"Maka."
"Um?"
Hearing Harry call her, Maka immediately turned her head and gave him a questioning look.
But the other party quickly shook his head.
"… No, it's nothing," he said.
But it was obvious that the expression on Harry's face at this moment could not be concealed by a simple "nothing".
Then, Harry turned his attention back to the broken body deep in the auditorium, and his emerald eyes, which he inherited from his mother, became exceptionally deep.
Maka subconsciously touched the bag on her lower back, and then nodded silently to herself, as if confirming something again - his "Book of Sin" notes were lying there quietly.
"Let's go! No matter what twists and turns 'it' has had in the past, it is obviously dead now. And anyone who dies must have embarked on a new journey... while there is still time. It’s enough, let’s go walk some more elsewhere in the castle!”
Maybe...or "certainly".
When Maka and Harry saw the black mutilated corpse, they must have suddenly realized something in their hearts. However, neither of them spoke out about this matter. Instead, they both chose to put their thoughts where they should be, in a very tacit understanding.
"good."
Harry responded and learned the previous lesson. This time he took the lead and walked through most of the auditorium with his sword, then strode to the right towards the side hall door.
Maka also hugged behind Harry.
Of course, in the process, the two of them obviously inevitably got closer to the ceremony stage, and at the same time, they also got closer to the terrifying mutilated body full of doubts. But when they passed by the stage, neither of them glanced at it.
"Squeak-"
"Crack."
As the door was gently pushed open and then slowly closed behind the two of them, everything in the auditorium was locked in their memories... at least for the time being.
"We'd better choose a few locations first. After all, the school is quite big, isn't it?" Maka and Harry stood side by side in the corridor outside. After looking at both ends, they casually said, "Harry, Where do you think we should go first?”
Although Maka is acting very relaxed now, in fact, the situation between the two of them may not be that good now.
The black mist that had disappeared without a trace in the auditorium reappeared wherever it left. Although the fog on this section of the corridor is not too thick, as long as they look at both ends of the corridor, no matter which end, it seems to tell them that they are about to step into the abyss of the mysterious fog that they cannot see their fingers.
It had been confirmed just now when passing through the black fog at the main entrance of the auditorium. Even Maka's perception ability was greatly limited in the dark fog, otherwise he would not have shown any signs of violence. hesitated.
As for Harry, the challenges he will face are naturally more severe.
But at this moment, Harry didn't show any hesitation.
"Go to the eighth floor first, and then search from top to bottom!" He said solemnly, "Although Hermione said that there is no need to be deliberate, at least under the circumstances that are not unavoidable, I still want to do my best to ensure that the entire How safe the plan is.”
The so-called "ensuring safety" naturally does not ensure the safety of him and Maka, but the safety of Hermione and Luna who will come later.
"Well, I agree with this." Maka agreed happily.
…
The moving staircase, enchanted by Rowena Ravenclaw, had long since ceased to exist after the castle was partially destroyed and rebuilt.
Until now, although this castle that once left glorious traces in the history of magic has a new owner who is powerful enough, the "owner" does not seem to have had the idea of repairing it.
But perhaps because of this, at least Maka and Harry didn't have to walk blindly through the maze-like movable staircase - the two of them flew directly from the middle to the eighth floor.
Naturally, the two of them had nothing to say about their memories of this school. Even though they were completely plunged into the absolute darkness where vision failed along the way, they didn't go the wrong way at all just by occasionally touching the furnishings around them along the way.
"Well... Thirteen feet long, woven with high-quality fabric, this is it," Maka rubbed the old fiber texture on the side of the corridor and said softly, "I hope our Mr. Barnabas won't get beaten today. Yes, even though I can’t see it.”
"You can't see it, and neither can the troll."
Harry in the darkness received a rare chat from Maka.
There was no way, even with Harry's endurance, which had been tempered for many times, it was natural to feel pressure in such an environment where he was in darkness and could encounter powerful enemies at any time.
So much so that even he, who had repeatedly chosen to avoid having too many conversations with Maka, couldn't help but start a fight.
"Yes! Well, is that really the case?"
Also in the darkness, Maka seemed to be quite happy that Harry finally took the initiative to talk to her, and her tone became obviously lighter.
But he actually knew in his heart that the silly Barnabas on the tapestry at hand would definitely not be beaten by the troll again. Not even just this tapestry, in fact most of the magical tapestries and portraits in the castle have long lost their original "vitality" and have become no different from those in the Muggle world.
Just thinking like this... would be too lonely, and would have a negative impact on the morale of the two of them, so it's better not to care about some insignificant truths.
"Then, 'things that don't exist' still don't exist, let's keep going!"
Maka and Harry did not go to the other side of the tapestry to "look". Besides, they couldn't see anything now, and even turning their heads was unnecessary.
After stopping for a while to chat to relieve their tense nerves, the two continued to move forward.
"You're already here, let's go to the principal's office by the way!" Maka said casually.
To be honest, in the entire Hogwarts castle, the principal's office is actually not a place with many secrets - there are many more mysterious places in the school!
I think back then, each of the four founders had their own rooms, and the principal's office was also the office location chosen by the first independent principal of Hogwarts after he took office. In order to show that his treatment was not higher than that of anyone else in the school, he also deliberately chose an ordinary old storage room for his office.
It was only when the portraits of the previous principals were hung there that it gradually became very special.
"Suddenly I miss those strange passwords given by Professor Dumbledore." Maka muttered as she walked.