Hidden Room

Sean placed tracking Professor Snape's whereabouts at the top of his priorities.

Although Professor Snape had not explicitly told him he was no longer allowed to brew potions in the Dungeon,

he still decided to avoid Professor Snape.

There was quite a lot of room to maneuver on that front.

After all, Professor Snape could be called one of the busiest people at Hogwarts.

First, as a professor, he had to grade student assignments, keep track of the progress of at least twelve classes, and prepare lessons.

Second, as a Head of House, he had to mediate student conflicts, catch students dating too early, and deal with student problems.

Finally, there were the special tasks Headmaster Dumbledore entrusted to him.

Seen that way, Professor Snape's irritability was entirely understandable.

Not only was he run ragged by his classes, he also had to deal with troublesome students every day.

Sean could roughly guess the sort of thing Professor Snape often had to face—

Merlin's beard! Go take a look, Professor Snape! Those Gryffindors are causing trouble again!

The workload was completely excessive, and he did not even have a Teaching Assistant.

If Sean remembered correctly, Professor Snape's office was even on the other end of the underground level...

There was plenty of room to maneuver.

With that thought, even the fireplace in the Great Hall seemed warmer.

Flames flickered in the fireplace against the stone wall until two shadows swayed past in a blur.

"Oh, I have to say, I've never found a Charms essay this easy to write."

A faint smile played on Justin's lips. He carried a Magic Lantern in his left hand,

while his right hand stuffed a five-inch Charms essay and a light-blue notebook into his bag.

"Alright, Justin, though I wonder who it was that complained two days ago that magical essays were harder than horseback riding."

Hermione lifted her chin, narrowed her eyes slightly, and gave Justin a look that said, There's something wrong with you,

before walking into the Great Hall with a huge stack of books in her arms.

They had clearly just returned from the Library, still carrying the faint scent of ink.

Completing an excellent class assignment was difficult—for example, a Charms assignment.

To put it simply:

This is how you wave your wand, and this is how you recite the incantation.

Alright, now write me a five-inch essay on the Levitation Charm.

The Young Wizards' expressions were probably: Huh? Me?

It might have seemed like merely written work, but completing it required Young Wizards to do far too much exploring and thinking on their own.

So it was almost impossible to finish assignments without camping out in the Library.

And learning how to look up suitable materials was an important first lesson.

That was why Hermione and Justin often spent their time in the Library.

Compared to Hermione, who had memorized all the first-year textbooks and could quickly find the materials she needed,

Justin, who was less familiar with the textbooks, progressed much more slowly. Combined with Professor Binns's muddled essays,

the Young Wizards—at least those who wanted to complete their assignments properly—were miserable.

But today, Justin had not only finished a one-foot History of Magic essay, he had even completed his Levitation Charm essay within three hours.

Since Professor Flitwick had assigned it as extra work, even Hermione had not finished so quickly.

"You wrote a decent Charms essay, yet your Levitation Charm didn't improve even a little during practice this afternoon..."

Hermione held her chin high and glanced at Justin.

"I guess you took inspiration from someone else's assignment. That person was Sean."

"Oh, alright, you got half of it right. Sean told me the method."

Justin showed none of the embarrassment of having been found out. Instead, he said with a sincere smile,

"Though I'm sure Sean would agree to let me tell you this method, I still have to get his permission first...

Look, he's right there."

Hermione gave an "oh," not thinking a Young Wizard's method could be anything particularly valuable,

even if that person was Sean.

Still, she instinctively searched for a certain Young Wizard's figure.

The Great Hall was full of Wizards walking back and forth in identical school uniforms, and Hermione began to wonder if Justin had mistaken someone else for him.

Just then, Justin suddenly sat down.

"Sean."

Justin greeted him enthusiastically.

"Mm."

Even in the midst of a fierce battle with a roast chicken, Sean took the time to respond.

"Would you mind..."

Justin said in a low voice.

"I wouldn't."

Before he could finish, a voice came from inside the roast chicken.

"Oh, alright."

Justin's smile grew brighter as he handed the Parchment to Hermione.

"You have to take a look at this, Hermione."

"Alright, but I have to say, I don't think..."

Hermione brushed back her hair and took the Parchment from Justin.

Ten minutes later.

Sean sipped his Pumpkin Juice. Its sweet flavor always put him in a good mood.

"I have to say, this is a genius structure. Oh... if only I'd seen it sooner..."

Just then, Hermione let out a troubled sigh beside him. Sean's hand twitched, making the Pumpkin Juice slosh.

He looked over and saw Hermione's face gradually turning red, the tips of her ears flushed a pale pink.

"Sean, ah, I mean..."

Hermione stammered. She was not used to having words of praise overheard in person.

Fortunately, Sean was always focused on his own business and had heard nothing.

And Justin always reacted quickly.

"I mean, no, Hermione said the method in that essay was brilliant!

And your notes for Charms—if only I could put the theory into practice..."

He was always timely. Not only had he answered the earlier question, he had smoothly shifted the topic to Charms.

"Mm, practice is important."

Sean nodded.

He was still wondering whether the Dungeon would welcome him today.

The result was obvious.

The Dungeon was dangerous today.

Professor Snape had probably entered the Dungeon to brew potions, and brewing potions never took a short time.

Therefore, Sean decided to devote the evening to the other six subjects.

Of them, Charms was naturally the most practical.

So finding a place to practice Charms

became his goal for the night.

"We're going to practice Charms, Sean. Want to come with us?"

Justin suddenly asked. As he spoke, his light-gray eyes visibly brightened.

Sean was slightly taken aback.

A few minutes later,

three figures slowly passed through the corridor and climbed the Moving Staircase.

There were a total of one hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts.

Some were broad and grand.

Some were narrow and small, and swayed precariously.

Some led somewhere different every Friday.

Some had a step that suddenly vanished halfway up, and you had to remember where to jump.

There were also many doors here. If you did not politely ask them to open, or poke exactly the right spot, they would not open for you.

Some doors were not doors at all, but solid walls that merely looked like doors.

It was difficult to remember where everything was, because everything seemed to be constantly moving.

The people in the portraits were constantly visiting one another too, and Justin swore that even the suits of armor could walk.

In a castle that changed like this, a hidden room did not seem all that strange.