In the following period, Kael became increasingly interested in nighttime outings, which he found beneficial for both body and mind. Recently, he had been sneaking out every night, even more frequently than Fred and George.
This might have something to do with what the twins experienced lately.
The pile of Moonstruck Beast droppings they painstakingly brought back unsurprisingly went to waste.
No young wizard wanted them.
The shops in Diagon Alley wouldn't take them either.
Refusing to give up, the twins finally lost their minds and ran to the greenhouse, trying to sell the batch to Professor Sprout at a low price.
Unsurprisingly, their nocturnal adventures were discovered, and the consequences were severe.
Professor Sprout took one look and immediately knew where their goods had come from.
Such a large quantity could only have come from the Forbidden Forest.
And Professor Sprout was certainly well aware of the time it took to collect Moonstruck Beast droppings.
Their act of sneaking into the Forbidden Forest at night was one thing, but boldly flaunting their exploits before the professor? Such blatant provocation was intolerable even for a mild-mannered professor like Sprout, who directly took them to Professor McGonagall's office.
Though the twins desperately explained that they had found the droppings near Hagrid's pumpkin patch, no one believed them.
Hagrid had been busy with other things and hadn't tended to the pumpkin patch for a long time.
Professor McGonagall was both disappointed and angry, punishing them with a week's worth of bathroom cleaning.
Filch was so eager to keep an eye on them that he practically relocated his office next to Gryffindor Tower.
This, however, was convenient for Kael.
Once Mikel and Ryan fell into deep sleep, Kael quietly crawled out of bed and tiptoed out of the common room.
As usual, after wrapping himself in a silver-green scarf, Kael took out his wand and gently tapped his forehead.
"Disillusionment Charm."
A chilly sensation swiftly expanded from the top of his head, much like having a bucket of ice water poured over him.
Immediately, Kael's body matched the color pattern of the wall behind him.
Disillusionment Charm.
Since his last return from the Forbidden Forest, Kael had been diligently studying this charm.
The Invisibility Cloak, though convenient, had its downsides — one misstep or a fast pace and his feet might be exposed.
In comparison, the Disillusionment Charm was more effective.
This charm was a bit tricky; it took him three days to barely grasp the basics, and his body's color changes with the environment were still not very smooth.
Fortunately, Hogwarts Castle was pitch black at night, so these minor flaws did not pose any problem.
Once everything was ready, Kael made his way effortlessly to the library entrance on the second floor.
It was the latest destination of his nighttime adventures.
He loved reading, but some books were unsuitable for daytime reading, requiring a secretive exploration under the cover of darkness.
The library doors were shut tight, secured with a brass lock between them.
Kael took out his Universal Key, giving it a twist to unlock the brass lock, then carefully pushed open a small gap, squeezing sideways into the library.
The library was pitch dark and eerie at night.
"Lumos."
Kael held up his wand and walked past rows of bookshelves until he reached the rear part of the library, where he stopped in front of a sign.
The sign marked "Restricted Area" looked extremely tempting.
Kael gingerly stepped over the ropes separating these books from the rest of the collection, using the wand's light to read the book titles.
To avoid detection or any accidents, Kael was very discerning in his book selection.
Any book with illustrations (including but not limited to portraits, Fantastic Beasts, various symbols...) was out.
Books with nothing on the cover were out.
Books that were thick and large were out.
Books with strange markings were out.
Books that looked too old were out... This was mainly because of the risk of damaging them while flipping pages; if they couldn't be restored, it would be troublesome.
Kael wandered through the Restricted Area for quite a while until he reached the sixth row of shelves, where he pulled out a black book with gilded italic lettering.
The book was thin, and much of the lettering had peeled off, allowing Kael to barely discern the meaning of the last two words.
"Exploration..."
This was the one.
With his book selected, Kael, as he had done on previous visits, sat cross-legged on the ground and slowly began reading.
The contents of the Restricted Area were generally much more obscure compared to regular collections, and when Kael encountered material he couldn't understand or grasp, he would copy these using his handheld Speedwriting Quill.
This method, although more troublesome than using a Doubling Charm, was safer.
Who knew if these books contained peculiar enchantments — to be cautious, it's best not to cast spells on them.
...
By the time Kael left the library, it was already two hours later.
On his way back, he unexpectedly ran into Peeves, but thanks to the protection of the Disillusionment Charm, he wasn't discovered.
The next morning, Kael, who had initially planned to sleep until eight fifty, was dragged out of bed by his two roommates at seven thirty.
"Wake up, Kael, wake up!"
Disregarding Kael's reaction, the two of them unceremoniously pulled him out of bed, each taking an arm to drag him over to the window.
"Look, it's snowing!"
Mikel opened the window, and without any warning, a gust of cold wind filled with snowflakes hit Kael's face directly.
"Hiss..."
Kael shivered, instantly wide awake.
Kael rubbed his face, feeling a sense of déjà vu, as if he had encountered this scenario before.
"Let's go out and take a look!" Mikel exclaimed excitedly, "This is the first snowfall at Hogwarts."
Kael shook his head in refusal.
What's so special about snow? Better to catch up on sleep — he had stayed up late last night, and since it wasn't the weekend, what if he got sleepy during class?
However, Mikel and Ryan thought differently.
They continued to urge Kael to quickly wash up and change clothes, adopting an attitude of 'if you don't go, we won't leave.'
"This is the first snow we've experienced since arriving at Hogwarts, it's meaningful!"
Mikel said, "Sleeping now is a waste, you can catch up on sleep during the Magic History class later."
"Yeah, the first class today is Magic History."
Realizing this, Kael no longer insisted; he changed clothes and joined them in leaving the dormitory.
In just one night, the snow on the ground had reached over a foot in depth.
When they reached the open area outside Hogwarts Castle, many people were already there.
Kael spotted Fred and George, who, along with several Gryffindors, were building a snow lion...?
Alright, theoretically, they should have been building a lion, though in appearance it resembled a Flobberworm practicing yoga.