Chapter 126: The Empty Castle

A new week begins, and the young wizards are surprised to find that the lessons have changed. ----------

Charm class:

Professor Flitwick pulled out a stack of parchment and standing on a thick stack of books, "Little wizards, today you will be introduced to a new teaching aid that I think many of you have already heard about ..."

----------

Potions Class:

In the fifth-year classroom, Snape quietly looked at the young wizards off the podium: "For the sake of your OWLs grades, I need you to put more effort into your theories, as I have said many times."

The little wizards were like a quail, not daring to say anything.

He suddenly raised his wand, and dozens of parchments flew out like sharp swords, landing one by one in front of the little wizards, the parchments leaped with the shimmering light of magic.

The well-informed young wizards were already impatient to use their wands on it, and called out: "The secret of the ancient rune."

But the parchment did not budge.

Snape said slowly, "Very well, Miss Campbell has given us a demonstration of how to do it wrong."

----------

Transfiguration class:

Professor McGonagall's sharp gaze swept around, " It took a tremendous amount of effort from a couple of professors, and I hope, you won't treat it lightly."

"Here, take out your wands and chant after me: The Mystery of Magic, always keep in mind."

The young wizards chanted after that ...

----------

Ancient rune class, 6th-year classroom.

Felix had a smile on his face, "You will find this new version of the 'Answer Space' has more features."

"Including the leaderboard that you are all looking forward so much."

The young wizards couldn't help but try it out. Except for the fact that the start-up password changed from the 'ancient rune', the picture also changed -

A castle emerged from the top of a stretching mountain and then moved rapidly through the great hall, The Grand Staircase, the yard, the tower, the library, the forbidden forest ...

This seems to be the point of view of an outsider entering Hogwarts for the first time, a simple outline of the most familiar scenes.

This image is fixed upon the castle of Hogwarts, the flags which represent the four houses are inserted at the main entrance of the castle, the Snake, Badger, Lion, and Eagle on the flags are lifelike.

When their eyes fall on it, they will find the corresponding creatures either swaying, standing upright, roaring, and raising their wings.

The young wizards who had chosen the Ancient rune class had finished the binding process early on, and at the moment they were looking at the latest interface.

It showed an overhead view of Hogwarts, with clouds of symbols flashing, each one representing a different class.

Such as the one representing the ancient rune is a line of rune, the meaning of which is precisely the original password - "the secret of ancient rune".

The one representing the Transfiguration class is a flaming lion, but its form keeps changing.

On behalf of Potion class is a boiling crucible, with rolling hot air constantly churning.

...

Besides these symbols, the young wizards were most concerned about the leaderboard function.

They looked carefully, and on the right side of the parchment alongside their names, a new symbol appeared; it is a sketch of a roll of magic scroll.

The young wizards rather skilfully tapped their wands on the scroll, and a rain swallow with scythe wings flew to the center with the magic scroll, which began to zoom in and slowly unfold ...

In the top line, a row of words began to appear - house, year, name (code), subject, level, score - a total of six categories.

Other than that, it remained empty.

Felix looked at the crowd and explained, "There are a few points that need your attention."

"The ranking on the leaderboard is not about grades, but about examining your accumulation in the subject, which I and other professors believe would allow you to find your direction of interest in advance, which would be good for your future employment;"

"The ranking list can be found in the subcategories of the corresponding subjects, which are topics set by the professors based on their own experience, and new content is added every once in a while;"

"I think someone has already noticed that the leaderboard can use code names which can be used to hide your ranking, which is designed for some students who don't want to be in the limelight;"

The young wizards listened attentively.

"And besides the rankings, there are two other places you need to be concerned about: the incorrect sections are split up among different subjects; also, you can preview or review subjects from other years, which have the key points marked by the professor." Sᴇaʀᴄh the ɴøvᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"Next, let's take the ancient rune as an example, and let's experience its specific functions ..."

...

With the warmer weather, Hogwarts is getting sunnier and sunnier.

Even at the end of the school day, the sun still stubbornly left its tail.

In the castle corridor, Ron kept yelling in a low voice, "Crazy, they are all crazy, not a single one ..."

Harry gave him a sympathetic look, he felt that Ron's state is abnormal now.

He's holding a piece of parchment in his hand and just staring at the leaderboard on it all the way -

In the second year list, Hermione Granger's name occupied the first place in all subjects, having passed 37 levels already at the highest level of the charm class, and besides that, he saw many familiar names: Cedric Diggory, Cho Chang, Percy Weasley, Penelope Clearwater ...

The castle became empty, with very few people in sight - everyone holed up in the library or in the common room playing games for level breaking and unlocking a new level.

They couldn't stand the atmosphere in the common room anymore and ran out to hang out.

Ron muttered, "I can't understand how the words break-in and game are linked together."

Harry said, "Wait a few days for everyone to come to their senses, I guess."

Ron remarked something that he couldn't agree more with him, "Hermione definitely won't, she's totally caught up in it."

Harry and Ron had no idea of returning to the common room, they wandered around the castle and soon came across a familiar figure -

"Fred, George!"

"Oh, it's you two." One of the twins said.

"What are you guys doing out here, shouldn't you be in the common room playing break-in games?"

" Not us, though." the twins grinned, "Today is a rare occasion, so of course we have to remember this."

"So you guys were going out for a fun trip? It's too early for that ...," Ron said suspiciously.

"No, Percy is pretty confident that he'll take first place in the sixth year, so we're going to get some butterbeer and Honeydukes sweets." Fred said.

"That's right, success or failure, it's worth celebrating." George said with a grin.

"So - you guys are going to sneak out and go to Hogsmeade through the secret passage? Can you take us there?" Ron asked with some amazement.

Harry couldn't help but hold his breath as well.

"George, we seem to have let it slip." Fred said.

"You're the one who let it slip." George rebutted him.

"I agree, but we have to do something." Fred squeezed his eyes.

"Like ... obliviate?" George said knowingly.

With that, the twins' eyes fell on Ron.

Ron swallowed and took two steps back.

But the twins ran away quickly, and Harry and Ron could still hear their laughter as their figures disappeared from sight of them.

Elsewhere, Felix strolled through the castle as well, and he entered the yard to see a spectre floating peacefully in midair, staring at the greenery and contemplating her thoughts alone.

"Lady Grey."