A Certain Scientific Harry Potter 39

The Room of Requirement, also known as the Come and Go Room, does not exist under normal circumstances; it only appears when someone is truly in need.

To find the Room of Requirement, one must concentrate on their needs and pace back and forth three times in front of the blank stretch of wall opposite the tapestry while holding that desire in their heart. The room you desire will then appear, and it will always be furnished in a way that perfectly suits your needs.

In other words, the reason the Room of Requirement appeared so spartan to Harry and his friends was simply because Dobby only hoped for a place where he could barely find shelter.

If someone with an urgent need to use the restroom were to find this place, it is quite possible that upon opening the door, they would see a bathroom instead.

"So that's how it is; this really is a magical place." Harry curiously raised an eyebrow at Snape. "Professor, you know so much about it—have you been here before?"

"Many people at Hogwarts have been here, but most of them do not know it is the Room of Requirement, because everyone sees a completely different scene after entering this room."

Snape's tone was cold, clearly unwilling to dwell on the subject, and seeing this, Harry did not ask further.

It was either related to his mother, Lily, or to the painful experiences of his youth; it was only natural that the man did not want to talk about it.

Harry sighed helplessly in his heart. The 'illness' Snape suffered from was far more severe than Filch's. Although the man had gradually become more amicable toward him recently, there was still a long and arduous road ahead before he could fully open his heart.

"However... this place is perfect for hiding things." After a moment of thought, Harry decided to hide the Mirror of Erised here.

Since Snape had already said that the Room of Requirement would change its decor according to the user's needs, there was almost no chance that anything hidden here would be discovered by others.

Mmm, he wasn't the first person to think of that.

"Dobby, thank you so much. You've solved a huge problem for me!" Harry gripped Dobby's hand tightly, expressing his sincere gratitude.

"N-no need to thank me, Dobby is honored to help you, sir... really, Dobby has never been as happy as he is today!"

Dobby's voice was trembling; it was clear that he was truly moved to receive such kindness from Harry.

"That is enough." Snape stepped in to pull Dobby away, his eyes cold as he glared at Harry. "Next, I am going to resolve the mess you've caused and return this House-elf to where he belongs."

"Please wait, Professor Snape." Hermione suddenly blocked Snape, who was about to turn and leave. "Dobby was sent here to retaliate against Harry and me, right? Now that his mission has failed, won't he be punished by his masters when he returns?"

"That is not a matter for you to consider."

Facing Hermione, Snape's attitude was far more impatient; he didn't even have the mood to answer her concerns.

"It's okay, Miss Granger, Dobby often makes his masters unhappy... Dobby is already used to punishments."

As the person involved, Dobby also tried to persuade Hermione from the side; he was long accustomed to the abuse from his masters.

"You... Hmph! Harry, what do you think?" Seeing her point of view being rejected by both Snape and Dobby in succession, Hermione turned to Harry, looking indignant.

Her posture made it clear that she was being unreasonable and wanted Harry to agree with her.

"Well... it wouldn't be impossible if we planned it a little." Harry's eyes rolled as he seemed to have an idea. "Professor, could I trouble you to act in a scene with me? At least this way, Dobby has a high probability of escaping punishment when he returns."

"Hmph, childish tricks."

After listening to the gist of Harry's plan, Snape let out a disdainful snort, but he did not refuse. Instead, he wore a sour expression as he took Dobby and left directly.

He truly was a classic, high-level tsundere; even when he agreed, he still had to be difficult about it.

"Harry, I'm still very worried about Dobby's situation!" After Snape left, Hermione still couldn't set her mind at ease.

She felt that even if Harry's plan worked, Dobby might not necessarily escape the Malfoy family's punishment entirely.

"Hermione, I know you're worried about Dobby, and I am too." Harry looked at Hermione earnestly. "It's just... rather than worrying about something that is bound to happen, we should think carefully about what we can actually do."

"What... can we do?"

At this moment, Hermione fell into deep thought.

(P.S. A brief explanation: In The Goblet of Fire, Hermione's idea of 'liberating the House-elves' certainly had good intentions, but her perspective and practical limitations were ultimately too great. So, readers need not worry about the protagonist becoming a more radical liberation fighter than Hermione; instead, he will help Hermione analyze this issue with a more scientific perspective. Sanmiao mentioned this lead-in at the end of this chapter so that Hermione could start thinking about it a few years early, preventing her from reaching one-sided conclusions based on momentary indignation. That is all~)

Chapter 73: The Mystery of the Mirror Remains Unsolved (6/10)

The Quidditch match between Gryffindor House and Slytherin House lasted until nightfall that day. In the end, Madam Hooch simply couldn't stand it anymore and kept urging the Seekers of both sides to catch the Golden Snitch quickly, which finally allowed the match to conclude.

