Step!
Draco tugged at his sleeve and took a deep breath of fresh air.
To be honest, even he found it difficult to stay in that foul-smelling room for long.
So the moment he returned to the Slytherin common room, Draco breathed deeply while grumbling about the far from pleasant experience he had just endured. "I really never thought there'd come a day when the air in the common room felt this precious."
It was not that the air here was especially good.
It was only that comparison made the difference obvious.
After all, that space filled with the stench of rotting food and dampness was not somewhere any normal person could stay.
The instant he stepped out of the spiral staircase, Draco even felt a strange illusion of being reborn rise in his heart.
He shook his head, throwing those unnecessary thoughts aside.
Only then did Draco realize that he seemed to have become the focus of everyone's attention.
The young snakes were looking at him with confusion and surprise, clearly wondering why Draco had emerged from a place like that.
If they had not known this person was Draco, someone would definitely have come forward to question him.
It was worth mentioning.
None of the Slytherin students present belonged to the Draco Constellation.
"It looks like things are going smoothly on Hermione's side too."
Naturally.
Draco had no obligation to explain his actions to them, nor would he bother doing so.
After sweeping his gaze around, Draco looked back at the spiral staircase behind him, which had once again sunk into darkness. "This trip can probably be considered beyond expectations."
Although it had not taken long, and there had not been much of an exchange, Draco had still obtained the information and intelligence he wanted from Bloody Baron.
It had even exceeded his expectations.
...
In any case.
After finishing this matter.
Draco should have been heading to the Draco Constellation branch to meet up with Hermione, but the direction he was going in now did not seem to be toward that place.
To be precise, after Draco stepped out of Slytherin House, he walked in the opposite direction.
"I have to avoid everyone."
For some reason, the Marauder's Map, which should have already served its purpose, was back in Draco's hands.
The way he kept checking the map and moving forward cautiously made it clear that Draco had other plans.
Meeting Bloody Baron was only one part of Draco's itinerary.
As mentioned before.
This magical Marauder's Map depicted many secret passages unknown to others.
Although more than half of these secret passages, whose purposes were unclear, had become impassable due to age and various other reasons, even so.
Through Draco's own investigation, there were still several secret passages that could be used. Some that were not too badly damaged had even been restored by Draco in passing.
Besides that, Draco had also figured out what these secret passages were for, and exactly where they led.
In fact.
The base used as the Draco Constellation branch was actually a space reached through one of those passages.
And the reason these secret passages had suddenly been brought up.
Naturally, it was because the place Draco was heading toward now was one of the secret passages depicted on the Marauder's Map.
"Although this isn't the first time I've said it, I still have to praise the wizard who made this magical map."
As Draco murmured to himself, after avoiding everyone's eyes and ears, he finally arrived at an empty corridor.
And this was Draco's destination.
Come to think of it, there was nothing particularly special about this corridor.
If one had to point out something unusual, it would probably be the knight statues standing on both sides of the corridor, each gripping a knight's greatsword in both hands.
The lifelike greatswords and armor gave the impression that they might come alive in the next second.
And at this moment, Draco was standing in front of one of those statues.
"So this is it?"
The serious way Draco examined the knight statue made it seem as if these knight statues, which could be seen everywhere in Hogwarts Castle, truly had something different or special about them.
But in truth, Draco had not come here for these armored knights.
As Draco reached out and touched the greatsword in front of him, he said in sudden understanding, "So that's how it was... No wonder we saw Harry Potter there back then."
"In that case, it completely explains how Harry Potter, who clearly hadn't received a professor's permission, was still able to leave Hogwarts and appear in that place."
The moment he finished speaking.
Draco's hand turned and pressed against the wall behind the knight statue.
It looked like a baffling move, but in the next second, a pitch-black opening that led to who knew where magically appeared in the wall.
This scene.
It was enough to make any wizard seeing it for the first time widen their eyes and wonder whether they were hallucinating.
But in truth.
That was not worth being surprised over at all.
What was truly surprising was that this secret passage did not lead to somewhere inside Hogwarts Castle.
It led... outside Hogwarts!
...
Come to think of it.
Draco seemed to have a strange affinity with these dark passages.
In any case, after Draco raised his wand and followed the twisting path.
As light appeared once more, Draco slowly walked out from between the parted walls.
Judging from his robes, they were not much messier than before. From that alone, it was clear that using this secret passage had not caused any major problems.
At least, the journey had gone very smoothly.
Draco lifted a hand to block the sunlight slightly. "I'm here..."
Squinting with one eye, Draco held his wand warily while carefully observing his surroundings.
Very soon, thanks to its extremely distinctive architectural style, Draco recognized exactly where he was.
"No one here? Looks like they don't pay much attention to this place."
The place where Draco had appeared was the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade Village.
As Draco muttered to himself, he looked toward the central area of Hogsmeade Village.
Although he could more or less learn about it from other people, and could imagine it through the intelligence he had, Draco was still extremely curious about the changes and situation in the outside world. That was why he wanted to confirm it with his own eyes right away.
And Draco did indeed notice a few unusual signs and circumstances.