The Grey Lady was Ravenclaw's daughter.
If not for the Marauder's Map, Pansy and the others never would have learned such a secret, one even Ravenclaw's own students might not know.
In fact, even Draco had only discovered this astonishing fact after obtaining the Marauder's Map.
Who could have imagined that the Grey Lady, who disliked appearing before others, was actually Ravenclaw's daughter...
And that gave Draco and the others a perfect opening.
Although they did not know when Ravenclaw's Diadem had gone missing, if anyone knew the full story and had clues to the Diadem's whereabouts, it went without saying that it had to be the Grey Lady, who had stayed in Ravenclaw for countless years and understood Ravenclaw House better than anyone.
In other words... Helena Ravenclaw!
...
The very next evening.
As Draco and his group made their way toward Ravenclaw House, they kept changing their route along the way.
They reached their destination without mishap, though not without a few close calls.
The fact that they could avoid everyone, as well as any accidents that might occur, was entirely thanks to the Marauder's Map in Draco's hand.
Without the Marauder's Map, even Draco could not guarantee they would not run into trouble halfway there.
It had to be said that if Harry Potter ever found out about this, he would probably be so furious he would spit blood.
Who could have known that the wizard who had taken the Marauder's Map from him was not Ginny Weasley at all, as he had believed?
But even if he eventually learned the truth, it would already be too late...
"It should be all right, shouldn't it, Draco? Could any professor avoid the map's detection?"
As they moved cautiously along the way, Hermione leaned close to Draco's ear and whispered.
Because this was a complete violation of school rules, Hermione was so nervous her heart kept pounding. She had been repeatedly confirming the reliability of the Marauder's Map the entire way, trying to get a little reassurance from Draco.
Pansy, who had come along as well, looked more like she was here on a sightseeing trip. She was not worried at all about being discovered by a professor.
Pansy glanced toward Hermione. "Granger, I told you that you didn't have to come. Sure enough, you've been saying things like that the whole way. Even if you're not tired of it, I'm tired of hearing it."
"...How could I possibly not come for something this important? Besides, if you don't want to listen, stay farther away from us."
"Oh? You coward."
"You're the big idiot with no sense of urgency at all."
Fortunately, the girls still knew they could not let anyone discover them, so their bickering stayed in low voices.
From farther away, it would have been impossible to hear exactly what they were saying.
As for Draco, his attention remained fixed on the Marauder's Map in his hand.
Especially on Helena Ravenclaw's current location.
...
Entering Ravenclaw House without anyone noticing was not an easy task.
But if you had a map that marked out all kinds of secret passages, then it was not such a difficult goal.
And there happened to be one such secret passage that led into Ravenclaw House.
In short, after moving aside a marble statue, they found a pitch-black passageway behind it.
At that moment, Draco and his group were slowly making their way through this secret passage known to very few people.
However, the moment they entered the passage, Hermione immediately regretted it.
After walking for a while, the passage became so narrow that they had to crawl to keep going. In a place so cramped they could not even turn around, Hermione had no chance to back out.
More importantly, Draco was right behind her.
In the darkness, Hermione's face flushed bright red as she kept warning Draco behind her, "Don't look up. Otherwise... I... I..."
She was so embarrassed that even though she wanted to say something, she could not get the words out properly. It was as if her whole mind had overloaded.
Hearing that, Draco instinctively glanced up ahead.
"What did you say?"
"...."
A bent waist.
A swaying, graceful figure.
Although Hermione had forced him not to use a Lighting Charm, the rustle of her nightgown as she crawled, along with the faint outline he could make out in the dark, still made Draco feel a little heated.
His gaze could not help lingering there.
It had to be said that sometimes, that kind of half-seen temptation was even more alluring.
As if sensing that burning gaze falling on her, Hermione reacted at once. The next second, she let out a cry that was both ashamed and furious, with a hint of tears in her voice. "Draco!"
Hermione, whose composure had nearly collapsed, completely forgot that they were supposed to be moving in secret.
If the situation had allowed it, she might have turned around and pounced on him right then, just to make Draco understand the consequences of teasing her like that.
Fortunately, the passage was reasonably soundproof. Even after such a loud cry, it did not cause any real commotion.
Feeling somewhat guilty and not daring to provoke her any further, Draco finally coughed lightly a few times and forced himself to look away.
Only then did Hermione, whose body had grown faintly warm, let out a breath of relief.
But compared with Hermione's mixture of regret and wanting to disappear on the spot, Pansy, who was bringing up the rear, found herself envying Hermione up ahead.
If it were her, she would never be that shy.
In any case, after a long crawl, Hermione finally began to see a faint glimmer of light. She could even feel a slight breeze, which meant they were getting closer and closer to the exit.
It also meant they could finally escape this embarrassing and awkward situation.