Hogwarts Mystery: Kenneth Russell & The Mysterious Room

Chapter 7: Hogwarts Touring

"There, look."

"Where?"

"Next to the kid with the glasses."

"The one with the wolf eyes?"

"Did you see his face?"

Whispers followed Kenneth the moment he left his dormitory. People lined up in the corridors and passageways, staring. Kenneth paid them no glancesand proceeded further on ignoring them. He could feel the eyes piercing his back. Rowan was right beside him and he noticed all the staring.

"Do you always get stares like this?" he asked, wide eyed.

"Pretty much," Kenneth murmured.

"Watch out for Peeves," they heard Angelica say.

And not a moment too soon, they turned the corner and A bundle of walking sticks were floating in midair in front of them, and as Angelica took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at her.

"Peeves!" she said and for the first time she sounded annoyed. "Show yourself, you little bugger!"

A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked. Ben was shaking with so much fear that Kenneth was concerned that he had wet himself.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Angelica.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Ben's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armour as he passed.

"Peeves," Angelica turned to them, "is a poltergeist. You want to watch out for him," They continued their tour again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

They had reached the Great Hall and the night sky wasn't on display this time. They all grabbed a seat and gorged themselves on the breakfast that was served. Toast, waffles, pancakes, chips, hash browns, eggs in every style imagined, syrup, ham, sausages, bacon, jam, porridge and many different kinds of cheese and fruit.

The mail then arrived. Since it was only the first day back, there only a few dozen owls dropping off packages to the rightful owner. Luna hadn't brought anything which didn't surprise Kenneth. Perhaps a full week will take place and then he'd receive some mail.

Finishing their breakfast, they then proceeded to view more of the castle.Rowan was adamant in going to the library. The Hogwarts Library was located off of a corridor on the first floor and was overseen by the librarian, Madam Pince. She was a strict witch that had absolutely no tolerance for sound. The library contained tens of thousands of books of almost every subject.

They then toured the dungeons which was cold and damp. They didn't stay too long because they didn't want to run into any Slytherins. Once they found where the Potions classroom is, they left immediately to escape the discomfort of the dungeons. They then passed the basement that led to them towards the Hufflepuff Common Room. They felt warmth and comfort in the surrounding area that was the antithesis of the dungeon. Several Hufflepuffs both first-year and older either smiled or waved at them as they passed by. Kenneth felt content how kind and friendly Hufflepuff was.

Touring the towers they found what could've be a tower that led to Ravenclaw. They left after encountering older Ravenclaw students prodding them with riddles. Rowan answered every one of them correctly. They would've been stuck there for hours if Kenneth hadn't grabbed Rowan and pull him away, politely apologizing that they were touring the castle.

Continuing on, they toured the East and West Towers, the ground floors both East and West, the courtyard and the Castle Grounds. They noticed a Quidditch pitch a fair distance away but chose to not venture. They noticed a hut on the grounds that had a garden with giant pumpkins being grown and a large figure tending it.

Must be that giant man that escorted us last night, Kenneth thought.

Finishing their tour of the building and starting to get a sense of where they are to go, Rowan and Kenneth had just turned a corner and ran into the caretaker, Argus Filch. He was a rheumatic man with hunched shoulders and a hunchback. He had a horrible pasty face and bulging pale eyes. He had long hair that was balding at the top. He eyed both of them suspiciously.

"What're you doing here?!" he sneered. "Causing trouble, aren't they, Mrs. Norris?" looking down. He was talking to a scrawny,dust-coloured cat with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She hissed at them while circling Filch's skinny ankles.

"How does walking equate trouble?" Kenneth asked. He suspected that this man was incorrigible.

"You watch your tone," he barked. "Filthy students that break the rules get shackled. You watch your back or I'll be whipping it."

"O.K," said Kenneth, turning and straining his neck to look at his back, mockingly. "I can't watch my back because my neck only goes halfway."

Rowan snickered.

"GET OUT!" Filch screamed, his face was contorted with rage.

Saying no more, Kenneth and Rowan took their leave immediately. When they were out of sight, Rowan burst into laughter.

"You're either really brave or really crazy," Rowan laughed. "Or both. How do you do that?"

"Humour and sarcasm," said Kenneth, "can go a long way to easing tension. Doesn't work all the time, as you may have noticed."

"Of course I noticed!" Rowan still laughing, "Filch is the most loathed person in the school. He knows the secret passageways better than anyone. His cat is as bad as he is. She'll patrol the corridors alone and if anyone breaks a rule or put a toe out of line she will go andf etch Filch and he'd be there only seconds later."

"I suppose a lot of students have a burning ambition to give her a good kick?" said Kenneth, shrugging. "I wouldn't do it since, I too, have a cat."

"Same," said Rowan. "But Fuzzclaw's back at home."

"Grizzly," Kenneth responded. "I'll probably bring her in a few months. Let's get some dinner and go back to the Common Room."

After eating dinner, they went straight back to the common room. Ignoring all students along the way. With all the excitement that lasted that day, they both were really tired and went straight to bed. Kenneth fell asleep instantly, dreaming about cold and a door covered in ice with a giant snowflake in the centre. He woke up with a cold sweat. It was still dark outside and he managed to fall asleep again. This time hearing the melodic giggle again.