The Sudden Change in the Room of Requirement

"Hey, Baron! Merry Christmas!"

After a semester of spending time together, Avada and Baron could be considered mutually trusting friends. Even the "mental link" magic had been experimented on and perfected with Baron's cooperation.

Early on Christmas morning, Avada got up and went to the Great Hall, joining the few students staying at school to exchange greetings and enjoy the Christmas-special cakes, gingerbread, and hot black tea provided by the house-elves. Then, he saw Baron walking in from the entrance and stood up to greet him.

"Merry Christmas, K!"

Baron smiled and returned the greeting, walking over to sit opposite Avada—since so few people were staying for the Christmas break, there was no need to sit at separate tables.

"How was the Christmas gift I gave you? Are you satisfied?"

"I couldn't be more satisfied," Avada exclaimed. The Christmas gift Baron had given him was a book selected from his family's library, detailing modern wizarding research and exploration into mental power. It not only recorded a great deal of knowledge regarding mental power but also presented a complete historical context of its exploration.

This was something Baron had specifically written home to request after participating in Avada's mental link experiments and learning that he was studying mental power. Avada had felt deeply inspired after reading just the beginning.

However, this precious gift also put him in a difficult position: he didn't know what to give Baron in return. As for Galleons, Baron was a pure-blood noble and lacked nothing; the talent optimization surgery was too complex to be completed in a day or two; the mental link magic had been taught to Baron before Christmas, so it didn't count; and giving a few homemade pastries like the other Hufflepuffs seemed a bit insincere...

After much thought, he decided to "give" Baron a very novel gift of immeasurable value, and he had even teased him about it yesterday.

"I just received a gift from home this morning," Baron said, looking very happy. It was rare to see him with such an unreserved expression: "It's a quill that can write in the air, and if there's a breeze, it changes font and color according to the strength and direction of the wind—I'll show you in a moment!"

Hearing this, Avada couldn't help but sigh inwardly. In this life, he had no family, and his friends at the orphanage didn't even know where he was, so they couldn't send gifts. However, he had sent them some homemade candies and cookies, along with a letter describing his current situation—omitting anything related to magic, of course.

"Let's not talk about that for now."

Avada revealed a mysterious smile and switched the conversation to the mental link's private channel: "Let's go see the Christmas gift I mentioned first. It's already prepared, and I'll take you to see it after we finish eating."

As soon as this message was sent, Avada immediately noticed Baron speeding up his eating.

However, it was Avada who finished his meal first. After all, no matter what, Baron was of noble birth and still had to maintain elegance while eating.

Once Baron swallowed the last bite of cake and elegantly wiped his mouth, Avada stood up first and beckoned to him: "Follow me."

"Where are we going?"

When Avada led him to start climbing the stairs, he couldn't help but ask curiously. He really couldn't imagine what kind of Christmas gift needed to be prepared in a specific place, especially on a high floor far from the Hufflepuff common room.

"On the eighth floor, you'll know when we get there."

That's right, Avada intended to reveal the existence of the Room of Requirement to Baron as a Christmas gift.

This was a decision he made after some thought. First, the most important item in the Room of Requirement, the Ravenclaw Diadem, had already been moved elsewhere by him, and the Vanishing Cabinet was currently in a damaged state, so it wasn't a big problem. Moreover, its existence wasn't exactly a huge secret; Avada could guarantee that there were definitely others in the school who knew about this room, and perhaps they had even left traces in that room where things were hidden.

Furthermore, the characteristics of the Room of Requirement were truly both magical and fun—who could refuse a room that could grant their wishes?

Just like that, Avada brought Baron to the eighth floor and stood still opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance.

"Alright, this is it."

Baron looked around, confused: "So? What exactly did you prepare?"

"That depends on your needs. Tell me, what do you want right now?" Avada watched Baron's bewildered expression and suppressed a laugh as he replied.

"???"

Baron was stunned for a moment, then confirmed from Avada's gaze that he wasn't joking.

"Uh, I want..." he asked tentatively, "I want to learn more knowledge?"

"Alright, it's ready!"

Avada walked back and forth three times along the wall, and as expected, a smooth door appeared on the previously empty wall. Under Baron's astonished gaze, he pushed the door open to reveal a library filled with books.

"There's a hidden library here?"

Baron didn't rush in, but instead stood outside, blankly touching the door panel that had suddenly appeared. It took him a long time to react: "No! If it's just this, then how did you know I would make the wish of 'wanting to learn more knowledge'?"

"Because this isn't just a library!" Avada finally stopped teasing: "You can call it the 'Room of Requirement'!"

Then, he told Baron about the function and usage of the Room of Requirement.

"Is it really that magical?"

After hearing this, Baron was half-believing and half-doubting, then he began to pace back and forth, push the door, go in to look around, then pace again, then push the door again...

Training grounds, lounges, bathrooms, kitchens, libraries, greenhouses, classrooms... basically every type of room Avada could think of was opened by Baron, and he had a great time. After trying for who knows how long, Baron finally exhausted his imagination, closed the door to the last room, and looked happily at Avada, who was standing to the side quietly watching him play.

"Thanks, K!"

"Thanks to you for being willing to share this secret with me, this is definitely the most interesting Christmas gift I've ever received!"

"That goes without saying, how could anything I pick out be boring!"

Avada first pretended to be proud and laughed, then turned his head and said: "But watching you try so many times just now, you still haven't opened the most valuable room..."

"There's a room I haven't opened?" Baron was surprised.

Avada nodded and smiled: "Try pacing while thinking to yourself, 'I need a place to hide things'."

Baron's eyes lit up at these words, and he immediately began to pace back and forth three times. As he finished the last pass, a smooth door appeared on the wall once again. He couldn't wait to push the door open, then let out a gasp of surprise.

"How about it? This place gathers the collections of everyone who has discovered this room over the past thousand years, and its value is immeasurable. And now, they are all ownerless."

Baron didn't know if he had heard him or not as he rushed in excitedly, looking left and right among a pile of messy items, occasionally letting out exclamations:

"Is this Gubraithian fire? Merlin's beard, it's been burning for hundreds of years!"

"A half-finished Golden Snitch! This is my first time seeing the internal structure of a Golden Snitch!"

"What is this, a Sneakoscope?"

"What is this egg? Why is it so big? It wouldn't be a dragon egg, would it... oh, it's fake."

"And this doll is made so exquisitely, it's exactly like a real person..."

"No! K, come here quickly! This is Professor Baker! He's collapsed here!!"