Before Nina could figure out why it wasn't a matter of three strategies—best, middle, and worst—Karl had already pulled her out of the Great Hall.
After reaching a secluded spot in the first-floor corridor, Karl pulled a piece of parchment from his robes.
"This is the tool needed for one of the worst strategies, the marauder's map."
"Excuse me, how is that a map?"
"Don't rush," Karl flicked out his wand and lightly tapped the center of the parchment, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
As Nina watched in confusion, thin lines of ink spread out like a spiderweb from where the wand tip touched.
They dispersed and converged, connected and intertwined, twisted and crisscrossed, drawing Hogwarts Castle and the surrounding grounds on the parchment.
"This is…?"
Nina's eyes widened in surprise; she saw numerous small black dots, each labeled with a name, gathering and moving in various areas on the map.
"Look, Cho is climbing the stairs now."
Following Karl's direction, Nina saw the small black dot representing Cho near the Ravenclaw spiral tower.
"Amazing magic! These four… uh… gentlemen with strange names are incredible."
"This map uses several spells—Homenum Revelio, tracking, revealing… is it just for pranks?"
Nina expressed her astonishment but couldn't understand the creators' purpose.
"Uh… no need to worry about that, the main thing is that the map has many secret passages in the Castle."
In Karl's view, the marauder's map could roughly be understood as a mobile phone, while the magic Castlewas the monitor and cloud.
After all, this thing could still remotely monitor Hogwartseven after leaving the Castle.
"Do you intend to search the entire Castle?"
"That's why it's a worst strategy! But fortunately, I have two good friends who should also be very interested in this."
"Why 'also'?"
"Because their other interest is to monitor Professorduring their night strolls."
"Are you… sure?"
"Of course!"
Karl finished the prank, put away the marauder's map, and continued to tell Nina about another strategy.
"We can seek help from those who experienced it firsthand, like Professor Binns from History of Magic; he was also invited by Salazar Slytherin to join Hogwarts."
"There's also the Slytherin House ghost, The Bloody Baron. Although he didn't enter the school as early as Professor Binns, he was a Slytherin student after all, so he must have an impression of that Merlin."
Nina's eyes lit up, feeling this option was more reliable.
However, before she could speak, Karl was already shaking his head.
"Unfortunately, both of them are difficult to communicate with. I think the hope is a bit slim, but if we encounter them, we can ask."
Professor Binns wasn't even clear about the Chamber of Secrets, so this matter would be even more uncertain.
And The Bloody Baron, even when conscious, would hardly bother with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students.
Understanding all this, Nina sighed, "Alright, tell me the last of the worst strategies."
"Your House ghost."
"The Grey Lady?"
"She has another name, Helena Ravenclaw."
"This surname… could it be…?"
"That's right, it's Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter."
"Alright, but what's the difference between The Grey Lady and Professor Binns, The Bloody Baron?"
Nina felt that these two worst strategies could be combined into one, as The Grey Lady was also quite aloof with the Young Wizards.
"You try to communicate with her first, get acquainted. It will make it easier to approach her later. I'm confident I can get her to tell us everything she knows, but it requires learning a spell."
All he needed to do was destroy ravenclaw's diademalong with Lord Voldemort's remaining soul in front of The Grey Lady.
After all, the Diadem had already been defiled; rather than existing in a broken state, it was better for it to disappear completely.
"What spell?"
"Fiendfyre Curse."
"This…"
Nina hesitated, then still pulled Karl's sleeve, meeting his eyes.
"Karl, we're friends, right?"
"Of course!"
"Then I must tell you, Dark Arts are very dangerous, especially the three Unforgivable Curses. They will corrupt the caster's mind, making them gradually become mad, evil, and unreasonable."
Karl nodded silently; looking at the Death Eaters, one would find that they were all somewhat mentally unstable.
Lord Voldemort's temperament was indeed compatible with Dark Arts, but after making Horcruxes, his sanity and conduct also underwent obvious changes.
He felt that if it were Tom during his student days, even if he believed the prophecy, he would have his Death Eaters kill Harry instead of doing it himself.
"So, can we please not touch Dark Arts? I don't want my friend to turn into a stranger and a terrifying person."
Karl raised his hand and patted Nina's head, then grabbed Fire Treasure to show her.
"Don't worry, I have no interest in the three Unforgivable Curses, and you don't need to worry about Fiendfyre Curse either; Fire Treasure will help me."
"Chirp!"
"But… alright then…"
Nina saw the confidence and determination in Karl's eyes and could only stop trying to persuade him.
Her aversion to Fiendfyre Curse came from Gellert Grindelwald; her grandmother had mentioned that man's danger more than once.
Even after so many years, whenever Grindelwald was mentioned, her grandmother would still feel lingering fear.
However… she should trust her friend.
And, she could help him, just like…
Just as Karl was about to discuss with Nina how to get to the Restricted Section of the library, a harsh creaking sound suddenly came from above.
He looked up and saw Peeves floating in the air, holding a bucket.
Upon noticing Karl had spotted him, Peeves shrieked loudly.
"Nasty first-year brats! What are you plotting? Naughty! Naughty! I'll teach you a lesson!"
Amidst Peeves's unpleasant shouts, a bucket of sewage mixed with dye was splashed towards the two of them.
"Whoosh!"
Karl spewed out a blazing flame; the intense heat instantly evaporated the splashed sewage.
"Hmm? Brat, you're done for! How dare you cast magic in the corridor! Filch will teach you a lesson!"
"Frigid Moon Condensation."
Nina's wand flicked out a white light, accurately hitting the shouting Peeves.
(Some spells can affect Peeves; Harry used the Tongue-Tying Curse to make Peeves shut up.)
Under Karl's astonished gaze, a thin layer of white frost appeared on Peeves.
"Damn it! Damn it! Peeves is freezing to death!"
Seizing this opportunity, Karl decisively threw Fire Treasure.
"Chirp!"
─=≡Σ(((つ•̀ω•́)つ
Fire Treasure delivered a small punch, smashing Peevesinto the wall until he disappeared, then flew back to Karl's head, showing a triumphant little expression.
"Well done!"
After praising him, Karl grabbed Nina and ran.
Violating school rules at Hogwarts wasn't a big deal, as long as you weren't caught.
"Karl, do you know Peeves's origin?"
"I only know he's not a ghost, probably some kind of chaotic, disorderly spirit?"
"Lady Ravenclaw believed he was formed by the aggregation of all Hogwarts students' negative emotions, like mischief and willfulness."
"Makes sense!"
"That's why Lady Hufflepuff has always been puzzled why the students' positive emotions of kindness and friendliness didn't form a 'good ghost.'"
"Good question! Maybe we'll know the answer someday."
The two ran and chatted, and as they turned a corner, they ran straight into a greasy-haired black bat.
"Good day, Professor!" × 2
"You two! This is…"
Snape was about to scold them for running and making noise, and then deduct a lot of House points, but he looked up and saw Fire Treasure perched on Karl's head.
"Chirp~"
Looking at Fire Treasure's enthusiastic smile and constantly waving little hands, he suddenly choked.
"This is… not to happen again!"
Muttering, Snape turned and left.