Kyle leaned against the wall, listening to the footsteps gradually fading away outside.
"Hiss..." The sound of someone drawing breath came from nearby.
Harry lifted his invisibility cloak, suddenly appearing in the room as if performing a magic trick. Unaware of Kyle's presence, he began examining the room.
He discovered an impressive mirror and curiously approached it, apparently wanting to check his appearance.
When Harry stood before the mirror, he froze in place.
From a distance, Kyle watched the scene and rubbed his forehead. He recognized the mirror from the headmaster's office last year — the Mirror of Erised.
Kyle knew the Mirror of Erised posed a powerful temptation for Harry, but this was hardly the time for mirror-gazing.
Hadn't Snape just announced he would check the dormitories? How could Harry have forgotten so quickly?
Better give him a reminder. As Kyle left the room, he deliberately made a noise and tossed a Knut toward Harry.
True to his skills as a Chaser, the Knut arced through the air and hit Harry squarely on the forehead.
That should wake him up.
By now, the fourth floor was clear of professors. After leaving the room, Kyle quickly located the suit of armor and took the secret passage to the underground classroom.
Several students stood in the kitchen corridor. They had awakened and wanted to investigate the commotion but dared not venture beyond the corridor. Using a Disillusionment Charm, Kyle quietly blended into the crowd and returned to the common room with them when Professor Sprout arrived.
"Kyle, when did you go out too?" In the common room, Kanna hugged a pillow and asked sleepily, "What happened outside anyway?"
"I don't know." Kyle calmly shook his head, "I went out after being woken up, but it was pitch black outside, and I didn't see anyone."
Kanna nodded drowsily, though it wasn't clear if she was really listening.
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The next day, all of Hogwarts buzzed with discussion about the previous night's events. During breakfast, nearly half the students were yawning intermittently.
"That was close. Professor McGonagall almost caught you out of the dormitory last night." Ron said sleepily while poking at a fried egg on his plate, "How did you manage to avoid her?"
"I've told you repeatedly, Ron, it wasn't me!" Harry snapped, "I just went to the library!"
"But..."
"Someone else was there!" Harry paused, then continued, "There must have been another person. Remember that mirror I told you about? I was completely absorbed by it when someone hit me. If not for them, Professor McGonagall would have certainly caught me."
"Sounds like they did you a favor." Ron said thoughtfully, "They could have simply ignored you, and you would've faced all the consequences — losing points or getting detention — while they remained completely safe."
"Exactly, but who was it?" Harry lifted his gaze and surveyed the Great Hall, "Ron, do you think someone else might have an invisibility cloak like mine?"
He hadn't detected anyone nearby yesterday, just as Filch couldn't see him. In his mind, only an invisibility cloak could explain this.
"Probably not..." Ron considered before shaking his head, "Invisibility cloaks are rare, even among wizards, but... Malfoy might have one."
He remembered that before Christmas, Draco had spent 100 Galleons on a toy. If he wanted an invisibility cloak, he could probably afford it easily.
"You're right," Harry said with a shrug, guessing Ron's thoughts, "But Malfoy went home — he wasn't at school yesterday."
"Yes, that's too bad..." Ron sighed.
After a moment of silence, Harry's thoughts drifted back to the mirror. The image he had seen in it floated unbidden into his mind.
Who were those two people... could they be his parents?
He hadn't had enough time to be certain. He decided to go again tonight.
Neither boy noticed that Fred and George had overheard their entire conversation.
"Did you hear that, George? Invisibility cloak..." Fred raised an eyebrow.
"Of course, Fred." George replied with a smile, lowering his voice, "Not many people at Hogwarts have invisibility cloaks, and our friend happens to be one of them."
"Good thing we didn't go home for Christmas this year, or we would have missed such an exciting event."
"That's so like Kyle, making everyone wake up five hours early... what a brilliant idea!" Fred glanced toward the Hufflepuff table, "But why hasn't he come to the Great Hall yet? I'm waiting to ask him about the details."
"Probably still not awake." George said thoughtfully, "The Hufflepuff common room is right next to the kitchen—they can eat whenever they want."
"That's so convenient..." Fred sighed, "If only we could move the Gryffindor common room over there too."
"Yeah... then we wouldn't have to run downstairs every night."
At the high table, the professors were also discussing this matter. They had made surprise inspections of each house's dormitories last night but found no students missing.
"We must have gone too late — he ran back beforehand!" Snape glanced at Harry and said slowly, "I suggest asking the Fat Lady if any young wizards snuck out in the middle of the night."
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and gave him a thoughtful look.
"Severus, we never ask the Fat Lady about students." Dumbledore said, shaking his head, "Besides, that wouldn't be fair to the other three houses. However, you can try asking the other portraits in the corridors."
"I will..." Snape's expression darkened as he looked toward the Gryffindor table once more before leaving the high table.
"Actually, I've already asked." Dumbledore said with a smile after Snape left, winking at Professor McGonagall, "But they didn't see anything. What a clever young wizard..."
Minerva frowned, seemingly not entirely agreeing with the "clever" assessment.
Dumbledore didn't notice this, however. He continued cutting a piece of ham and said, "Hogwarts hasn't been this lively for a long time. I dare say Hagrid must be delighted. He's been worrying about the increasing number of flesh-eating slugs in his vegetable garden, and now the problem has been solved in one go."
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