Chapter 112
After leaving the History of Magic classroom, Soren suddenly felt the eagle mark on the back of his neck heat up, a sign that Aquila was calling him.
He saw Daphne and Moray waiting for him in the corridor and gestured for them to leave first, as he had something to attend to. Then he walked to a deserted corner to summon Aquila.
"Not bad, having an interest in ancient history is a good thing," Aquila's phantom circled around Soren. "Do you remember I told you that when you can fully inherit Ravenclaw's knowledge, I will reward you with a secret? It's time for me to fulfill my promise."
"You must know that Hogwarts Castle was built by four great founders at the end of the tenth century, more than a thousand years ago, and over the years it has experienced countless storms and changes, with numerous outstanding headmasters, professors, and students. Therefore, the castle itself is a vast treasure trove of heritage, no less than any ancient pure-blood family. Over the past thousand years, the castle has undergone numerous excavations and alterations, yet it still hides many unknown secrets..."
Although Soren tried to appear calm, his heart was racing uncontrollably. So, the secret Aquila was referring to was indeed the secrets of the castle? This was truly a huge surprise!
"That's right, you probably guessed it; the secret I want to reveal is the secrets of Hogwarts," Aquila said. "Let's start with the seven secret rooms. Need I say, we all know you've already opened two of them: the rooms of Ravenclaw and Slytherin..."
Soren's heart raced. He had never thought there were actually seven secret rooms! In addition to the four founders, there were three more secret rooms!
Aquila was pleased with the excited look on Soren's face and said, "The remaining five secret rooms are the room of Hufflepuff, the treasure of Gryffindor, the room of Merlin, the room of Pallas (Goddess of wisdom), and the mysterious Room of Requirement..."
So one of them was the Room of Requirement; it seemed he had already opened three.
Aquila looked at Soren's changing expression with some surprise, "No way! Have you already discovered the secret of the Room of Requirement?"
After receiving Soren's affirmative reply, Aquila exclaimed, "Incredible, truly incredible—well, now you only need to explore the remaining four secret rooms. Due to the limitations of ancient magic, I can't directly tell you the locations of the rooms or treasures; I can only give you a clue. Listen closely—Hufflepuff's clue is the kitchen, Gryffindor's clue is the centaur, Merlin's clue is the poltergeist, and Pallas's clue is the half-giant."
This was truly an unexpected surprise, and Soren was very pleased with his gains, but then Aquila did not stop there and gave him even more surprises!
"Did you think the castle secrets end there? Wrong, wrong, wrong!" Aquila was delighted with the shocked expression on Soren's face and said happily: "Have you ever thought about what past headmasters left for their successors in the headmaster's office?"
"Have you ever considered how the poltergeist came to be? And where did the enormous giant squid in the Black Lake come from? What secrets does the small island in the center of the Black Lake hold?"
"Of course, let's not forget the last one, as the longest-serving professor at Hogwarts, Professor Binns—his office has never been visited by students, and it is said that he himself does not work there—do you know what is in his office?"
Right, what is in Professor Binns' office? Soren had never thought about this. Now that he thought about it, he was indeed a bit curious.
Anyway, Soren had no classes for the entire day ahead, so he decided to take advantage of the opportunity and find this mysterious office today.
Strength in numbers, so he first approached Moray, who also had a rare interest in the History of Magic, and it turned out she had no classes today either.
He asked her mysteriously, "Moray, do you know where Professor Binns' office is?"
Moray wrinkled her adorable little nose, "Um... I don't think I've ever heard of Professor Binns having an office... I suppose no student has ever gone to consult him after class, right?"
Soren revealed a sly smile, "Every professor has an office, that's unquestionable. It's just that Professor Binns can't touch physical objects, so he doesn't need to work in an office. Have you ever wondered what he actually has in his office?"
"Why are you suddenly asking about this?" Moray showed a strange expression, then chuckled, "You're not thinking about getting into the professor's office, are you? Wanting to see if there's anything good in there? My little Malfoy?"
Soren shrugged, "I think it doesn't matter. I feel like Professor Binns wouldn't mind at all—what he keeps in the office belongs to him, but he can't touch it or use it; if it could be used by others, he might even be happier!"
Moray tilted her head, thought for a moment, and it seemed reasonable to her, then said, "So? You called me here to..."
"Exploring the entire Hogwarts castle has always been one of my plans, would you be willing to help me?" Soren asked expectantly.
"What do you think?" Moray rolled her eyes at him, as if he had asked a silly question, "I'm willing to help you even with your plans to build a force, so why not with just exploring the castle?"
The two spent an afternoon first researching information from "Hogwarts: A History" in the library. Although both had read the book, the author, Bathilda Bagshot, was still alive, and she would occasionally update the book (adding new chapters) or patch previous content.
In the magical world, as long as the author is still alive, all published books can be updated through the "Updating Charm"; when the author modifies the original manuscripts, all books reflect those changes in real-time with no delay.
So they had to look for the latest information in this book.
After gathering some clues, Soren didn't miss the opportunity to inquire one by one from the ghosts.
After several inquiries, the two successfully narrowed down the possible locations of Professor Binns' office to three spots inside the castle. Moray, who was usually a well-behaved and quiet girl, accompanied Soren in what felt like an adventurous dash, making her cheeks flush red and look quite adorable.
In the end, they found a hidden wooden door in the Gregory corridor on the sixth floor, where the spell "Alohomora" had been cast, but it wasn't a challenge for Soren. With Moray's astonished gaze, Soren used a Muggle universal lock-pick to pry the door open.
