Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 28 Gryffindor Common Room

"Is he serious?" Harry asked Percy quietly, realizing he was being a bit of an oddball.

“Impossible,” Percy said, frowning at Dumbledore. “What’s strange is that whenever he forbids us from going somewhere, he usually explains why, like, ‘There are many dangerous beasts in the woods,’ which everyone knows. I think he should at least explain that to our prefects.”

“Now, before everyone goes to bed, let’s all sing the school song!” Dumbledore announced loudly. Harry noticed that the smiles of the other teachers seemed to freeze, even Hagrid’s.

Dumbledore flicked his wand, and a long, golden ribbon floated out, twisting and coiling like a snake above the high dining table to form lines of text.

“Each of you choose your favorite tune,” said Dumbledore. “Ready, set, sing!”

Then all the teachers and students sang loudly: "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, teach us knowledge, whether we are balding old people or children with broken knees, our minds can accept interesting things."

"Because our minds are now empty, filled with air, dead flies and trivial matters, teach us some valuable knowledge, give us back what we have forgotten. You just need to do your best, and leave the rest to us. We will study hard until we turn to dust."

Everyone sang the school song in a scattered manner.

The Weasley twins, seated on either side of Tierra, continued singing to the slow melody of the Funeral March. Dumbledore conducted them for the last few bars with his wand, and when they finished, his applause was the loudest.

“Music!” he said, “is far more captivating than anything we’ve done here! It’s time for bed. Everyone, go back to your dorms.”

Tierra followed Percy and the other first-year Gryffindor wizards out of the dining hall and up the constantly shifting marble steps.

“I’m sure I’ll get lost,” Tierra said.

It's much bigger here than in the movie, and the intricate network of staircases makes this castle feel like a moving maze.

“Yeah, there are so many stairs here, and they keep moving,” Harry chimed in from behind him, yawning as he spoke.

He was too tired, too full, tired of meeting new friends, and tired of being in the department.

Percy led them through a corridor filled with whispering portraits, past layers of curtains, and into a deep, dark corridor.

At the front of the corridor, a bundle of canes floated in mid-air. Percy was only a step away from the people behind him, so they all rushed towards him.

“It’s Peeves,” Percy said to the first-year students with some disgust. “A ghost who loves to play pranks.”

He raised his voice again and said, "Mischievous Ghost, reveal yourself!"

His response was a loud, piercing sound, like a deflated balloon.

"Are you asking me to go find the Blood Man Barrow?"

With a "poof," a chubby, ball-shaped dwarf suddenly appeared, with a pair of evil black eyes, a big mouth, and was floating cross-legged in mid-air, his hands firmly gripping the bundle of canes.

"Hehehe!" he chuckled wickedly. "So it's that annoying first-grader! How fun!"

He suddenly lunged at Tyella and the others, startling the young wizards standing in the front rows.

"Get out of here, you little devil, or I'll tell Blood Man Barrow this is no joke!" Percy roared.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and disappeared. The cane struck Neville squarely on the head, and then they heard him take flight, his armor clanging as he flew by.

“You should be wary of Peeves,” Percy said, leading the group forward. “Only Barrow the Blood and Headmaster Dumbledore can handle him; he won’t even listen to us prefects… We’re here.”

At the end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very wealthy woman wearing a long, layered pink court dress.

"Password?" she asked. "Dragon Scum," Percy replied.

The painting wobbled and moved forward, revealing a circular opening in the wall. After they all walked through the opening, they found themselves in the Gryffindor common room.

It was a comfortable circular room, surrounded by a fan-shaped arrangement of plush armchairs around an unlit fireplace.

Percy led the little witches through a door to their bedroom, and then led the boys through another door.

They were clearly inside a tower, climbing a spiral staircase.

A minute later, Tierra and Harry finally found their beds: five beds with four pillars each, draped with deep red flannel curtains.

Five luxurious beds were arranged in a circle around the central fireplace.

Besides Tierra, Harry, and Ron, Gryffindor swordsman Neville Longbottom and demolition genius Simon Finegan were also in this dormitory.

Their crates, the pets had already been brought up, including the crates of books that Tierra had sent earlier, all lying quietly beside his bed.

The five young wizards, even Tiera, were exhausted and didn't want to talk anymore. They changed into their pajamas and went to sleep.

Hmm... Only Tiera took out toothpaste and a toothbrush from her bag, brushed her teeth in the dorm bathroom, and wiped her face with a towel.

No matter how tired you are, you have to keep things clean.

There's definitely no way I can take a shower today.

Tiera thought with some regret that, although he had long since learned the Cleansing Charm, he still enjoyed the pleasure of taking a bath.

But he couldn't even use a cleansing spell today.

He was simply too tired today, not just because of the several-hour train journey.

Besides expending more energy resisting the Sorting Hat's spying, Tiera also diverted some of his magic to maintain the existence of those cursed worms. Otherwise, once his magic was exhausted and the cursed worms could no longer sustain themselves, they would immediately seek out the nearest living organism to parasitize.

Although Tiera has been studying magic for more than five years since he was six, and has read everything in Merlin's Notebook, he believes that in terms of the accumulation of profound magical knowledge, he is no less than any of the young wizards in the school.

However, due to a lack of basic knowledge and limitations in his magical abilities, his use of magic remained at a novice level.

That is why the Merlin Pill he applied to Peter Pettigrew has gradually lost its effectiveness.

This pill is essentially a curse. Although Merlin improved it and it can control magical creatures, the strength of this control depends on the user's own magic power.

It's amazing that Tiera's current level of magic has allowed her to control the train so far. If it were Ron or Neville, Merlin's pills would probably only last for an hour.

"Hmm, it's best to use these pills sparingly," Tierra thought.

I don't know if using it too much will lead to drug resistance.

Tierra brushed her teeth, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep without even saying goodnight to Harry.

A wizard's magic can only be restored through rest, that is, by sleeping, in addition to relying on potions.

Harry quickly fell asleep, and soon only the sound of even breathing filled the room.

(End of this chapter)