September 1st, overcast.
The gloomy weather brought with it a pleasant chill as the Hogwarts Express gradually slowed through the lush green forest and came to a stop at the shabby little station.
The new first-years ran around the station like headless chickens. Some even tried to follow the older students through the station toward the carriages, only to be stopped by the enchanted iron gate.
In the end, it was still Hagrid, holding up a kerosene lamp and calling for the first-years to follow him.
"Oh man, seeing Hagrid lead the new students away really reminds me of when I first got here. Back then, I kept worrying I wouldn't make it through the Sorting Ceremony."
Watching the departing first-years, Ernie looked deeply moved, like an old man reminiscing about the past.
"Really? I've actually always wondered what you were all so scared of back then. You had me nervous too," Justin asked curiously.
"My distant cousin actually told me the Sorting Ceremony was some kind of brutal trial. Didn't it ever occur to him that I was still a kid? Why did he have to scare me like that?" Ernie said, shaking his head.
"Really?" Leonard glanced at him. "Who was it that told the first-years on the train that the Sorting Ceremony meant pairing up for duels and only getting Sorted after fighting to the death?"
"Tch. I got scared back then, so why should the new students have it easy?" Ernie said righteously. "If I was the only one who got scared, wouldn't that be a huge loss?"
"Uh..."
Speechless, Leonard shook his head and got into a Thestral-drawn carriage with Justin and Ernie, heading quickly toward Hogwarts Castle.
Inside the castle, the older students filed in one after another and took their seats at their house tables, waiting for the new students to arrive.
Leonard sat among the lively Hufflepuffs, listening to his classmates talk about amusing things that had happened over the holiday while his gaze occasionally swept across the professors' table.
There was only one unfamiliar man there. He looked fairly young, with a gentle smile on his face as he chatted with Professor Trelawney beside him.
The moment Leonard saw this unfamiliar professor, he recognized him.
He was the black-robed man who had tried to abduct Damocles that day. There was no doubt about it.
You could tell from his build, the way he moved, and the proportions of his body.
It was an effective way to identify someone in disguise, the kind of experience Leonard had accumulated in his previous life. Under normal circumstances, this meant the enemy was in the open while he remained in the dark.
But...
As the "Heir to Ancient Magic," Leonard's identity was already half exposed. According to Dumbledore, the other side had had their eyes on him for a long time.
What Leonard wanted to know now was how they planned to approach him, and what they intended to do.
Wait... they were not planning to persuade Leonard to spread his branches and leaves and carry the legacy of ancient magic forward, were they?
No, ancient magic probably was not passed down by bloodline. More likely, they wanted to capture Leonard and use him as experimental material.
For example, that method of crushing a raven to cast a spell. Maybe they had discovered some special way to use the blood of an heir to ancient magic to unleash ancient magic?
Leonard quickly drove the messy thoughts out of his head, and his expression settled down.
Whatever came, he would deal with it. With Dumbledore there to keep watch, Leonard probably did not need to worry about them forcing him into anything. He just needed to stay alert and make sure he was not tricked.
Besides, Leonard was not really some Heir to Ancient Magic at all. The real heir was Claudia. He just had to calmly play the part of a decoy drawing attention.
...
Before long, the Sorting Ceremony ended while Leonard was still distracted, and the welcome feast officially began. Dumbledore stood up and gave the usual opening speech.
There was not much to say this term. Dumbledore emphasized only one key point, that students were not to enter the Forbidden Forest, and then introduced the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Harris Raymons.
Leonard silently memorized the name, planning to have Midgard investigate him later.
After finishing the lavish feast, Leonard followed the Hufflepuff prefect back to the Hufflepuff common room.
The Hufflepuffs, who had not seen each other for two months, quickly threw themselves into socializing. Leonard blended into the crowd, welcoming the new students and chatting with the returning ones.
It was not until late at night, when the tired students had all drifted off to sleep, that Leonard quietly got up and slipped out of the Hufflepuff common room.
Hogwarts late at night was just as gloomy as ever.
Leonard took out the Marauder's Map, avoided Filch on patrol, and made his way to the corridor on the eighth floor.
He was heading to the Room of Requirement to begin some special research.
Mainly, he wanted to study Tom Riddle's diary.
Because of the peculiar nature of a Horcrux, Leonard did not dare interact with that thing at home. In his judgment, the diary, because it contained a fragment of Voldemort's soul, would gradually become active through ongoing contact with people and begin to tempt them.
Leonard himself was not afraid of that kind of temptation, but there was also an old Squib at home who had begged for magic all his life and never gotten it. In a story, that was exactly the kind of person who would definitely be lured in.
If that led to some troublesome mess, the cost would far outweigh the benefit.
Something like a Horcrux was best researched in secret, late at night, in some hidden corner.
The Room of Requirement was exactly that kind of perfect place. Hidden enough, and with no need to worry about being disturbed.
The familiar corridor was unchanged, with the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls and the blank wall opposite it.
Leonard paced back and forth three times with practiced ease, intending to open a quiet room suitable for experiments. But after the third pass, the wall showed no change at all.
Staring at the door that had failed to appear, Leonard froze for a second, then opened the Marauder's Map in his hand.
If the Room of Requirement did not respond, that meant someone was already using it. But in all of Hogwarts, the only person who should know how to use the Room of Requirement was Leonard.
So who was inside?
Ink flowed across the parchment, sketching out the map of Hogwarts while also revealing the location of every person in the castle.
Most of the names on the map stayed still. Those were people who were already asleep. Only Filch and Professor Flitwick were still moving, since they were on patrol tonight.
Leonard's gaze swept quickly across every corner of the map, searching for one particular name.
Sure enough, that name did not appear on the map.
Harris Raymons. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
"This guy actually knows about the Room of Requirement?" Leonard frowned. "What is he doing here?"