Taking advantage of no one being around, the two quickly slipped inside. Sure enough, the rumors were true, Professor Binns was not working here; the office was messy, with books opened everywhere and scattered parchments covered in a thick layer of dust, indicating that no one had visited for a long time.
Moray patted her chest; sneaking into a professor's office was a bit too thrilling for her. Seeing Soren's calm demeanor, she inferred that he must have done similar things before.
Soren looked at Moray, whose face was flushed with nervousness, combined with their running around in the castle, causing a fine sheen of sweat to appear on her forehead. Her rising and falling chest from rapid breathing made him unable to hold back a laugh, "Don't be nervous. If we really get caught by the professor, just say it was me who made you do it, haha!"
Moray shot Soren a glare and took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves.
Since sharing heartfelt words with Soren, she had prepared herself psychologically for this. However, she was such a rule-following person, and her character and beliefs had been shaped during her past 13 years of growth; it wasn't something that could be easily changed with just a shift in thought, nor could it be altered suddenly.
At this moment, she knew very clearly that she was about to break school rules for the first time, violating her past principles—she thought she would be very anxious, maybe even a bit resistant, but strangely, she didn't feel that way; instead, she felt a faint thrill at the idea of doing these things with Soren.
With his perceptive and skillful way of interacting, Soren had become quite adept at flirting. Moray's change in expression did not escape his notice.
Soren said nothing but quietly gazed at Moray.
Moray felt a little uncomfortable under Soren's intense stare, her face reddening as she said, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Thank you, Moray," Soren said softly.
"Hmph, I told you not to say thank you anymore," Moray pretended to pout, then her eyes filled with determination, "You don't have to say anything. I trust you, Soren."
Soren smiled and waved his wand at Moray. Her long hair and sweat instantly returned to a clean and tidy state; magic is convenient!
Soren browsed through the books on the shelves, most of which were about the fairy rebellion and giant wars, topics that could already be learned in class. They were likely used as reference books for making teaching materials, so Soren found them unworthy to take. Moray, on the other hand, was very interested and walked around to take a look. Unlike Soren, it was her first time visiting a professor's office!
Soren activated his magical eye. Most of the books on the shelf were ordinary history books, but in an inconspicuous corner, one book emitted unusual magical fluctuations.
He tapped his wand on the spine of that book, and the entire bookshelf suddenly rumbled and moved to the left, revealing a small wooden door behind it.
He never expected that even Professor Bins had a secret room!
The wooden door was unlocked.
The two of them excitedly entered the secret room and found a round pedestal in the center of the empty room. On the pedestal, he discovered two sets of books that were actually research notes on the languages of ancient gods and dragons as well as ancient giants.
The book on the ancient dragon language consisted of a thick ten volumes, while the book on the ancient giant language had a substantial six volumes. Soren unceremoniously stored all of them in his personal library to take away.
["Book of Ancient Gods and Dragons" obtained!]["Book of Ancient Giants" obtained!]
Seeing the look in Moray's eyes fixed on him, Soren felt a bit embarrassed. "As the saying goes, those who see should share... how about I give you half of these books?"
Moray huffed in slight dissatisfaction, "Do you think everyone is as capable as you? The coursework for fourth-year is already heavy enough; where would I find the time for these time-consuming extra studies?"
Soren smiled awkwardly, "Then how should I reward this beautiful lady for her company this whole afternoon, so I can have such a pleasant day?"
Moray couldn't help but giggle, "I want you to teach me spells—the ones that quickly tidy up your hair and clothes, making you look clean and neat… don't try to pass off common spells; I want your unique technique. Don't think I don't know that your spellcasting method is different, which is why your speed and results are so impressive—I've read about Finkley's spellcasting method, and I can't do it as skillfully as you," she said with a bit of anticipation, "What do you think? Is that okay?"
Since the day they shared their feelings, Soren had already considered Moray as his girlfriend. He was never secretive with his girlfriend. Daphne, Meredith, and Astoria had long since mastered his spellcasting methods.
"You silly, with our relationship, even if you didn't ask, I was planning to find time to teach you soon..." Soren said with a smile, "What kind of request is that? How about we change it?"
"Let me think..." Moray tilted her head, "It seems I don't have anything else I want to learn for now!"
"How could that be? There must be something," Soren's gaze gradually became heated, "I can teach you how to kiss..."
Soren reached out and pulled Moray into his arms. Moray was caught off guard, lost her balance, and gasped as she looked up to see the dark glimmer in Soren's eyes. Her body became stiff, her face flushed, and her heart started racing uncontrollably.
Before she had a chance to speak, Soren had already kissed her lips.
Their red lips pressed tightly together. Moray's initially stiff body gradually relaxed, and she obediently closed her eyes, awkwardly responding to Soren's deep kiss...
Soren spent a significant amount of time teaching Moray his spellcasting techniques thoroughly.
Soren's spellcasting methods had long broken away from Voldemort's framework—over the past three years, Soren had studied Professor Flitwick's duel notes, the duel records sent by Sister Gulana from the Silver Spear organization, Ravenclaw's spellcasting methods, and combined with the insights he gained from continuous practical battles, he had improved his spellcasting methods at least twenty times.
He was confident that his spellcasting technique was second to none.
If Voldemort hadn't tried to improve his own spellcasting during the years he struggled to survive, Soren was confident he could easily defeat Voldemort in terms of spellcasting techniques.
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