After an unknown amount of time had passed, Kai realized he would have to accept the fact that he was officially lost. Although he wanted to deny it like he had been for a while, after his 3rd passing by of this painting of, well he didn’t actually know what it was, some kind of abstract moving art. Kai finally accepted the truth that he was lost.
As Kai looked at the painting on the wall, he thought if it was a portrait like those he’d seen around Hogwarts then at least he could maybe ask it for help or information. If it even was capable or willing to help him. Now that he thought about it Kai still didn’t really understand how the portraits at Hogwarts or in the wizarding world in general worked. He’d seen some of them talk and even visit or enter other portraits. How that was possible Kai had no idea. Were these portraits like actual living memories of who they were based on? Could they just travel around portraits in Hogwarts whenever they felt like it?
Kai turned away from the portrait refocusing, remembering that he still had to figure out where he was and how to get somewhere he recognized. This had all started when he left the entrance hall and decided to explore the castle by himself for fun in the evening. Something he probably should not have done especially given past incidents in his pre-Hogwarts life where he wandered to places he should not. Honestly Kai was surprised it took this long for him to get lost, although it was only his second week at Hogwarts so it had not been that long. This castle was huge and made no sense with stuff moving around constantly, maybe that’s why he was lost. Was this a moving corridor like the moving staircases? Surely Hogwarts staff were capable of making and providing every student with a moving map to try and avoid these sorts of situations.
Wondering what time it was, Kai made his way through the corridors again. Considering Kai left the entrance hall at around 8, it was likely past curfew though it was hard to tell how much time had passed. Kai also thought a 9 pm curfew was far too early anyways what was he five years old.
As Kai thought of what to do next he decided that perhaps the key was to do the opposite of what he had been trying. He’d wanted to go back to Ravenclaw tower so he’d only tried paths that led straight or up. Surely if he did the opposite and tried heading downward towards the dungeons and cellars, he’d somehow get where he wanted, that made sense right? Well even if it didn’t, maybe Kai would be able to find the Kitchens he’d heard about; he wondered what the food making process at Hogwarts was, or maybe he’d see some Slytherins doing whatever shady things they did late at night in the dungeons.
Figuring he was still somewhere on the second or third floors or between them, Kai tried to take any path, turn or stairs that he did not remember even it was leading him downwards which seemed counter intuitive to making it to Ravenclaw tower. Continuing like this for a while Kai started seeing new areas in these corridors, places he still didn’t recognize but at least it was different from where he had been stuck before; Kai became hopeful that perhaps he would make it to wherever the basement and the kitchens were after all, or at least somewhere he recognized better than this passageway or corridor or whatever it was.
