Chapter 9: The Bronze Knocker and the Piano (4,000 Words Chapter)
Accompanied by the house-elf Burleigh, Elena was particularly interested in the legendary Room of Requirement opposite the tapestry of the troll on the eighth floor of the castle, but she could only suppress her curiosity and follow the normal path.
If her previous knowledge of the wizarding world can be used to fool her past experiences, then a little girl who has never been to Hogwarts is a little too much to find exactly what most students may not know until they graduate.
In the same vein, there is the prefect's bathroom on the sixth floor of the castle, in the fourth door to the left of the statue of Fool Boris.
A luxurious chandelier lit with candles casts a warm soft light on the room, everything is made of snow-white marble, including the large bath in the middle of the room, which sinks into the ground, like a rectangular swimming pool. Around the bath there are about a hundred golden dragon heads, each with a different color gem on the handle. In addition, there is a diving board. Snow-white linen curtains hung from the windows, and a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner.
As a girl, in Elena's imagination, the most ideal and luxurious bathroom template is roughly like this.
You must know that when she was in college in her previous life, the bathroom designed by the frantic school was actually a punch-in water supply, and a card swipe could only last fifteen minutes - can you imagine the desolation of a hand stained with white bubbles trembling and stretching out the door to renew time with a student card in the cold winter?!
It was only then that Elena realized to her frustration that she would not have been able to enter many secret rooms full of magical magic if it weren't for the students of Hogwarts.
Whether it was the teachers' offices, Filch's offices, or the library with 103,000 magic books, they were all sealed off by magic, and they could not be freely entered. This made it impossible for Elena to borrow a snack from a half-blood prince or to see the forbidden toys of the Wizarding World bear children.
Oh no, the door to Professor McGonagall's office, on the second floor of the castle, above the marble staircase in the foyer, was hidden. But Elena was still very sensible and didn't knock on the door - who knows if this dangerous Professor McGonagall would suddenly remember what happened before and take the opportunity to take revenge.
The empty classrooms are even more meaningless to visit, after all, except for the Potions classroom, in Elena's opinion, most of the classrooms seem to be no different, they are all a wooden lectern and dozens of rows of empty tables and chairs.
Of course, even so, Elena was already satisfied.
Because even if all the ghosts don't appear, the whole Hogwarts castle is still full of magical power, everything seems to be constantly moving, the people in the portrait are constantly visiting each other, and the staircase is moving.
The happiest part of the whole visit was the Ravenclaw common room on the west side of the castle, above the Ravenclaw Tower, to be precise, the lovely eagle-shaped bronze knocker.
Just like Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of the college, the door to the Ravenclaw Lounge does not require a password like other colleges, and anyone who can answer the right question can enter at will.
Standing in the smooth wooden doorway, Elena knocked on the door, the eagle's beak on the bronze knocker opened, and asked in a gentle voice, "Which comes first, fire or phoenix?"
It seems that there are not too many question banks, and Elena was lucky enough to draw an original question from the original book, "This is a cycle, there is no starting point." ”
"Correct. With that, the door creaked and opened automatically.
However, Elena, who answered correctly, did not choose to rush into it.
"My dear knocker, how do you make sure that the answers to your questions are the only ones that are correct?"
Elena narrowed her eyes cutely and shrugged her shoulders at the eagle-shaped knocker, "You know, language and words are the most likely to have multiple meanings, and all colloquialisms can be given new meanings at any time. ”
“......”
The eagle head opened her mouth, but she didn't make a sound, but she vaguely felt as if a magic force was looking at her from the knocker in front of her, which was obviously as conscious as the Sorting Hat.
Since you've come to Hogwarts, you have to leave some traces, otherwise it's boring.
The silver-haired little Lori smiled evilly and said in a very seductive tone, "As far as I know, many mathematical problems, generally speaking, have a single objective solution at the basic level"
"Math problems: simple calculations do not test a student's intelligence. The sound of the eagle-shaped knocker was visibly confused.
"What about that, for example?"
Elena recalled a little, and said slowly in a tone of extra excitement, "Put the chicken and the rabbit in the same cage, counting from above, there are thirty-five heads, and counting from below, there are ninety-four legs. How many chickens and rabbits are in each cage?"
After a pause, the silver-haired little Lori continued, "Moreover, it only takes a few simple changes to the number to extend an infinite number of interesting questions like this." ”
“......”
The eagle-shaped knocker was silent for a few seconds before nodding slightly, "You have a point, I have to think about it." Thank you. ”
After speaking, the knocker did not speak again, and was returned into the original bronze sculpture.
It worked!
Elena secretly waved her small fist and turned away happily.
"Boehly, I think it's almost, let's go back. ”
May God bless this year's Ravenclaw students. However, with their patience, they can still count the correct results one by one.
............
Soon, with a little unknown joy, Elena returned to the eighth floor of the castle with the house-elf Burleigh.
"Next, it's time to meet Dumbledore. ”
Elena took a deep breath and looked at the stairs next to the giant stone beast, ready to walk up.
Suddenly, I found that at the end of the corridor, there seemed to be a classroom that I hadn't entered, and it seemed that I had accidentally ignored it when I turned around and left directly.
Elena looked curiously ahead, and in her impression, there should be no special scene on this floor other than the Room of Requirement.
Wait, could it be that there is a room for request?!!The silver-haired little Lori's eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked with interest.
"Burleigh, what is that place? isn't it ......?"
"That'......"
