Lena went back to the school to get her cap, which she had forgotten in the cloakroom. The corridor was almost dark, only the lamps buzzed over the tiles. The display cabinets echoed her footsteps, as if the echoes had a treble too. A box of found things stood under the bulletin board. When she lifted the lid, she smelled wet felt and dust. Then she heard a quiet whisper, not from a person, but from inside. - Hey, close more gently, please - muttered a frayed glove. - You... you say? - Lena recoiled, but curiosity was stronger. - We're all talking - rang the rusty key at the bottom of the box. - The school bell had stopped ringing, and without it, time stands still. We need your hand. - My hand? After all, I'm a latecomer, not a wizard. - It's enough that you know how to come back - the torch whispered and flared warmly. The objects dictated the directions: cupboard number seventeen, second shelf, at the back. Lena carefully slid her hands deep between the heavy jackets. The metal was cold and the tags scratched at her wrists. The torch ran a yellow line across the ceiling, like a secret map. Behind the coat rack, she found a narrow gap she hadn't seen before. The key became warm, as if it remembered her old hands. "Now, Lena!" - he called impatiently. She slid it into the hidden hole. The mechanism clicked twice and something on the other side sighed. The whole cupboard trembled, as if waking from a dream. A short, broken sound, very similar to a bell, came from deep within. And then a quieter than usual silence fell. Lena held her breath and gently pushed open a door that should not have existed. Something silver flashed past the threshold and immediately disappeared.