Sterling tested the Invisibility Cloak's effect himself, marvelling at the way it seemed to drink light and sound alike. This cloak's quality far exceeded any he'd encountered before. When moving carefully, even his footsteps became whispers against the stone floor.
Moreover, this Invisibility Cloak was remarkably large. If only one person wore it, Sterling felt even someone three metres tall could be completely concealed beneath its flowing silver embrace.
"So, having such an incredible artefact, why did you fly to my dormitory window?" Sterling raised an eyebrow, genuine curiosity colouring his voice. "Wouldn't it be safer to enter directly through Ravenclaw common room's front door?"
At this question, Harry suddenly found the ceiling fascinating, while Ron discovered urgent business with his shoelaces. Neither dared meet Sterling's penetrating gaze.
Understanding dawned like sunrise.
They couldn't get into the common room.
Honestly, sometimes the bronze eagle door knocker's riddles weren't merely challenging; they were downright malicious. Even Sterling himself had once been stumped by "How does one escape death?" for a mortifying twenty minutes.
When facing students from other houses, the knocker would sometimes deliberately make things difficult, as if protecting Ravenclaw's intellectual sanctity with sadistic glee.
Sterling patted Harry's shoulder with understanding sympathy.
"Shall we go night roaming with this beautiful cloak? Where to?"
Seeing Sterling offer a graceful escape from their embarrassment, Harry immediately seized it like a Golden Snitch.
"How about the library? We could visit the Restricted Section! Ron and I already scouted this afternoon. There's just a rope blocking it, nothing more."
Harry actually harboured no burning interest in the Restricted Section's dusty tomes, but this night tour's entire purpose was lifting Sterling's spirits, so naturally he'd cater to Sterling's deepest academic desires.
Terry had mentioned that even Sterling, despite his prodigious abilities, had only received Professor Flitwick's promise of "full access to all forbidden books after the third year."
No Ravenclaw could refuse the Restricted Section. It was genetically impossible.
Sterling nodded, warmth blooming in his chest like spring flowers.
How could he miss Harry's thoughtful intent behind this location choice? Even conducting afternoon reconnaissance meant this adventure had been carefully planned from the start, all for his sake.
"Chirp! Am I coming too?"
Robin's hopeful voice carried across the room like a tiny bell.
"No, you stay and organise my gifts properly."
Sterling's refusal came out colder than intended. He hadn't yet opened his heart to this artificial "new friend". During precious moments with true companions, he wasn't prepared to grant it admission to their circle.
Besides, the gifts originally arranged by house-elves had been scattered during his frantic searching, creating chaos that needed addressing.
"Chirp." Robin drooped its magnificent head and began picking at gift ribbons with dejected little pecks.
"Then let's go. Ron? Why haven't you spoken for..." Harry turned back to discover Ron with chocolate smeared around his mouth like a guilty child.
Ron quickly swallowed whatever remained of his midnight snack, crumbs scattering.
"I'm ready! Don't look at me like that. During dinner, Snape kept staring our way like a hungry vulture, completely ruining my appetite."
The memory of those obsidian eyes made Ron shiver involuntarily.
Snape had always possessed a perpetually sour expression, but today exceeded even his usual standards of menace, as if nursing some particularly potent grievance.
"That's normal then."
Harry also shuddered, phantom chills racing down his spine. He'd felt today's Snape staring at his eyes with unsettling frequency, not with the usual casual malevolence but with something more intense and disturbing. He'd begun suspecting Snape wanted to preserve "the Saviour's eyeballs" in formaldehyde for some twisted collection.
"I'm ready too." During their conversation, Sterling had already donned a warm cloak over his pyjamas, the fabric thick with down and smelling faintly of lavender from the house-elves' care.
"Excellent, let's go!" Harry led their small expedition from the dormitory, with Ron and Sterling following like faithful shadows.
At Ravenclaw common room's main entrance, Harry unfurled the Invisibility Cloak with ceremonial reverence, covering Sterling and Ron's heads before carefully opening the door just wide enough for their escape.
Harry took point, Sterling claimed the middle position, and Ron brought up the rear. Each grasped the person ahead's cloak corner, moving through corridors like a peculiar three-headed caterpillar beneath the shimmering silver fabric.
Only after being completely enveloped did Sterling truly appreciate this Invisibility Cloak's extraordinary nature.
He felt absolutely no sensation of wearing clothing, as if the cloak existed in some space between dimensions. It barely obstructed his vision inward, creating perfect clarity while maintaining complete concealment. Combined with Sterling's earlier discovery of its sound-dampening properties, the artefact was perfectly engineered for night roaming.
