"Meow..."
The little black cat, struck by the letter, stirred awake. It blinked at the noisy owls flapping away above, then turned to stare at the letter in Harry's hands as awareness returned.
"Is it time, meow?"
"Yeah." Harry nodded, eyes fixed on the unfamiliar envelope. The letter had no name or address. Only a single guiding line was written on its face:
After opening the letter, please touch the paper inside together with your partner.
"Touch together, meow?" The little black cat squinted, puzzled.
She'd been helping her feline subjects arrange their new castle these last few days, and though she'd heard Evans talking about puzzles and challenges, this letter business was something else.
"Let's open it and see." Harry crouched down, placing the letter on the ground. "Are you ready?"
"Mm-hmm, open it, meow!"
As always, her confidence made Harry grin. He opened the envelope and grabbed one end of the paper. When the other end floated up seemingly by itself, he let out a breath, then read the contents carefully:
On this day, Hogwarts' peace was shattered by an accident. Ancient seals quietly cracked, and invisible mist completely enveloped the entire castle.
This mist is merely ordinary fog to magical creatures, but to wizards, it gradually erodes their minds. The stronger the wizard, the faster they fall unconscious.
Besides this mind-eroding mist, three monsters hide within the castle fog. If caught by these three monsters, you will face the most agonising torment in this world.
Due to the sudden incident, the professors were unprepared. Only Professor Kahn managed to lead dozens of students to escape the castle, providing you with magical tools to return before losing consciousness.
Unfortunately, these tools can only randomly transport you to a corner of the castle. Only your partner can be with you.
Fortunately, a group of giant cats from who knows where have appeared in the castle. They cannot leave their nests, but staying near them protects you from the mist's erosion and prevents encounters with those three monsters.
Moreover, they will provide many interesting puzzles. Solving these puzzles can grant many advantages, even directly obtaining a seal fragment.
Please work with your partner to solve the castle's puzzles, find the scattered seal fragments, re-seal the mist covering the campus, and save our Hogwarts!
Harry barely finished reading before he felt an invisible suction from the letter. The ground vanished, and he was yanked, noodle-like, into a tube of white light. He heard muffled cries from the others around him, but in an instant, he was alone and the world faded to blank.
Invisible pressure came from all directions, making him feel compressed like dough. Light and shadow blurred past until everything became blank white. A moment later, his body returned to normal, and he found himself lying on a freezing floor.
Harry pushed up quickly, eyes darting around. Endless white fog surrounded him, thick enough that he could barely see beyond two metres. Everything else was featureless blankness. Only his own breath broke the silence.
Luckily, the fog faintly glowed, so it was bright at least, not pitch black.
"Little Black? Are you still here?" Harry called softly.
"I'm here, meow! Please don't call me Little Black, meow!"
A small black cat with a white patch on her chest appeared out of the gloom, looking up with an indignant pout.
"It sounds like a dog's name, meow!"
Harry managed a half-smile. "What do you want to be called then?"
"Um... I haven't thought of one yet, meow..."
He couldn't help rolling his eyes. Typical. He checked his hands: his own, normal. He touched his scar; it was still there. Everything about his body felt authentic. Still, there was a faint, persistent sense that something was off.
What is that? Something feels strange...
He shook it off and focused on his mind. Sure enough, he could feel his concentration thinning out, like air leaking from a balloon. Whatever this mist was, it would wear him down quickly. Staying here for about an hour would exhaust his mental energy completely.
"We'd better find those giant cats the letter mentioned," Harry said, patting the cat's head. "You can pick a name later. Right now, we've got a test to finish."
"...Fine, meow." With a faint air of martyrdom, the little black cat followed close behind as they began feeling along the walls to move forward.
Walking through the dense fog was disorienting. Harry had to be careful not to rush ahead, or they might end up walking in circles. Yet as they progressed, a strange sense of familiarity tugged at his mind. The environment felt as though he'd experienced something memorable here before.
He stopped, looking around. Though his vision couldn't penetrate the dense fog, he could vaguely make out a corridor. Taking two more steps forward, he spotted a small window with only its outline visible through the mist.
Memories instantly became clear.
"This is that corridor on the fourth floor, the one first-years weren't supposed to enter!"
Memories from last year surfaced. The forbidden corridor, the rush past traps and puzzles, the pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone...
This really was Hogwarts! But wait. They had just left the castle. How could Professor Kahn have evacuated all the students so quickly? It has to be part of the test. Some kind of illusion or transformation.
The little black cat seemed equally bewildered. "This doesn't look like our castle, meow. And it's way too big. I could almost touch the ceiling before!"
Harry shook his head, suppressing his confusion. "If this really is the same corridor, moving forward should take us to the old Philosopher's Stone chambers. Maybe Professor Kahn set up his puzzles there."
As they pressed ahead, the fog gradually thinned. Harry's heart sped up. Sure enough, just ahead, the mist fell away completely to reveal an enormous orange cat curled up and napping, like a massive furry wall blocking their path. It was bigger than Hagrid's boarhound, easily.
Sensing them, the orange cat slowly opened one amber eye, lifting its heavy head with lazy authority.
Harry swallowed and took two steps back, feeling suddenly very small.
Next to him, the little black cat gasped in recognition.
"Big Orange, meow? How did you get so big, meow?"