade stood silently in a corner, watching her.
She was standing right next to the cluster of ancient magic, yet she seemed completely unaware of it.
After a while, Anne sighed, closed her notebook, and began to walk out of the ruins.
Wade watched quietly as she draped the Invisibility Cloak over herself and vanished from sight.
"Nagini, follow her," Wade crouched down and let Nagini, who had been coiled around his arm, slither to the ground.
Nagini nodded and darted off swiftly in the direction Anne had disappeared.
Wade, meanwhile, turned back and slowly approached the cluster of ancient magic.
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Isn't Nagini the best girl ever? XD
Read two weeks ahead of WN: P^treon: Captain69
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