Aside from the four great founders, no wizard would dare claim to know everything hidden within Hogwarts.
There were all kinds of secret passages and rooms, some that could be used and some that could not, as well as the Room of Requirement and Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, which could only be opened through special methods.
All of these were secrets hidden inside Hogwarts, unknown to most people.
And now, one of those secret rooms had appeared right before Ginny Weasley's eyes.
...
This was the fifth floor of Hogwarts Castle.
Not far away were the Restricted Section and an abandoned room. According to those in the know, someone had once seen a strange mirror inside that abandoned room.
There was nothing unusual about the room itself. What truly mattered was the full-length mirror that looked ordinary, but was anything but.
That mirror did not seem to be a normal mirror. More precisely, it could not do what a normal mirror was supposed to do, because all anyone could see in it were strange images.
It could show you your future.
It could grant your wishes.
No one knew who had first spread the rumor, but supposedly, if you stood in front of that mirror, you could see your future self, or even have your wish granted.
But whenever young wizards heard the rumor and tried to investigate, they could never find that special mirror again.
And so, it became an interesting little legend.
In short.
The Restricted Section.
An abandoned room.
From that alone, one could see that they shared a similar feature. Almost no one ever appeared in either place.
In other words, unless something major happened, hardly anyone would come to the fifth floor.
That was why Pansy and the others had chosen this place.
Remote.
Low-profile.
Hidden.
Just as Draco and the others had not seen a single person on their way here.
At least, on the surface, they had indeed not encountered a single wizard.
...
As Hermione reached out and touched the hilt of the sword held by the knight statue, the statue, which had originally stood perfectly straight as if guarding something, suddenly seemed to come alive and began to move.
Rumble, rumble.
Under Ginny's astonished gaze, the knight statue slowly knelt on one knee, revealing a hidden door behind it.
The stone sword held diagonally before it looked almost as if it were submitting to some unfamiliar king.
"How did you find this place?!"
Born into a wizarding family, Ginny was not curious about why the knight statue could move. Instead, she was shocked that Draco and the others had known there was such a place hidden inside Hogwarts Castle.
She even suspected that Dumbledore, who had already gone to meet Merlin, had never known about this place.
"Can we explain that after we go inside? I don't think you'd want anyone to see us."
"...I know."
Seeing Draco enter the hidden door without the slightest hesitation, Ginny pressed her lips together, then bent down and slipped through the opened passage as well.
She did it so decisively that she did not seem at all worried this might be a trap Draco had prepared in advance.
It was worth mentioning that Ginny seemed to have forgotten Luna, who had come with her.
"Miss Lovegood, stop spacing out. Go in."
"...Mm."
Unlike the reckless Ginny, Luna had long since noticed the parchment in Hermione's hand.
Unless she was mistaken, along the way, and even just now, Hermione had been glancing at the parchment in her hand every so often, as if confirming something.
That curious little habit made Luna feel that the parchment was the key to everything.
However, Luna, who had always preferred to observe things from the sidelines, did not ask about it. Instead, she lifted her foot and followed Ginny, who was about to vanish from sight.
Because she knew.
Once she walked in, she would get the perfect answer.
...
Although the hidden door required them to bend down to pass through, once they made it inside, they discovered a whole other world beyond it, one far larger than anyone had imagined.
Even Ginny, who knew that the Undetectable Extension Charm existed in the wizarding world, was stunned by the scene before her at first glance.
The sun hung high in the sky.
Faint hills could be seen in the distance.
She could even hear the soft sound of flowing water.
This was Hogwarts?!
No. Had they left Hogwarts?
A Portkey?
A teleportation spell?
Ginny's body stiffened slightly as she looked up at Draco standing in front of her.
Perhaps it was coincidence.
At that moment, the clouds drifting across the sky happened to cover the sunlight pouring down.
The staggered light and shadow bathed half of Draco's body in sunlight while leaving the other half hidden in darkness, making the expression on his face seem to flicker with an almost fantastical uncertainty.
It was as though Draco were standing at the boundary between light and darkness.
That extraordinary sight around Draco left Ginny frozen in place for a moment after witnessing it.
Even when Draco came to stand in front of her, she still had not recovered from what she had just seen.
Not until Draco's voice sounded.
"Welcome to my organization, Draco Constellation!"