Dylan looked at the trembling Peeves, his lips twitching.
Was he really that scary? He wasn't some kind of demon!
"Of course, there's something I need your help with."
"Oh, you're too kind! It's truly my honor to serve you..."
Peeves said with as sincere a tone as he could manage, while shrinking his neck.
What wicked spell was this human going to experiment on him with now?
Dylan couldn't help himself. "Didn't I set you free? I didn't trap you in my world, so you shouldn't be cowering like this, let alone not being grateful. What are you so afraid of? Am I going to capture you?"
Peeves froze, surprised by Dylan's words.
After a pause, he tugged at the tail of his jacket. "Um, Young Master Dylan, I'm not afraid of you. It's just—you're like a male lion leading a pride to me, and I'm just an antelope that could be bitten to death at any moment. This is reverence, reverence."
Dylan rolled his eyes, too lazy to bother with the poltergeist.
He considered himself quite cruel—er, friendly—towards Peeves.
But it seemed the poltergeist wasn't buying it.
If he wasn't buying it, then so be it. He didn't actually need to care what Peeves thought of him anyway.
He was merely considering others' feelings out of the kindness of his heart.
"Ah, I'm just too kind," Dylan sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"Young Master Dylan, what is it you'd like me to help you with?" Peeves cautiously eyed Dylan.
"It's simple. Come with me to the Room of Requirement and find Ravenclaw's Diadem for me from that pile of junk."
Dylan waved his hand and turned to walk toward the Room of Requirement.
Peeves gasped in shock. "Ravenclaw's Diadem? How do you know where such a thing is...?"
Dylan stopped, turned, and narrowed his eyes at Peeves.
Peeves quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, giving an awkward laugh. "My apologies for speaking out of turn, my most noble Young Master, let's go quickly~"
Dylan's eyelid twitched. "Don't call me by such sickeningly sweet titles anymore."
Peeves immediately saluted. "I assure you!"
Dylan turned back. "Alright, keep your voice down. If you wake Filch, I won't help you."
Peeves, however, puffed out his chest. "I'm not afraid of him! He's a Squib; he can't do anything to me!"
"Oh? Really?" Dylan raised an eyebrow, looking sideways at him. "What if he goes and tattles to old Dumbledore? You wouldn't care then?"
"Old Dumbledore?" Peeves paused. "You mean Dumbledore?"
"Who else?"
Peeves chuckled. "Hahahaha~ This is the first time I've ever seen a student dare to give Headmaster Dumbledore such a nickname—everyone says he's great!"
"Being great doesn't conflict with having a nickname," Dylan shrugged. "Haven't you heard Dumbledore's other nickname, 'Old Bee'?"
"Of course I have! There's not much in this school I don't know!" Peeves declared proudly. "Albus's brother visited Hogwarts before, but that day, those two brothers had a huge fight!"
Peeves paused briefly, then added, "Of course, I think it was Aberforth yelling unilaterally at Albus—oh, I secretly peeked, his face was red and his neck was thick, it was truly comical."
Dylan walked on, glancing at Peeves. "You certainly know a lot."
Peeves, having chatted with Dylan and knowing he wouldn't be captured for experiments, relaxed considerably.
He giggled. "Besides you—Young Master Dylan, in my eyes, you are the greatest. And I know nothing about you. You are a wizard even more mysterious than Albus."
And a young wizard at that!
As Peeves spoke, he secretly observed Dylan's reaction.
However, the latter merely smiled faintly. "You're quite perceptive."
Peeves' expression stiffened. "..."
He forced a stiff, unnatural smile. "Ah, I'm so happy to receive your affirmation."
Dylan didn't care if the poltergeist was genuinely happy or faking it.
He had already led him to the entrance of the Room of Requirement.
"Let's go."
Dylan's fingertip hooked a wisp of Peeves' translucent clothing, pulling the poltergeist inside.
The gloomy ghost floated in mid-air, all his usual mischievous arrogance gone.
Dylan sensed he seemed somewhat reluctant to enter.
"What are you dawdling for? Get in here!"
Dylan tugged at him.
"Coming, coming."
