By the time Allen emerged from the Chamber of Secrets, it was long past lights-out.
According to school rules, students who were late would be punished and have points deducted, but Allen didn't care at all. After all, it was Dumbledore himself involved.
He wasn't entirely sure whether the recent battle had yielded huge gains, but one thing was certain: the Chamber of Secrets wasn't going to cause trouble this school year.
As for Voldemort yelling "Where's my snake?!" or "Who touched my serpent will lose their entire family!", Allen simply didn't care.
Without the Chamber's presence, Tom Riddle could jump all he liked, it wouldn't matter. Besides, Allen didn't believe he could resist entering the Chamber anyway.
The True Sight, worth 75 game coins, was expensive but absolutely worth it. Quietly, it now stood at the corner of the Chamber's ruined entrance, ready to welcome the next visitor.
When Voldemort stealthily entered, he would find that not only was his serpent gone, but his life could be in jeopardy, unless he could possess Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, or even Dumbledore himself, Allen could easily manipulate him in a possession state.
Plan: executed perfectly! Allen silently praised himself. There was only one small regret: this dungeon hadn't dropped a single Galleon, a truly poor dungeon indeed.
So, partly to resolve this hidden hazard and partly to avenge Hagrid, Allen decided to go grab a little extra cash from Hagrid's side. After all, that was a treasure trove, and this time he had every justification.
Perhaps Merlin was pleased with Allen's joy, for after leaving the Chamber, he avoided the first trap but unfortunately triggered the second.
Although the widow's hidden skills remained as effective as ever, they couldn't compensate for Allen's human errors.
The long battle with the basilisk had left its black blood covering the entire floor. The system hadn't removed it for some magical purpose, leaving Allen's feet coated in dried, ink-like blood.
Unfortunately, inside the bathroom, years of accumulated water re-moistened the blood. At first, his footprints disappeared quickly and seemed harmless, but now Allen was moving from the bathroom toward the door.
The moment he stepped out, two black footprints appeared instantly behind him. Allen sensed something was off, the texture was completely different: thick and sticky.
He drew his wand, tapped his shoes lightly, and cast a cleaning charm. His soles were clean again. Then he noticed the footprints behind him and returned to the bathroom to clean the faint traces, his foot size was not for a girl's shoe.
Less than a minute later, Allen noticed a new figure in the empty space.
Of course, it wasn't a pet or a long-eared creature of elegance, but a Peeves, the most annoying imp in Hogwarts, feared by cats, hated by ghosts, and universally despised by humans.
In Hogwarts, he was the only being that Filch hated while students also disliked him. Yet, after all these years, Peeves thrived.
The moment Allen took a step, the wind stirred the imp's senses, partly because Allen, eager to erase footprints, hadn't disguised his movements.
"Yo, what's this?" Peeves shouted.
Allen frantically considered if he had any magic capable of knocking out the ghost-like creature, but unfortunately, he did not.
Unless I plan to kill it… But that would be excessive. If he did, how would he be any different from Voldemort?
So, Allen unleashed a burst of fear magic, and Peeves immediately froze, even showing a comically terrified imp face in midair.
Using fear to silence Peeves temporarily, Allen swiftly swept his wand over the remaining traces on the floor and ran at top speed. Even with Dumbledore around, he was 90% sure he wouldn't be caught, but if Dumbledore happened to be idle and came across him, what then?
This was no minor mischief or adventure where getting caught meant a simple point deduction and joking around, it was sneaking into the girls' bathroom. If caught, everything would be ruined by the words: "That pervert snuck into the girls' bathroom!"
But Allen underestimated Peeves.
Disaster seldom comes alone, but Peeves consistently defied that law. He had a legendary track record of chaos and never surpassed others.
If anyone else's mischief didn't hit triple digits at Filch's, Allen would eat the wooden door in front of him.
Though Allen should've sprinted desperately, he had a Recall Spell. He ran upward; anyone following would likely go up, not guessing he'd return to the underground Hufflepuff common room.
Nearby, Peeves' shrill voice started shouting: "Catch him, there's a little ghost roaming the castle at night, even sneaking into the girls' bathroom!!!"
This was probably the highest point of Filch's affection for Peeves. Upon hearing this, the castle stirred, footsteps echoed in the hall.
Seven or eight individuals were moving: surely Filch, patrol prefects, and a few professors. Allen didn't know who else.
Two of the remaining people quickly revealed themselves, they were Harry and Ron, invisible, hiding nearby.
Ron wasn't in the mood after the daytime yelling letter incident, so his good buddy Harry decided to take him out for a walk, of course, using the invisibility cloak.
They hid from the patrol and, after avoiding trouble, moved on, leaving Allen completely unnoticed.
These two unlucky kids, Allen sighed and activated his Recall Spell.
Why did you have to go out today? I have Recall, do you?
No need to check the door behind me, but you do?
An invisible boy hiding near the girls' bathroom, detected by Peeves, fleeing in panic, while that night the Fat Lady welcomed Harry and Ron back and informed Dumbledore… and Dumbledore had returned the borrowed invisibility cloak…
Let's hope Dumbledore's heart is strong enough, by Merlin.
Allen yawned, pulled the blanket over himself, and drifted into sleep.••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
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