Burleigh, who was walking behind Elena, looked up in the direction of the girl's arm, and replied in a flat tone, "It seems to be an abandoned classroom." ”
"No, no, I didn't see it just now. ”
Elena shook her head earnestly, told herself in her own words, and ran towards the classroom without hesitation.
"Ahh......h
The silver-haired little Lori pushed open the door hopefully, looked inside, and her little face collapsed suddenly, and she let out a sigh.
As Boehly said, this is indeed an abandoned classroom.
Wooden desks and chairs were piled up at the back of the classroom, and judging by the dusty empty bottles and wooden shelves, it seemed that it had once been used as a classroom for potions or herbology.
"Well, what's that?"
Elena glanced one last time, and was about to turn to leave, when her gaze suddenly froze.
Directly in front of the classroom, near the window, there is a strangely shaped black grand piano.
Rather than the clutter at the back of the classroom, judging from the shiny lid, there are people who regularly come here to play or care for this expensive piano.
"I didn't expect there to be a professor at Hogwarts who loves piano? Elena searched her memory, not remembering any professor at Hogwarts who had this hobby.
Standing in the doorway, Elena happened to be able to see the logo on the side of the piano - steinway & sons (Steinway piano) - it stands to reason that in this era, it should only be seen in Germany and the United States, one of the top pianos in the world.
And every Steinway handmade piano is no less attractive to most piano lovers than drugs are to addicts. From Tokyo to New York, Steinway grand pianos are used in all major concert halls in the world.
Elena couldn't help but flick her fingers in the air a few times, she was engaged in the financial industry in her previous life, and the main way to relieve stress was to play the piano, but it was often a million-dollar Steinway piano, and she only glanced at it from a distance at the concert.
After a moment of silence, Elena suddenly remembered that if she had to leave Hogwarts forever, there was still something very memorable to do.
"Can I play a song on this piano? and take me to Professor Dumbledore. ”
The girl asked, turning her head to look at Burleigh, the house-elf behind her.
"I guess there's nothing wrong with that, ma'am. Burleigh replied with a graceful bow, raising his arm in the direction of the piano, "Professor Dumbledore has instructed you to freely visit most of the common areas of the house, including touching and using them. ”
"That's right...... Thank you. ”
Elena nodded, and instead of sitting directly in front of the piano, she walked to the open window, and looked out through the window at the sparkling waters of Hogwarts, the quaint towers of the castle, and the vine-covered promenade by the lake...... There was a smile of angelic innocence and satisfaction on her face, and even Burleigh couldn't help but lose his mind for a few seconds under this bright smile.
Opening the lid and resting her butt on a third of the leather ottoman, Elena straightened up, put her feet near the pedals, took a deep breath, her white fingers like shallots slid gently over the black and white keys, and the cold tinkling sound of steel beads spilling onto the ice echoed in the classroom.
I finally made it to Hogwarts, and if I didn't have that classic "Hedwig's Theme", I always felt that something was missing.
After all, it would be fitting to use this theme song, which has run throughout the Harry Potter film series for seventeen years, as a final to her Hogwarts journey.
"Hedwig's Theme" is not a difficult piece, and Elena, who has never touched the piano since she crossed over, thought that she would not be able to complete the difficult score after that.
However, with the movement of her fingers, there seemed to be a magical force in the castle that supported her to continue playing, so much so that in the second half of the piece, Elena even closed her eyes and jumped her hands on the black and white keys smoothly with the rhythm.
Five and a half minutes into the piece, played flawlessly, and she felt as if she had become a bird, skimming over the calm lake, through the stone walls covered with vines, hovering between the towers, the meadows, and the squares of Hogwarts.
As the last note on the keys dissipated into the air, Elena exhaled, and she felt that it was the most perfect performance she had ever played.
Before she could savor the melody that was still hovering in her ears, a soft applause rang out from behind her.
"Imaginative music, I felt like I saw sparks burst out of a potion jar. ”
Elena stood up in panic as if she had just woken up from a big dream, and the stool rubbed against the wooden floor.
Behind her, a tall, thin man in a blue wizard's robe, with a long silver beard, and bright blue eyes appeared at the door of the classroom, clapping in amazement.
"What's this piece called?"
Albus Dumbledore asked curiously, for some reason, when he heard this tune, he suddenly had a wonderful feeling - the child in front of him, she was born to belong to Hogwarts.
"Hedwig's Theme, a piece where dreams and miracles begin. Thank you for the piano, Professor Dumbledore. ”
"Oh. To be precise, I'm not good at the piano, and I'm just keeping it for a friend. Dumbledore blinked nimbly, his half-moon glasses revealing a mischievous look, "If you like, you can play here at any time, and I promise to keep it a secret for you." ”
Elena stood up, and on the back of the lid, there was a figure that looked like a triangular eye, with a vertical line in the middle of her pupil - she knew by the time she saw this pattern, who the real owner of the piano was.
Reluctantly glancing around, Elena smiled a relieved smile that it was time to say goodbye.
She looked calmly at the world's greatest white wizard, shook her head and whispered, "I'm sorry. ”
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(Meng Meng Da Youmeng wants to eat, the new book asks for recommendation votes to support, huh, the big chapter of 4,000 words!
I almost didn't finish writing~~~ Fortunately, I caught up, and tomorrow I will stay at home and retreat the code word ~~~~~
After tomorrow, the plot of Hogwarts will end for a while, and next time it will be school~~~)