Upon entering the room, the door itself vanished.
Then, warm yellow magical candelabras automatically lit up.
A wool carpet muffled Dylan's footsteps.
Dylan had already arranged this place into a comfortable private space.
An automatic page-turning bookshelf floated beside a velvet chaise lounge.
A copper teapot in the corner gurgled, releasing the aroma of jasmine tea.
He walked directly to the wall where he remembered a secret passage was hidden, closing his eyes in concentration.
"Take me to the place where Ravenclaw's Diadem is hidden. I want to find Ravenclaw's relic."
The wall instantly transformed, reorganizing like quicksand, then revealing a narrow, mold-covered door.
Immediately, a putrid stench assailed them.
Dylan frowned.
—This was why he hadn't wanted to go find the diadem himself before.
But this time was different; he didn't need to find the diadem.
Dylan took a step back and pushed Peeves forward.
"Go in and find everything with jewels, everything valuable."
A smile played on Dylan's lips.
"What if I can't find it—"
"If you can't find it, don't even think about coming out."
Peeves' shoulders slumped.
—That familiar feeling seemed to be back.
His translucent coattails trembled slightly.
"I understand..."
He floated dejectedly into the storage room.
Dylan peered inside.
The ceiling was so high it disappeared into darkness.
Cobwebs hung like tattered curtains.
Faded bookshelves lay toppled amidst the cluttered mess.
Broken mirror shards, rusted armor, and stringless harps were haphazardly piled.
In the distance, even a small pumpkin carriage, entangled in vines, lay on its side; it looked like a model.
After confirming Peeves had begun searching, Dylan retreated to the outer room.
Then he lounged lazily on the chaise longue.
He casually took Advanced Potion-Making from the floating bookshelf.
His fingertip lightly touched a page, flipping it open.
He read, while also keeping an ear out for any movement from the storage room.
Occasionally, the rustle of turning pages mingled with the distant sounds of Peeves rummaging, making the entire Room of Requirement feel quiet and orderly.
Meanwhile, after Peeves reluctantly floated into the storage room, he was immediately entangled by a dangling cobweb around his head.
He shook his head forcefully, scattering the cobwebs to the floor.
Looking at this storage room, Peeves wanted to cry.
"I, the magnificent Peeves, not only got captured and controlled by a little wizard who hasn't even fully grown his hair yet, but now I have to work as his laborer! If the Bloody Baron knew, he'd laugh himself to death!"
He slowly floated past a row of toppled bookshelves, dragging a finger across the dusty spines, quickly stirring up a choking cloud of gray dust.
"Ravenclaw's Diadem is just sitting here? Good heavens, how did I, Peeves, not know about this?"
He kept muttering, "Is what that little wizard said true or false? He's not just trying to trick me, is he?"
"Even if it is real, who knows if a rat gnawed on it already, like a chew toy! Maybe it's lying in some rat hole right now, covered in rat droppings! Where am I supposed to find that?"
Saying that, he casually tossed a tattered book.
The pages fluttered and scattered across the floor.
Dylan's voice drifted through the doorway, "Don't just throw things around! Find it properly!"
Peeves jolted, quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, and glanced back.
He didn't see the little human wizard's shadow.
But he still raised his voice and replied, "I got it!"
Dylan didn't respond.
Peeves didn't know if Dylan had heard what he'd just said, so he didn't dare to grumble anymore.
He could only honestly act as a laborer.
However, this state didn't last long.
As he passed a pile of rusty suits of armor, he couldn't hold back and got an idea.
Clang!
He suddenly darted into a suit of armor, making the helmet clatter.
Peeves' voice rang out.
"Anyone home? The great Peeves is here for inspection!"
Seeing no response, he popped out again and kicked the armor's leg guards.
"Who are you trying to fool? I know you're just a pile of scrap metal! The diadem my great master is looking for wouldn't possibly be hidden inside your belly! My young master will dismantle you and sell you for scrap metal later!"
Then he resumed his aimless search, like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Until he floated to a pumpkin carriage in the corner.
Peeves stopped again, circled the carriage twice, and poked the broken shaft.
