Hogwarts Lion Girl

After saying goodbye to Lucien, Salina walked up the stone steps back to Gryffindor Tower alone.

The ancient castle looked particularly quiet in the night. The moonlight shone through the tall Gothic windows into the corridor, casting long shadows on the ground.

Salina's footsteps were light, and the crisp sound of her heels on the stone slabs echoed in the empty and silent corridor.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps mixed with light curses came from the corner, breaking the silence of the corridor.

Salina stopped and looked in the direction where the sound came from.

Derian appeared at the other end of the corridor. He was pacing anxiously, scratching his hair with both hands, with an anxious look on his face.

Salina asked, what happened?

"My nightingale is gone, damn it, I don't know where it went!" said Derian.

Salina stopped and looked at the anxious-looking Derian in front of her with confusion, and asked softly, "What happened, Derian?"

Derian scratched his hair irritably, his tone carrying a hint of annoyance and anxiety: "My nightingale is gone!"

He paced back and forth for a few steps, as if trying to recall something, then suddenly raised his head and said in an annoyed tone: "Damn it, I don't know where it ran off to!"

Salina walked in front of Derian, and the breeze in the corridor blew through her hair, bringing a hint of coolness from the night.

"What does it look like? Maybe I can help you find it." Salina asked softly, with some concern in her tone.

Derian seemed immersed in his own thoughts. When he suddenly heard Salina's voice, he looked up with a hint of surprise in his eyes. He seemed to have not expected Salina to offer to help.

He stopped his anxious pacing and was silent for a second. There was a barely perceptible gratitude in his tone: "It's a black nightingale. It's very small and has a very special voice. It's hard to miss it."

Salina nodded to show that she understood. She pushed the strands of hair that floated in front of her eyes behind her ears and carefully searched every corner of the corridor, hoping to find that special nightingale under the dim light.

Derian quickly walked to the other end of the corridor, scanning every corner of the corridor, and turned back from time to time to ask Salina if she had found anything.

They exchanged information from time to time, and Salina listened carefully to the movements in the corridor, hoping to catch a hint of the nightingale's singing, but except for the whistling wind and their light footsteps, the corridor was silent.

The two searched the entire corridor, but still couldn't find the "special" nightingale.

"Damn it, it must have flown to some weird place again!" Derian cursed angrily, turned around suddenly, and kicked the armor in the corner.

The loud sound of metal colliding echoed in the empty corridor, raising a cloud of dust.

Salina saw the armor shake, and the helmet fell to the ground with a dull "thump".

Derian seemed to realize that he had lost his composure. He scratched his hair irritably and sighed.

"Don't worry, let's look for it carefully. Maybe it's hidden in some corner." Salina comforted her. As she spoke, she bent down and carefully checked the dark corner under the bench.

They pushed open the doors of classrooms one by one. Salina even stood on tiptoe, trying to peek inside the classroom from above the door frame, while Derian sniffed the air hard, hoping to catch a hint of the special scent of Nightingale.

However, they found nothing except the smell of old wood and dust. In the armor display room at the end of the corridor, the cold metal of the armor reflected a cold light in the faint moonlight. Derian checked the gaps in the armor one by one, and Salina carefully looked behind each portrait, hoping to find the lost nightingale.

Derian suddenly stopped as if struck by lightning, and a light flashed in his eyes.

"Library! It must have gone to the library again! That stupid bird likes to stay where there are books!" He said excitedly, grabbed Salina's wrist, dragged her to the other end of the corridor.

Salina was startled by his sudden movement, and she screamed, her body leaning forward uncontrollably.

Before she could react, Derian had already pulled her into a run. The portraits and armor on both sides of the corridor flashed past her eyes, blurring into patches of light and shadow.

Salina could feel the whistling of the wind in her ears, mixed with Derian's rapid breathing, and her heartbeat was getting faster and faster with his pace.

Along the way, Derian's fingers were tightly clasped around her wrist. Salina could feel the warmth of his palm and the faint minty scent.

The two stumbled into the library, and the strong smell of mold and leather hit them in the face. Salina couldn't help but cough lightly.

Derian pushed aside a row of books with his elbow, causing the pages to rustle and raise a cloud of dust.

He crouched, moving quickly between the bookshelves, his eyes eagerly scanning every corner.

Suddenly, Derian's arm accidentally swept across a pile of books stacked high on the edge of the bookshelf. The books lost their balance, swayed, and finally fell to the ground with a crash.

Salina quickly bent down. The dry air was filled with the mixed smell of books and dust, which made her wrinkle her nose slightly.

Her slender fingers brushed over the fallen books, picked them up one by one, and stacked them neatly on the space next to the bookshelf.

"Found it!" Along with the sound of pages turning, Derian's excited voice came from the corner. Salina looked up and saw Derian squatting beside a bookshelf, holding a black nightingale in his hand.

It looks slightly larger than an ordinary nightingale, with fluffier and softer feathers, and its pair of obsidian eyes look around curiously.

The nightingale pecked gently at his fingers, making clear and melodious sounds, as if it was acting coquettishly.

Derian felt a tingling sensation at his fingertips. He looked down at the little creature jumping in his hands and couldn't help but smile.

He carefully stroked the nightingale's soft feathers, with an indulgent smile on his face.

Salina placed the last book on the bookshelf, clapped her hands, stood up and brushed off the dust on her skirt.

At this moment, Derian raised his head as if he sensed something, and his eyes passed over the top of the bookshelf and fell on Salina.

His gaze stayed on her for a few seconds, and there was a barely perceptible strangeness in his eyes.

Salina also raised her head, and their eyes met in the air, and time seemed to stand still.

"Thank you for helping me find it, Swinburne." Derian broke the silence, with a barely perceptible tenderness in his tone.

In the dim candlelight of the library, tiny particles of dust danced in the beam of light.

"You're welcome," Salina asked curiously, "Do you know my name?"

"Yes, I heard about you from Lucian." Derian said with a smile on his face, placing the nightingale in his hand on his shoulder. It stood obediently and gently combed its feathers.

"Then let me formally introduce you to Adrian Poussey." He extended his hand to Salina, a friendly light in his eyes.

Salina was stunned for a moment, then reacted and gently placed her hand in Derian's palm.

"Selina Swinburne." She said with a smile, and in the dim candlelight, she could clearly see a hint of subtle appreciation flashing in Adrian's eyes.