The Order of the Phoenix

Weekends at Hogwarts, like those at Muggle schools, were days off.

So Harry chose to set out in the dead of night. First, to avoid his roommates; second, so he could sleep in the next day.

The Map Chamber lay beneath Hogwarts Castle, a secret chamber tightly protected by Ancient Magic.

If Harry and Verathea had not helped Richard Garrick fulfill his final wish, they might never have discovered the place.

And it was precisely this one-of-a-kind place that became where the two of them exchanged their insights on Ancient Magic—the Professor Rackham in the portrait always had plenty to complain about this.

In Professor Rackham's words—the sacred chamber had become filled with a sour stink!

Harry cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself with practiced ease, yet somehow, it still felt awkward.

Looking down, he found that while his body had turned invisible, his feet were still sticking out.

Little Blackie, exposed...

Damn this age, he complained inwardly. Being young meant his magical power was not strong enough to sustain certain spells.

Apparition was one example. The minimum age for getting a license was seventeen, precisely for this reason.

Harry did not know when that rule had first been established, but a century ago, one had to pass the Apparition exam administered by the Department of Magical Transportation before using that magic.

Countless wizards had met with accidents due to unskilled Apparition, always leaving some parts behind.

The luckier ones left behind eyebrows or hair; the less fortunate lost arms or legs—even their upper and lower bodies could end up separated.

Fortunately, Harry was using the Disillusionment Charm. Even if he lacked the magical power to cast it at full strength, he did not have to worry about losing an arm or leg.

Besides, it was the middle of the night, so there was even less need to worry about being discovered.

And so, a bizarre scene unfolded: a pair of feet pattered along the corridor. If any student wandering about at night happened to see them, they would surely faint from fright.

Harry was not particularly bad with directions, and he had visited the Map Chamber countless times. Returning there felt like going home.

He followed the spiral staircase down to the lowest level of the castle and looked up expectantly, only to discover in shock that instead of the familiar door, there was a wall before him.

"Damn it!" Harry cursed under his breath. Then he remembered: the two of them had reinforced this place with Ancient Magic.

Unless one could use Ancient Magic, they would be unable to see the door.

And Ancient Magic only awakened at the age of fifteen, which meant Harry would have to wait until his fifth year before he could open this door and enter the Map Chamber.

Harry had asked Verathea why she had reinforced the Map Chamber with Ancient Magic.

So that people like Runcorn, who coveted Ancient Magic, would not discover it—that was what Verathea had told Harry at the time.

But Harry always felt that was not Verathea's real reason. He simply had no proof.

He paced around before the door for ages without finding a way to break through it, and could only give up helplessly.

Besides the Map Chamber, there were two other places.

One was the Crypt accessed beneath the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and the other was the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor.

Sebastian had told him about the Crypt. Ominis had flown into a rage over it—though in the end, he had still accepted Harry.

As for the Room of Requirement, Verathea had discovered it after transferring schools in her fifth year.

Harry truly did not want to go running into the Crypt in the middle of the night. It always made him think of a prison.

But since the Crypt had come to mind, Harry began to consider whether the place where they had once practiced magic together could also be put to use.

Hmm... I'd better check out the Room of Requirement. As for the Crypt, I'll go another time.

Having made up his mind, Harry headed all the way up to the eighth floor and stopped opposite the portrait of The Troll Who Beat Barnaby Silly.

I want a secret meeting place for the Order of the Phoenix, Harry thought, pacing back and forth three times.

Something magical happened. A faint sound came from the wall, and an ornate door appeared before Harry.

"Success!" Harry was overjoyed. He pushed open the door and entered the Room of Requirement.

Because Harry had been thinking of the meeting room from back then, everything was just as he remembered it. The emblems of the four Houses hung on the four walls, from Gryffindor to Slytherin.

In the era when Phineas Black had been Headmaster, the unity among the four Houses was beyond anything people today could imagine.

House prejudice? It did not exist. As long as you hated Headmaster Black, we had something in common!

Even the Slytherin classmates were the same.

But though the meeting room remained exactly as it had been, the people were gone.

The friends who had once filled this place with laughter and joy were now nowhere to be found.

"Dico?" Harry called the House Elf's name, but received no response.

Professor Weasley had assigned this House Elf to be his steward. While Harry lived at Hogwarts, Dico had always taken care of his meals and daily needs.

After Verathea transferred schools, Dico's charge had gone from one person to two.

Receiving no reply, Harry lifted the ill-fitting Disillusionment Charm and sat in his old seat, just as he had during their gatherings a century ago.

"I think our organization should have a name." Verathea gently wiped the beak of Fiona the Phoenix with her finger. "Harry, you are the bond that holds us together. You should be the one to name it."

Harry had always struggled with naming things, but the sight of the Phoenix suddenly gave him an idea.

"How about the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry said. "After all, we have a Phoenix."

"What a casual name, Potter." Disdain was clear in Cassandra's gray eyes. "Order of the Phoenix? I think I'm going to throw up..."

"I think it's pretty good, don't you?" Sebastian wrapped an arm around Ominis's shoulders and cheerfully voiced his approval of Harry's name.

Ominis lowered his head and gave a soft snort, indicating that he had no objection.

That snort was not aimed at Harry, but at Sebastian, who had absolutely no sense of personal boundaries.

"Five to one." Pabbie Sweeting of Hufflepuff raised her hand.

"Seven to one." Gareth and Amit Sakaha of Ravenclaw raised their hands together.

Yet Cassandra said slowly, "A vote? How childish. I never said I disagreed with the idiotic name that stupid Potter came up with—unanimously approved."

"Friends, I..." Harry lifted his head, only to find the Long Table before him completely empty.

"I really miss you all," he said.