The autumn air was crisp as it blew Teyrn's hair. He kept up a fast pace as he went along the forest path from the Magic Academy to the Royal.
The massive castle loomed imposingly ahead, and he wondered if there was more than one entrance to the dungeon. He had spells that would help him find it eventually, but he still had to not get caught by any of the guards.
He approached the castle from the gardens, hiding around trees and shrubbery until he got up to the wall. He pulled out a small mirror and used it to look around the next corner. There were guards on an upper level he could see through a window, but the likelihood of them seeing him was small. Cautiously, he rounded the corner. He searched for a door that led inside from around the gardens, but it didn't seem to be on this side. He turned around to go to the other side of the castle, going back through the garden.
The clock was ticking. He rushed to the other side and used the mirror trick again. To his surprise, he saw two others in the black cloak. Trespassers. Murmuring a magnification spell on the mirror, he saw that it was the witch with colour changing eyes and her Russian friend. He pursed his lips. They had found a door inside, but it appeared to be locked during class hours.
Thinking quickly, he picked up a pebble and tossed it towards them. He ducked around the corner again and listened as loud crunching and popping went off as the pebbles around them all started jumping and bouncing loudly off the wall. Moments later he heard footsteps and a voice shout out.
Perfect, they'd been caught. Teyrn waited until they had been taken away before going back to the door. He pulled out a key that had belonged to his mother that unlocked anything. Slipping inside the castle, he ducked into a shadowy corner to change his cloak into a jacket like the Royal uniforms. He quickly looked around for any clues as to where the dungeon door might be.
He paced around the ground floor of the entire castle, looking for the dungeon entrance. There were three doors that had potential, but every time he'd approach them, guards would walk past, and he'd have to keep going. Then, to his horror, the bell rang.
Frustrated, he decided to come back another time. Already students were pouring down the stairs and coming outside. He went back to the door leading out to the gardens and slipped out.
On his way back, he felt a tiny pull of magic. Looking over at a grassy area, he saw a bunch of first years picking clovers. He smirked, holding out a hand. They all gasped and awed as a four leafed clover drifted over to him. He touched it to the brooch inside his jacket to enhance it's luck, nodded to the girls as he walked away.
As he walked through the topiaries, he allowed his cloak to return to its original form. Going through the gate - Lover's Gate, he believed it was called - he heard something up ahead that captured his attention. It was a girl singing, and he immediately recognized her voice from the first day. Curious, he continued down the path, hoping to find her.