[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
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Harry hadn't expected to receive an invisibility cloak on his first Christmas after entering the wizarding world.
As Ron had said, this thing was extremely rare, even in the wizarding world.
But what Harry couldn't understand was why this cloak conflicted with the mind-blocking techniques. Harry tried, but there was no reaction when he used Mind Lock alone, it only reacted when he used both techniques together.
The note that came with the cloak was also very strange. From the wording, it seemed like the cloak had belonged to his father. But there was no mention of who had sent it. It didn't make sense.
Ron didn't think as much about it as Harry did. Of course, this was also because Ron didn't know how to use the Occlumency Technique or the Mind Lock Technique, so he didn't go through the same thing as Harry. He was much more interested in invisibility cloaks.
Harry was never stingy with his friends and agreed to use the cloak when they went out.
However, both of them agreed that this should not be shared with Fred and George. Harry simply couldn't imagine the absurd things those two troublemakers would do with the invisibility cloaks. So, when Ron made the suggestion, Harry gave a thumbs-up.
During the Christmas holidays, Hogwarts didn't lower the quality of the food despite the reduced number of students. On the contrary, the number of meals decreased, but the variety increased, and there were many more drinks and desserts that weren't usually available.
Ron was grinning from ear to ear as he ate, and Harry was smiling too.
For the first time, Percy wasn't acting superior and spent Christmas playing with Ron, the twins, and Harry.
Snowball fights, sledding, card games, and wizard's chess.
However, despite being very intelligent, Percy was completely defeated in wizard's chess by his younger brother, Ron.
"Ron, maybe you should consider becoming a professional chess player in the future," Percy complimented Ron. But the twins said he was just making excuses for his loss.
The lunch was as hearty as the dinner, and Harry felt like he might have eaten a little too much.
But compared to Ron, Harry felt he was still quite restrained. Ron stumbled back to the common room, holding onto the walls. Fred and George laughed bitterly at that.
Overeating can easily make you sleepy, and that was especially evident in Ron. He collapsed into bed as soon as he returned to the dormitory, and soon a soft but steady snoring sound filled the room.
Surprisingly, Harry couldn't sleep. He thought about what Hermione had said before the holidays, they still hadn't checked the restricted section.
There was a forbidden word in the restricted books area. However, it wasn't that students weren't allowed to borrow books. Only students in sixth year or above, who had completed the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams, could borrow books for the advanced classes they were taking.
Students from third year and above could find a professor to sign and borrow books if they had a special and valid reason, but they couldn't enter the restricted section alone. Only Madame Pince or other professors working in the library could check out books.
In any case, first-year students were not allowed access to forbidden books.
Harry thought Hermione had assumed that Madame Pince would be on holidays, making it easier to sneak into the library.
But the fact was, although Madame Pince didn't know where to go for the holidays, there were still young professors in the library. And the two paintings guarding the restricted area were still there.
Even if a young professor was absent and a student was caught by the portrait, a teacher would quickly arrive to handle the situation.
How did Harry know this so well? Because Fred had been caught by Snape earlier that day, and Gryffindor lost ten points.
"If I were wearing an invisibility cloak, I wouldn't be discovered by the two portraits?"
When this thought crossed his mind, Harry couldn't suppress it, no matter what he did.
He thought about it several times and felt it was very feasible. He immediately couldn't control his impulse, so he got out of bed, pulled the box from under his bed, and took the invisibility cloak out of it.
Harry glanced at Ron, who was still deeply asleep, hesitated, and decided not to wake him.
They had played for half the morning, and now Ron was sound asleep, so there was no need to wake him. Besides, Harry was going to try it out. If he succeeded, he would take Ron with him tomorrow night to search for information on the Philosopher's Stone.
The restricted books section was very large, and it would be impossible to search through everything in one night.
And if the cloak couldn't fool the two portraits, it would be easier to escape alone.
…
As Harry left the common room entrance guarded by the Fat Lady, he was a little confused by the size of the invisibility cloak.
It was called the invisibility cloak, but it actually looked like a curtain.
This cloak was clearly for adults, and very tall ones at that. But of course, if it were Hagrid, it definitely wouldn't be big enough.
Well, maybe if he, Ron, Hermione, and even Neville all hid under it together, they could barely cover themselves.
To avoid stepping on the cloak's hem, Harry had to hold it in his hands and walk carefully, which significantly slowed his pace.
Harry felt lucky. He didn't worry about the stairs and corridors on his way to the library and arrived there smoothly.
There was nothing special about the castle during the day, but at night, it became pitch-black everywhere, with strange paintings, sculptures, and armors that were truly breathtaking. The library, too, looked a little eerie.
