Cedric leapt from the Penrose stairs. For an instant, he felt a powerful sense of weightlessness, and then his eyes blurred. Suddenly, he heard someone calling his name.
"Hey, Cedric!"
"Wake up, wake up now!!!"
Cedric slowly opened his eyes, still feeling a bit drowsy. He rubbed his tired eyes and saw that it was his good friend from his House who was calling him.
"Cliff?!" Cedric asked tentatively. He was still in a daze. He looked around and found himself in the Great Hall of Hogwarts.
"Didn't I jump off those stairs? How did I get here?!"
"Stairs? What stairs?! You must still be half-asleep!" Cliff said, confused. "We have to go. We have Snape's class next, and we can't be late for his class, or who knows how many points he'll deduct from us!" As he spoke, he tried to grab Cedric's shoulder to lead him out of the Great Hall.
But Cedric still felt that something was off, so he quickly stopped his friend and asked, "Cliff, do you know Victor Dreyar?"
"You must be truly out of it. Who in all of Hogwarts doesn't know him?!" Cliff looked at Cedric with a strange expression. "And didn't you just tell me before you fell asleep that you wanted to learn some kind of magic from him to train our Quidditch team?!"
"Yes, that's right! I did, but…" Cedric tried to say something else, but his mind suddenly went blank.
"What's wrong with you? Did you get scared during Victor Dreyar's game on Halloween? Do you want to get some Cheering Charms from Madam Pomfrey?" Cliff asked, concerned.
"...No, I'm fine! Let's just go to class!" Cedric forced a stiff smile, then stood up and walked toward the Potions classroom.
On the way, Cedric was still in a daze. He really couldn't figure it out. Was he really dreaming just now?! But that couldn't be right! If it was a dream, it wouldn't have felt so real! And I remember every detail of the conversation I had with Dreyar! I even remember he cast an Unbreakable Vow on me, and then… Then I appeared on those stairs!
Whether it was a dream or not, Cedric went through the events from beginning to end. But the more he thought about it, the more things didn't add up. Something was wrong everywhere!
Could it be that after Dreyar cast the Unbreakable Vow on me, he immediately cast Skyscraper on me without me noticing? So what I'm in now is an illusion, just like the one during the Halloween game, except this one is almost identical to reality. That's why Dreyar told me to escape...
At this thought, Cedric felt a sudden clarity, but he quickly came to another realization. Even if he knew this was an illusion, how could he escape?!
Cedric sat in front of a pewter cauldron, becoming more and more lost in thought. He even added too many ingredients without realizing it. As the last drop of leech juice dripped into the cauldron, the potion began to react violently, bubbling and boiling furiously. Two seconds later, with a dull bang, the potion in the cauldron scattered like fireworks throughout the classroom.
"Cedric Diggory!" Snape roared, his face blacker than ever before. He flung his robe, brushing away the potion that had almost landed on his face, and charged toward Cedric. "You imbecile! Have you had your eyes gouged out by a troll? I wrote very clearly on the blackboard that you only need three drops of leech juice, and you poured the entire bottle in!"
"You should be grateful that you were brewing Shrinking Solution today, or everyone in this classroom would have suffered and been stuck in the hospital wing for a fortnight!"
"Professor, I'm sorry! I was just…" Cedric instinctively tried to explain himself against Snape's verbal lashing, but before he could finish, Snape cut him off.
"Diggory, Hufflepuff will lose twenty points because of your stupidity!"
"And after class, you will clean this classroom yourself until it is spotless! Don't let me see you use magic, or else…" Snape's warning was clear without him having to say more.
After class, Cedric dejectedly swept the Potions classroom with a completely useless flying broom. He felt terrible. He shouldn't have made such a huge mistake in Potions class and cost his House twenty points. But why was I so distracted just now?
As he thought about this, the hand holding the broom suddenly froze. Because he had suddenly realized that for a moment, he had forgotten that he was still in an illusion. If this continued, would he really forget everything and be trapped in the illusion forever, unable to return to reality?
Thinking about this, Cedric was instantly covered in a cold sweat! "No, this place is too dangerous! I can't stay here any longer!"
Cedric threw the broom aside and began to think about how to escape the illusion. Soon, Cedric gradually recalled what Victor Dreyar had said to him before he entered the illusion. To learn Skyscraper, he needed to have a special talent in a certain area.
What was this special talent? Cedric racked his brain but couldn't figure it out. And there was another strange thing: Dreyar could have sent him directly into the illusion, so why did he specifically send him to that infinite staircase first before sending him here?
Cedric suddenly felt that the answer was in the Penrose stairs where he had started. He paced back and forth in the Potions classroom, feeling like he was in a dead end.
Just then, Cliff suddenly came into the classroom. He opened the door, saw Cedric inside, and whispered stealthily, "Cedric, I'm here to help you!"
"...I have a bad feeling about this…"
"No! I can't respond!!!" Hearing his friend's voice, Cedric was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously replied, "Cliff, it's okay, I'll do it myself…" But before he could finish, he suddenly realized something!
No! I can't respond!!! This is an illusion, and everything here is fake!
He absolutely couldn't interact with anyone or anything in this illusion, or he might fall deeper and deeper into it until he completely forgot that he was in an illusion! So, to avoid losing his mind, Cedric chose to ignore Cliff and quickly walked toward the door.
This action surprised Cliff. He quickly walked up and grabbed Cedric's arm, asking, "Cedric, what's wrong with you? Why are you ignoring me?!"
But Cedric seemed not to hear him. He silently pulled his arm away and continued to walk forward. Cliff looked at his empty hand, confused. He couldn't understand why Cedric, who was always so kind and friendly, would suddenly ignore him.
On the other side, after Cedric walked out of the Potions classroom, he kept walking forward. He had no destination; he just felt that he couldn't stop. He ignored all the voices around him calling his name.
But the road had an end, and as Cedric looked at the knight statue at the end of the corridor, he felt a chill go through his body. Because he knew that not only were the people around him fake, but the statue in front of him was also fake, and the path he was walking on was also fake!
If he truly believed he had reached the end of the road, what was the difference between that and admitting that Cliff was real?
After thinking about it, Cedric took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. In a moment, he slowly closed his eyes and began to run forward.
This is just an illusion. Everything is fake! The wall in front of me isn't a wall, and the path beneath my feet isn't a path! The voices and everything else around me are all fake! I must discard my perception of these illusions and perceive my real body! Walk through it! I must be resolute and walk through it!
Cedric constantly strengthened his belief in his mind. Slowly, he walked through the tall knight statue and entered a mysterious state. At this moment, Cedric gradually discarded all superficial perceptions of things, and his consciousness began to disperse. He now had only one thought: run forward! Run forward without stopping!
After a while, Cedric felt his consciousness slowly returning, but he didn't dare to open his eyes. He was afraid that when he opened them, he would still be in the illusion. But to his surprise, just as he was struggling with his fear, three familiar yet unfamiliar voices reached his ears.
"Alright, open your eyes. You're back!" Victor said, patting Cedric on the shoulder and waking him up.
"Dr-Dreyar?"
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