"Hey, Baron! Merry Christmas!"
After a term spent together, Avada and Baron had become friends who trusted each other. They had even completed their "Mental Link" magic experiment with Baron's help.
Early on Christmas morning, Avada got up and went to the Great Hall. He joined the handful of students staying at school in exchanging holiday greetings and enjoying the special Christmas cakes and gingerbread provided by the House-elves, along with steaming hot tea. Then he spotted Baron coming in through the entrance and stood up to greet him.
"Merry Christmas, K!"
Baron smiled and returned the greeting, then came over and sat opposite Avada. There were so few students staying at school over Christmas break that they didn't bother sitting at separate tables during meals.
"How do you like your Christmas present? Are you happy with it?"
"I couldn't be happier," Avada exclaimed. Baron had given him a book from his family library, one about modern wizards' research into and exploration of the mind. It not only recorded a wealth of knowledge about mental power, but also laid out the full history of its study.
Baron had arranged for his family to send it after taking part in Avada's Mental Link experiment and learning that he was studying mental power. Avada had only read the opening pages, but he was already finding them incredibly enlightening.
The precious gift had also left him in a quandary: he had no idea what to give Baron in return. Baron was a Pure-blood aristocrat and hardly needed Galleons; the talent optimization procedure was too complicated to finish in a day or two; he had already taught Baron the Mental Link spell before Christmas, so that didn't count; and giving him a few homemade pastries like the other Hufflepuffs would feel a little inadequate...
After much deliberation, Avada decided to "give" Baron something novel and of immeasurable value. He had kept him in suspense about it the day before.
"I got my present from home this morning." Baron looked delighted, his expression more relaxed than Avada usually saw it. "It's a quill that can write in the air, and if there's any wind, it changes its handwriting and color depending on the wind's strength and direction. I'll show you in a bit!"
Avada couldn't help feeling a pang of emotion. He had no family in this life, and his friends at the orphanage didn't even know where he was now, so they couldn't send him presents. He had sent them some homemade candy and biscuits, though, along with a letter describing how he was doing—leaving out, of course, anything to do with magic.
"Let's not talk about that just yet."
Avada gave a mysterious smile and switched their conversation to the Mental Link's private channel. "Let's go see the Christmas present I told you about. It's ready, and I'll take you there after we eat."
As soon as he sent the message, Avada saw Baron speed up his eating.
Still, Avada finished first. Baron might have been in a hurry, but he was an aristocrat and had to maintain his table manners.
When Baron had swallowed the last bite of cake and elegantly wiped his mouth, Avada stood up and beckoned him over. "Come with me."
"What are we going to do?"
As Avada led him up the stairs, Baron couldn't help asking. He couldn't imagine what sort of Christmas present needed to be prepared in a special place, especially one so far from the Hufflepuff Common Room and up on a higher floor.
"On the Seventh Floor. You'll see when we get there."
That was right: Avada planned to reveal the Room of Requirement to Baron as his Christmas present.
He had made the decision after giving it some thought. The most important thing in the Room of Requirement, Ravenclaw's Diadem, had already been moved elsewhere, and the Vanishing Cabinet was currently broken, so there wasn't much risk. Besides, the room itself wasn't exactly a big secret. Avada was sure someone else at the school knew about it, and might even have left something behind in the room where people stored things.
Besides, the Room of Requirement was both magical and fun. Who could resist a room that could fulfill your wishes?
And so Avada led Baron to the Seventh Floor and stopped opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being beaten by trolls.
"All right, here we are."
Baron looked around, confused. "So what exactly have you prepared?"
"That depends on what you need. Tell me, what do you want right now?" Avada asked, doing his best to hide his amusement at Baron's bewildered expression.
"???"
Baron froze for a moment, then realized from Avada's expression that he wasn't joking.
"Uh, I want..." he ventured. "I want to learn more?"
"Sure. I'll get it ready!"
Avada walked along the wall three times, and, just as expected, a smooth doorway appeared in the previously blank stretch of wall. With Baron watching in astonishment, he pushed the door open. Beyond it was a library lined with books.
"There's a hidden library here?"
Baron didn't rush inside. He stood outside, staring blankly as he ran his hand over the door that had appeared out of nowhere. It took him a long while to come to his senses. "Wait! If that's all it is, how did you know I'd wish to 'learn more'?"
"Because this isn't just a library!" Avada finally stopped keeping him in suspense. "You can call it the Room of Requirement!"
Then he explained what the Room of Requirement could do and how to use it.
"Is it really that magical?"
Baron listened with some doubt, then began pacing, opening the door, looking around inside, pacing again, and opening another door...
A training room, a lounge, a bathroom, a kitchen, a library, a greenhouse, a classroom... Baron tried practically every kind of room Avada could think of, having the time of his life. After who knew how long, he finally ran out of ideas and closed the last door. Then he looked happily at Avada, who had been standing off to the side, quietly watching him play.
"Thanks, K!"
"Thank you for sharing this secret with me. This is definitely the most interesting Christmas present I've ever received!"
"Of course. How could anything I picked out be boring?"
Avada raised his chin with a proudly smug smile, then turned his head and added, "But after watching you try so many times, I noticed you still haven't opened the most valuable room..."
"There's another room I haven't opened?" Baron exclaimed.
Avada nodded with a smile. "When you're pacing, try thinking, 'I need a place to store things.'"
Baron's eyes lit up. He immediately began pacing back and forth three times. As he finished the last pass, the smooth doorway appeared in the wall again. He eagerly pushed it open, then let out a gasp of amazement.
"What do you think? Everything gathered here belonged to people who discovered this room over the past thousand years. Their value is beyond measure, and now they're all unclaimed."
Baron either didn't hear him or was too excited to respond. He rushed inside and looked over the jumble of objects, letting out exclamations every so often.
"Is this Gubraithian fire? Merlin above, it's been burning for hundreds of years!"
"A half-finished Golden Snitch! I've never seen the inside of one before!"
"What's this, a Sneakoscope?"
"What's this egg? Why is it so big? Could it be a dragon egg...? Oh, it's fake."
"And this puppet is so lifelike. It's almost exactly like a real person..."
"Wait! K, come here! It's Professor Baker! He's lying here!!"
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