When Hermione climbed out of the secret passage, her face flushed, she realized it was already dark... No, wait. They had somehow arrived somewhere they could see the entire sky.
The moon. The stars.
To be precise, they seemed to be on top of some tower.
Unlike the Astronomy Tower, this was the highest tower of Ravenclaw House, so under normal circumstances, no other students would come up here.
In fact, most Ravenclaw students might not even know this place existed...
"Where are we?"
"Ravenclaw Tower."
The one who appeared alongside Hermione was, of course, our Draco Malfoy.
Unlike Hermione, who had frozen at the sight of the beautiful view, Draco immediately looked around, taking in and confirming their surroundings.
Ravenclaw Tower was not empty. On the contrary, they could clearly see a building standing right beside the tower.
More precisely, it looked like someone's residence, or perhaps a building used to store something...
"Whoa~ Is this the place?"
Pansy hopped over to Draco's side and looked around curiously.
Compared with Draco and Hermione, Pansy really was exactly as Hermione had described. She looked as if she had come here purely to sightsee, purely to have fun.
There was not the slightest hint of nervousness on her face.
"That's right. The person we're looking for is inside."
"Seriously? They've stayed in there from morning until night without moving?"
"They're ghosts, after all. They don't need to eat or use the bathroom like we do..."
"So, shall we go in?"
"Wait a moment. I'll check whether there's anyone else nearby."
Draco reached out to stop Hermione, then took out the Marauder's Map again to check.
Only after making sure there was no fourth person here did Draco hand the map to Pansy, who was standing beside him and clearly wanted a look.
That indulgent gesture earned him a sideways glare from Hermione.
Just as Draco and the others were about to knock, a translucent shadow suddenly passed through the stone door and appeared before them.
No one but a ghost could have done that.
In other words, this ghost was likely the very person Draco and the others had come to find...
...
The ghost who had suddenly appeared came straight up to Draco and the others.
It was clear that she must have been a beautiful witch in life.
Judging by her appearance alone, aside from her slender figure, the first things anyone would notice about this ghostly lady were her waist-length hair and the long robe trailing across the floor.
Yet despite her lovely appearance, she carried herself with great arrogance and looked down on everything around her.
Especially when she looked at Draco's group, her expression was one of complete superiority.
More precisely, she had no intention of acknowledging Draco and the others at all. She treated them as though they were nothing but air...
Pansy and Hermione, who had not expected this, both showed displeasure.
Hermione took the initiative and stepped forward. "Grey Lady?"
Surprisingly, because of Hermione's words, Helena Ravenclaw stopped.
But she did not speak. She merely nodded.
"You're Ravenclaw's ghost?"
"Correct." The Grey Lady's tone was not warm in the slightest, nor did she seem at all curious about how they had appeared here.
At the same time, her attitude made it perfectly clear that she was keeping them at a distance.
But Hermione had no intention of giving up so easily...
"We need your help. Perhaps you know the whereabouts of the missing Ravenclaw's Diadem?"
The instant Hermione said that, Draco and the others clearly saw the Grey Lady's lips twist into a cold sneer.
"I'm afraid I cannot help you."
"Wait! You may not understand how serious this is..."
"You are not the first student to covet the Diadem. Generation after generation of students have pestered me over it."
If her earlier expression had merely been a cold sneer, then the look she now cast at Draco and the others was one of pure contempt.
It was as if she had already seen through them, as if they were nothing more than petty thieves trying to get their hands on Ravenclaw's Diadem...
"You!"
"Let me handle this, Hermione."
Draco reached out to stop the somewhat agitated Hermione, then stepped forward and stood before the Grey Lady.
Unlike Hermione, Draco did not immediately ask the questions he had prepared. Instead, he first gave her an old-fashioned ancient wizard's salute.
Faced with Draco's gesture, the Grey Lady, who had been so arrogant only moments earlier, immediately composed her expression and returned a similar salute...
It was obvious that the Grey Lady's attitude had softened at once.
"I know you, Mr. Malfoy of Slytherin."
"Yes. It is a great honor, Madam Helena Ravenclaw."
"...."
Perhaps it was just Hermione's imagination, but she felt that the Grey Lady seemed a little less transparent now, as if Draco's words had struck a nerve.
She had the feeling that the Grey Lady was not willing to acknowledge that identity...