Harry had to light a lantern, which was standard for all students. Holding the lantern in one hand and the cloak in the other, the journey wasn't easy.
The restricted section was at the back of the library. Harry carefully stepped over the ropes that separated the bookshelves and reached the restricted area.
There was no movement from the two paintings. Harry wasn't sure whether it was the invisibility cloak at work or if the people in the paintings also had to sleep at night. Either way, Harry managed to enter the restricted section without any trouble.
This was Harry's first time in the Restricted Section, in fact, he had never seen any students there before.
After taking off the cloak and putting it aside, Harry looked at the bookshelves in the restricted section under the dim light. However, where the book titles should have been on the spines, most of the words were too difficult for Harry to understand, and some didn't even have titles.
There were tens of thousands of books here. It would be impossible to read them all one by one, right? This was a huge undertaking.
Just as Harry was struggling, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He turned around abruptly and froze.
A skinny cat with dark fur and a pair of bulging eyes like lanterns appeared at the other end of the bookshelf. It was Filch's annoying cat, Mrs. Norris.
Harry silently cursed that something was wrong, and sure enough, the next moment, Mrs. Norris let out a high-pitched scream.
Harry knew for sure that if Mrs. Norris was here, Filch must be nearby. He quickly grabbed his cloak, put it on, turned around, and ran.
Mrs. Norris's screams suddenly stopped.
Obviously, Filch couldn't understand why the mischievous student in front of him had disappeared so suddenly.
Harry wanted to run, but it was difficult with the lantern in one hand and the cloak in the other. There was only one exit in the library, so Harry ended up getting blocked at the door.
To make matters worse, it wasn't Filch who came through the door.
Worse than Filch, Snape entered.
"Filch, are you sure a student is out of bed?" Snape looked around the library and asked, slightly annoyed, "Or did they come to the library?"
His eyes scanned the area where Harry was several times, both of them were no more than five meters apart, but Snape didn't notice.
The invisibility cloak worked remarkably well.
"Professor Snape, Mrs. Norris never makes mistakes, you know?" Filch seemed a bit dissatisfied with Snape's questioning.
"The facts are right in front of us." Snape replied indifferently, scanning the library again, but not finding Harry, who was holding his breath and carefully moving past him.
Harry tried very hard not to make any sound, and at the closest point, he was only about a meter away from Snape. But in the end, he managed to slip past and out the door behind Snape.
As soon as Harry carefully stepped out of the library door, Snape suddenly turned around.
Harry's heart skipped a beat. But Snape only looked in his direction for a while before averting his gaze. Apparently, he hadn't seen Harry.
The moment Snape turned his head, Harry also exited the library. He didn't dare walk quickly, fearing Snape might hear his footsteps. Snape was not as easy to fool as Filch.
Harry still vividly remembered the huge black flame and the demonic projection of Snape's dark soul he had seen during the Quidditch match.
After walking for a while, Harry realized, somewhat sadly, that he seemed to have gone in the wrong direction after leaving the library.
At that moment, there was a tall suit of armor in front of him.
However, before he could figure out the direction, hurried footsteps sounded from a distance.
Harry turned around and saw a dark figure walking quickly toward him.
It was Snape!
"Did he see me?"
Resisting the urge to flee, Harry tried to press his body against the wall. He was betting that Snape hadn't really found him.
He guessed right!
Snape rushed past him without noticing, but then waved his wand, and a bright light illuminated the entire corridor.
A pale man stood on the other side of the corridor. It was Professor Quirrell.
"Quirrell? What are you doing here?" Snape stood in front of Professor Quirrell, his large nose nearly touching Quirrell's, and said in an extremely cold voice, "I remember it's my turn to patrol the castle tonight."
"S-Severus... I... I just... I just can't sleep." Professor Quirrell was obviously frightened by Snape. He was already stammering and made it worse, unable to pronounce a complete word for a long time.
"Quirrell, you should know that I've been keeping an eye on you." Snape's voice remained cruel, "Don't try to fool me!"
"No, I wouldn't do that, Severus, I wouldn't!" Professor Quirrell hunched his neck like a frightened quail.
"It's better," Snape seemed very pleased with his intimidation and nodded slowly. "Since you can't sleep, why don't you patrol with me? I don't think you'd mind accompanying me, would you?"
"Yes... yes, of course." Although Professor Quirrell's face was full of worry, he obviously didn't dare face Snape and say anything to refuse.
At that moment, Harry carefully slipped through a small side door that led to an unknown place. Since the door was open, he figured he should be able to get in, right?
Although he didn't know what was inside, Harry comforted himself with that thought.
After all, in his opinion, any place was safer than being with Snape.
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