A Grand Adventure in the Room of Requirement

Sean had entertained this idea for a long time. He had always maintained an elegant, gentlemanly manner; whether in class or in the common room, Sean was forever the picture of grace.

With his outstanding looks, excellent performance in every subject except Potions, and a smile always on his face when speaking with others, some people thought he was merely putting on an act. But for now, Sean had an excellent reputation within the House. Some older girls had even started batting their eyelashes at him.

I'm not even twelve yet... Sean would mutter to himself as he returned their smiles.

Though some students in his year had already started dating...

Beneath Sean's gentlemanly exterior, there had always been a restless heart.

For no other reason than that he was simply far too curious about everything related to magic.

Of course, before heading out this time, Sean had found himself an excuse: I need somewhere empty to practice spells.

He slipped quietly out of the passageway. It was already very late, and the Ravenclaw Common Room was deserted.

Outside the common room, Hogwarts Castle was especially quiet at night. Even the staircases that loved changing their positions at random had settled down somewhat.

To be honest, he did not quite remember where the Room of Requirement was. He only knew that it was located somewhere in Hogwarts Castle, opposite the Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy Bashing Trolls.

After searching through the castle for quite a while, Sean still had not found the tapestry.

"Damn, it can't be on the fourth floor—the one I deliberately avoided, can it?" He kept Dumbledore's warning firmly in mind. More importantly, Sean was not sure whether his exceptionally high Magical Creature Affinity would work on a three-headed dog.

Just as he was pondering this, a set of footsteps suddenly sounded from the other end of the corridor.

"Oh no, don't tell me Filch is about to catch me?"

As the castle caretaker, Mr. Filch was a Squib, and nothing delighted him more than catching Young Wizards breaking the rules and putting them in detention.

Wandering around the corridors in the middle of the night like this would most likely earn Sean a detention.

Sean glanced around, then finally hid himself in a secluded corner.

"Mrs. Norris, my precious, have a good look around here. I have a feeling that the one wandering about in the middle of the night is hiding here."

Sean held his breath in the darkness. Had he been discovered?

Filch's dragging footsteps gradually drew closer, and Sean heard the sound of someone rummaging through fabric.

Good thing I didn't hide behind those curtains...

He breathed a small sigh of relief, only to see a pair of bulging, lightbulb-like eyes.

It was a scrawny cat with dull gray fur—Mrs. Norris, Filch's trusted companion.

Sean forced a smile at Mrs. Norris and soothed her in the softest possible voice. "Sweetheart, could you pretend you never saw me?"

Mrs. Norris stared at him intently for a moment, then turned and walked away.

"My dear, did you find any trace of that fellow... No? Then let's check downstairs. He can't have gone far..."

The footsteps gradually faded away, and only then did Sean fully relax.

Mrs. Norris had actually not given him away?!

After all, given Filch's physical condition, much of the credit for his ability to catch rule-breaking students belonged to Mrs. Norris.

And that cat had actually understood him—and let him go.

Sean's heart stirred. Could it be that his nine points of Magical Creature Affinity worked on all animals?

Otherwise, there was no explaining it.

Having escaped disaster, Sean's luck did not run out. Before long, he spotted what he had been looking for in a corridor on the eighth floor.

Opposite the Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy Bashing Trolls was an ordinary marble wall, common throughout the castle. Sean walked up to it and repeatedly chanted in his mind, I need a place where I can practice spells.

After three times, he saw the wall begin to shift. Finally, a plain wooden door appeared before him.

Sean smiled and pushed the door open.

Inside was a spacious room lit by torches, like an underground classroom. Wooden bookshelves lined the walls. There were no chairs on the floor, but there were large satin cushions. On shelves at the far end of the room sat all kinds of instruments, such as Foe-Glasses and Secrecy Sensors. In one corner stood a wooden cabinet, with several mirrors beside it.

Sean walked over to the wooden shelves. There were hundreds of books upon them, including Standard Book of Spells, Confronting the Dark Arts, and many more.

"Incredible..." The smile on Sean's face grew even brighter.

After making a circuit of the room, he closed his eyes again.

"I need a place where I can brew potions."

After repeating it three times, no cauldrons or other equipment appeared in the room.

Sean nodded. It seemed that once someone was inside the Room of Requirement, it would not change.

Still, Sean was already extremely satisfied. He planned to come by whenever he had time. Perhaps he might even come across some wonderful Magical Items.

However, before he could open the Standard Book of Spells in his hand, Sean saw the room's only wooden door begin to ripple, just as it had when he entered.

"Looks like my luck has run out. What a coincidence..." Sean's expression stiffened.

He looked around, then finally chose to hide inside the cabinet in the corner.

Since he had no way to confirm who was coming, it was better not to be seen.

Sure enough, not long after he hid, faint footsteps sounded inside the room.

Holding up his wand, which was emitting a glow, Sean examined the inside of the cabinet. Just as it had appeared when he checked it earlier, the huge wooden cabinet was completely empty. There was not even a spiderweb in the corners.

Wait, there wasn't even any cobwebbing... Sean froze for a moment.

Before he could sort out his thoughts, the footsteps outside suddenly vanished.

"No way..." After waiting for quite a while with no sound at all from outside, Sean raised his wand and gently pushed the cabinet door open a crack.

It was brightly lit outside, clearly much brighter than the room from before.

Sean pulled the door open wider and saw a fireplace blazing fiercely, with two red velvet armchairs beside it.

"The Vanishing Cabinet..." Sean finally confirmed what he had crawled into.

Damn it, had this thing been repaired ahead of time? Sean gritted his teeth in frustration. His peaceful, smooth life at Hogwarts had dulled his vigilance far too much.

But from the look of things, the Vanishing Cabinet did not lead to Borgin and Burkes.

Just as he was hesitating, there came the faint sound of a vinyl record being placed down. At once, melodious chamber music filled the room.

"Albus, have you finally decided to come see me?"

An elderly voice rang out, joyful, confident, and wild.

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