Kevin lay flat on the bottom of the pool, his back pressed against the cold marble tiles, trying to make himself as small as possible while inching his limbs toward the pool's edge.
"I have to get out of here right now, before I completely lose my mind." He finally understood why werewolves transformed so violently on the night of the full moon.
Out of a sense of gentlemanly discipline, Kevin intended to avoid looking at those constantly moving legs. But in reality, it was impossible to look away from the pale limbs treadling the water. More than once, he found himself looking up at the bright white moon and the golden reeds swaying in the current.
"It's not my fault. The surrounding space has long been distorted by the laws of universal attraction. I'm just a pitiful wizard controlled by physical phenomena," Kevin thought to himself, trying to rationalize his predicament.
The strange girl—Luna Lovegood—ran to a corner of the pool to escape the invisible Wrackspurts in her mind. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Kevin immediately surged up, climbed out of the pool, and bolted toward the door.
Unfortunately, he hadn't run two steps when his foot landed squarely on the bar of soap the girl had left on the floor.
Bang!
Kevin fell flat on his back onto the hard marble. He failed his Constitution Save and successfully entered a [Stunned] state.
"What was that noise?" The girl turned her head but saw nothing.
However, a strong intuition told her that something was there. She walked toward the source of the sound and bent down to feel around.
Sure enough, she touched something soft and warm.
"What is this?" The girl spread her hands and continued to feel around, trying to determine the creature's outline.
Kevin, still dazed, sensed that the situation was spiraling into disaster based on the trajectory of her palms, but the dizziness kept him immobilized for a few critical seconds.
Then, the girl's left hand closed around a solid, cylindrical object. As her fingers brushed against it, it only grew harder. Her expression changed, and she suddenly realized what it was.
"A Crumple-Horned Snorkack!" the girl exclaimed with delight. "Daddy said people can't find them because they can turn invisible. Nobody believed Daddy before, but I knew the Crumple-Horned Snorkack must exist."
I understand now, the child's eccentricity is hereditary,Kevin thought to himself in panic. And I must now escape from this crazy girl's clutches.
The girl grabbed the "Crumple-Horned Snorkack's" horn and one of its "front hooves," trying to drag it from the bathroom back to her dormitory to show her dormmates, completely disregarding the fact that she herself was stark naked.
The excruciating pain of being nearly snapped in two made Kevin let out a silent scream of agony.
"Did I hurt you? That's a really unique cry." The girl was still unaware of the reality of the situation, but at least she had let go of his... horn.
Recovering from his dizziness, Kevin immediately cast Spider Climb, gaining the ability to adhere to walls and ceilings. He dashed up the marble wall and scurried across the ceiling, heading from the bathroom toward the girls' dormitory, leaving the girl—who was still groping the air for her discovery—behind.
The invisibility effect had worn off. Kevin, posed on the ceiling in the style of a certain Muggle comic book hero, silently prayed that the girl below would not suddenly look up.
Then he spotted Hannah Abbott, who had stayed at school for the holidays, in her room.
Good. As long as she's willing to lend a helping hand, I'm sure I can avoid social annihilation,Kevin encouraged himself.
"Hannah," Kevin whispered, projecting his voice using a Message cantrip. "Don't make a sound. I'm in danger, and only you can prevent my social suicide." Kevin was worried that Hannah might still be angry, so he framed the situation as dire.
Hannah was clearly startled, jumping like a frightened rabbit and looking left and right. But she quickly covered her gasp with her hand.
"Stop looking for me. Go somewhere where there's no one around."
Hannah walked back to her bed without saying a word.
"My roommates have all gone home for the holiday. Where are you?"
"Could you get me a robe, or any clothing? Then turn around, and I'll ask you to turn back when I'm decent. I know it's a strange request, but I'm begging you."
Hannah pulled a black Hogwarts robe out of her trunk and then turned around.
Kevin quickly descended from the ceiling and grabbed the robe. It was a little tight around the shoulders, but manageable.
However, Hannah turned back around slightly too soon and saw Kevin frantically trying to pull the ill-fitting garment over his head. She immediately raised her small hands to cover her face, but the gaps between her fingers were wide open.
"Is this what you call life-threatening? You're cursed to die if you don't run around naked?" Hannah wanted to use a sarcastic tone, but the flush on her cheeks and her breathless voice betrayed her.
"It's all a misunderstanding. I can explain."
Fortunately, it didn't come to a dramatic "Let me explain" versus "I won't listen" scenario.
"Hehehe, you have three sentences to explain." Otherwise, I might start drooling,Hannah thought.
"I have prepared a gift to apologize to you."
"The Weasley twins had a House-elf teleport me in."
"The teleportation wasn't successful; my clothes didn't arrive with me."
As for encountering a certain Ravenclaw in the bathroom, that was a detail best omitted; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to explain himself in a hundred sentences.
"No one else saw you like this, right?"
"Absolutely no one else saw me." Touching me doesn't count,Kevin added in his mind.
Suddenly, the corridor outside became lively with footsteps and voices. Hannah hurriedly whispered, "Get in the bed!" She shoved him down and covered Kevin with the duvet.
Someone was about to walk in. Hannah looked at the unusual bulge in the bedding, steeled her heart, and sat down on the edge of the mattress to hide it.
Parvati Patil burst in. "Luna Lovegood has announced again that she's found a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, this time in the bathroom! Do you want to go check it out?"
"Hasn't she said something similar a few times since the start of the term?"
"This is the third time. She probably just wants attention. Unfortunately, now many people are calling her 'Loony Lovegood'," Parvati said, shaking her head.
"You all go ahead. I just want to rest a little longer," Hannah said, squirming restlessly on the bed.
As soon as Parvati left, Hannah jumped off the bed as if her trousers were on fire. "Now that everyone is running to the bathroom to watch the show, you and I can sneak out together."
"Okay. And I'm sorry. That was due to unforeseen circumstances..."
"Don't explain. I don't want to know what that was. And aren't you even a little bit curious about the Crumple-Horned Snorkack?"
"I am absolutely not curious. Whatever it is, I just want to get out of here as soon as possible."
Kevin and Hannah finally cornered Fred and George Weasley in the corridor.
As they returned the equipment to Kevin with wide grins, the twins said, "No need to thank us, Miss Abbott. It was our duty to deliver him to you. All you need to do is recommend our groundbreaking joke products to anyone in need in the near future."
"I wasn't planning on thanking you anyway," Hannah said, her face burning red, and she pulled Kevin away.