Sterling felt even the rule-obsessed Hermione from the beginning of term could achieve a flawless night exploration of Hogwarts without Filch catching so much as her shadow if she wore this miraculous cloak.
Let alone Sterling, Harry, and Ron, who all possessed extensive prior experience in rule-breaking.
They even encountered Filch and his skeletal cat on a particularly treacherous staircase. Mrs Norris nearly brushed the cloak's trailing edge with her whiskers, yellow eyes gleaming with predatory intelligence in the moonlight.
Fortunately, this Invisibility Cloak proved truly powerful, probably enchanted to mask scents as well as sight. Otherwise it couldn't have fooled Mrs Norris's supernaturally acute nose.
Thus, without major incident, the three finally infiltrated the library. The nighttime sanctuary felt dark and deep as an ocean trench, making Sterling worry whether their intrusion might awaken slumbering guardians.
"Madam Pince isn't in the library at night. We asked Fred." Harry noticed Sterling's hesitation, his voice barely above a whisper.
Then no problem existed.
Since the library's fierce guardian spirit had retired for the evening, nothing could stop this greedy dragon from plundering knowledge's treasure trove.
Now Sterling took the lead, leaving Harry and Ron to follow in his confident wake.
A soft blue light orb materialised above Sterling's shoulder, casting gentle illumination that danced across towering bookshelves. Following the light's guidance, Sterling quickly located the Restricted Section's iconic rope barrier. Out of abundant caution, he activated his magical vision.
The first sight nearly blinded Sterling with its intensity. Various coloured threads emanated from the Restricted Section like the aurora borealis, then that seemingly innocent rope blocking the entrance.
The threads coating that rope... were remarkably numerous.
No, they could rival the magical saturation contained in some of Hogwarts' most important classrooms.
Something was definitely wrong. Sterling halted before the rope, suspicion prickling his instincts. Why would a mere warning barrier possess such dense "stories"?
Lifeless objects only accumulated threads when wizards had left sufficiently memorable experiences during their creation or interaction.
Just marking territory wouldn't suffice for this level of magical resonance.
But if it caused little wizards attempting to sneak into the Restricted Section to stumble, trip, or face some consequence, that would certainly generate enough story threads to explain this phenomenon.
"Sterling? Why did you stop?" Ron caught up first, as Harry had spent considerable time properly folding the Invisibility Cloak after their exit.
"I think it's a trap." Sterling's voice carried quiet certainty, unwilling to let Ron or Harry spring whatever snare awaited the unwary.
"Even reasoning from basic logic, aren't there many Ravenclaw upperclassmen who don't receive Restricted Section permits?"
"Quite a few." Ron nodded emphatically. He didn't know Ravenclaw's internal politics, but even his accomplished brother Percy had required considerable effort to obtain such authorisation.
"Then why would this simple rope stop them? Through Ravenclaw moral restraints alone? When facing knowledge's irresistible temptation?"
Ron's head shook so vigorously it became a blur of red hair.
He'd witnessed Hermione relocate ten books to Utopia for a single Charms essay and watched Padma research every issue of The Quibbler from its founding to present day. If they discovered an interesting book in the Restricted Section without proper permits, and the Section's security consisted of merely an ordinary rope...
By Hogwarts' blessing, even Hermione would definitely cross that line!
"Looking at it that way, there really is a problem."
Harry processed Sterling's reasoning with growing dejection. Having roughly grasped the implications, he let his shoulders slump in defeat.
This Restricted Section expedition would probably end in bitter disappointment.
"No problem, let's just explore elsewhere. Consider it a moonlit stroll."
Sterling surprised them both by offering comfort instead of sharing their frustration. After regrouping beneath the cloak, the three resumed their caterpillar formation, leaving the library behind for other adventures.
After that, they wandered genuinely aimlessly, as Sterling had suggested, letting curiosity guide their steps through Hogwarts' shadowed corridors.
Under tranquil moonlight streaming through tall windows, Sterling's heart grew increasingly peaceful, the strange hollow sadness finally beginning to ebb. Until they discovered an unused classroom, its door standing slightly ajar like an invitation.
Sterling's magical vision activated involuntarily, drawn by some inexplicable pull.
Pushing open the door that seemed abandoned for decades, hinges creaking with ancient protest, Sterling beheld a magnificent mirror positioned in the room's centre.
In his magical vision, it blazed with such overwhelming radiance that he could barely discern its actual shape, submerged in cascading waves of light that reminded him powerfully of opening his eyes within Avalon itself.
This mirror was something extraordinary, something that called to the deepest parts of his soul.