"Why is this broken carriage still here? It should have been thrown away ages ago!"
Peeves pouted.
"Maybe the diadem is underneath, squashed flat, like a thin pancake."
He pushed the carriage hard, but it didn't budge. Instead, it stirred up a large cloud of dust, making him cough.
"Cough, cough... What kind of cursed place is this? More dust than Filch's broom!"
He phased right through it but found no trace of the diadem.
He searched for a good while.
Still no diadem.
Peeves began to get a little impatient.
He kicked away debris at his feet, complaining in an incredibly, incredibly quiet voice.
"This little wizard sure knows how to make trouble for me! This wretched room is huge, stacked with stuff like mountains. How am I supposed to find a tiny diadem? I bet he's deliberately making things difficult for me! Once I find it, I'll definitely put a frog in his pillow!"
After saying that, Peeves quickly looked behind him.
Nothing happened.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
However, as soon as he turned back, a light suddenly flew from afar.
Peeves felt like the surroundings had brightened considerably and, still wondering, he turned his head to see a spell flying towards him at extreme speed!
"Mama mia!"
Peeves immediately tried to run.
But there was no time to react.
The light swiftly shot him right in the rear.
"Hiss!"
Peeves gasped in pain.
But he only inhaled a mouthful of dust.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Clutching his backside, Peeves pouted, looking utterly wronged.
"I was wrong, I'll search properly now—"
Before he could finish, Peeves' keen eyes caught a faint blue glow flashing.
It instantly grabbed his attention.
"What's that?"
He grimaced and leaned in, discovering the blue light was coming from an old wardrobe covered in vines.
"What good could be in here? It's not a glowing giant spider, is it? I don't like those ugly creatures."
He carefully pushed aside the vines, and the wardrobe door creaked open.
Ravenclaw's Diadem lay quietly inside.
The silver diadem, resembling a soaring eagle, was inlaid with blue gems.
Though covered in a thick layer of dust, it still couldn't hide its radiance.
"Finally found it! I thought I'd be looking until next year!"
Peeves' eyes lit up. He never expected such a turnaround; after searching for ages, he'd suddenly found the diadem.
"I didn't think that little wizard—I mean, I didn't think my most noble, most perfect, most benevolent young master was actually telling the truth! Ravenclaw's Diadem really is here!"
He grabbed the diadem and swung it in the air.
But the diadem didn't react.
After fiddling with it for a while, Peeves couldn't figure anything out.
"This thing isn't even that special. If I had to choose, I'd still prefer my stink bomb."
He examined the diadem closely and suddenly noticed the eagle emblem carved on it, unable to resist complaining, "This eagle looks so weird; its eyes are smaller than mine. No wonder it got stolen."
Clutching the diadem, Peeves slowly floated back, still muttering, "Next time something like this happens, there's no way I'm doing it, unless... unless my kind and amiable young master prepares ten boxes of stink bombs as payment!"
When Peeves left the storage room and reappeared before Dylan, Dylan, still reading, said, "Found it? That was quite fast."
Peeves: "..."
This is "fast"?
He felt like he'd been in there for a year!
It's easy for him to say when he's just sitting there!
After grumbling silently to himself, Peeves forced a smile and said, "Of course, with your urging, Young Master, I wouldn't dare to slack off for a second."
"Good. Hand it over."
Dylan nodded, finished reading the last bit of the page, then put down the book and held out his hand to Peeves.
Peeves quickly handed the diadem to Dylan. "Here you go, Young Master."
Dylan took the diadem but didn't immediately examine it; instead, he looked back at Peeves.
"What about the other things I asked you to find?"
"Uh? Other things? What other things?"
Peeves froze.
Dylan narrowed his eyes.
"Didn't I tell you to bring out anything valuable or anything with jewels?"
Peeves' eyes widened.
"Ah! That..."
His eyes darted around rapidly, then he quickly put on a fawning smile.
"Great Young Master, I was just thinking that the diadem was what you most wanted to get your hands on first, so I focused all my efforts on finding it. I thought I'd bring the diadem to you first, and then I'd slowly go and collect the treasures for you..."
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