The result of the match was beyond doubt: Slytherin won a complete victory... even the Golden Snitch was caught by their Seeker.

However, Harry didn't find out about this result until several days later.

On the afternoon of the Quidditch match, Harry Granger, a first-year student from Ravenclaw House, went missing in the school. It wasn't until the night, two full days later, that he was found unconscious in front of the office of the Slytherin Head of House in the dungeons.

It was said that when passing students found Harry, his entire face was covered in 'nosebleeds,' and his body was 'black and blue' with bruises; he looked as wretched as could be.

Moreover, perhaps feeling embarrassed, he didn't even go to Madam Pomfrey, but instead slunk back to Filch's office.

Because of this incident, Harry's sister, Hermione, went to have a big argument with Snape. Not only did she fail to get any answers, but she also ended up causing Ravenclaw House to lose another ten points.

Consequently, busybodies soon began spreading rumors everywhere, saying that Harry must have accidentally angered the notoriously ill-tempered Snape and was given a good lesson by him.

The gossip spread like wildfire throughout the campus. Many began to discuss Harry's misfortune, both openly and privately, and Malfoy was naturally no exception.

Furthermore, he fancied himself more informed about the 'truth' than anyone else.

"Hmph, that useless Dobby did a decent job this time! Potter, you've finally tasted bitterness, haven't you? Let's see if you dare to continue opposing me... hiss, that really hurts~"

Although he had received a Howler and was later slapped several times by his father, who had rushed to the school in a rage, Malfoy was in quite a good mood.

Mmm, Malfoy clearly didn't realize... that besides being good at examining injuries, forensic experts are also quite good at faking them.

So, the 'injuries' on Harry's body were all faked, but the slap marks on someone else's face were real.

"As expected, she won't be appearing again for a while..."

Inside the Room of Requirement, Harry looked calmly at himself in the Mirror of Erised for a long time. Finally, he sighed softly, grabbed the tattered bedsheet beside him, and covered the eerie mirror.

He could no longer glean any more information from the mirror, so he had no choice but to leave it in the corner to gather dust for the time being.

Nearly two months had passed since Harry discovered the Room of Requirement, and during this time, he had returned to gaze into the Mirror of Erised every few days.

There was indeed something wrong with this mirror; every time Harry looked into it, he would see the silhouette of that blonde girl, and of course, it was always accompanied by a headache so severe it made him question his existence.

But at the same time, as the number of times he was tormented by those memory fragments increased, his mental power also continued to grow slightly, which gradually allowed him to ignore that sense of listless exhaustion.

However, over this recent period, Harry's mental power seemed to have reached a bottleneck, unable to improve any further no matter what he did.

Fortunately, he had finally managed to see the appearance of the girl in the mirror clearly.

She had a head of tangled, messy hair that reached her waist, eyebrows so light they were almost invisible, and eyes that were shockingly large, bulging outward as if in perpetual surprise.

The robes she wore were equally filthy, stained with colorful blotches to the point where the original color was unrecognizable. Various chaotic trinkets hung haphazardly from her hem and pockets, giving her an overall air of madness and eccentricity.

Harry didn't pay much attention to this, however; after all, he had never been one to judge a book by its cover.

He only felt it was very strange—why could he see this girl in the mirror when he had clearly never met her before?

But later, when the image in the mirror began to shift and the memory fragments in Harry's mind began to piece themselves together, he realized he was wrong.

The scene changed, and before his eyes appeared an operating table that Harry found vaguely familiar. The girl in the mirror had grown into a young woman, very beautiful, lying peacefully on it, only her complexion was no longer rosy...

The vision ended there, which left Harry quite frustrated. It felt as if a very important piece of memory was missing, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall it.

Who exactly are you? And what kind of relationship do you have with me...

Harry felt that the vision in the mirror must have had a follow-up, but in the time that followed, no matter how hard he stared into the glass, he could never see the blonde girl again.

He began to see Mr. and Mrs. Granger, his biological parents from this life, James and Lily, his parents from his previous life, and eventually even Hermione, but there was never a trace of the blonde girl.

Until finally, Harry could only see himself, and the Mirror of Erised seemed to have become nothing more than an ordinary mirror.

However, Harry felt this was only temporary; one day in the future, he would surely be able to see more things in this mirror.

Perhaps... just when he truly met that girl.

Since he could no longer see useful information in the Mirror of Erised, Harry rarely went to the Room of Requirement anymore, only occasionally using it as a temporary bathroom when Hermione wanted to tend to her hair.

Although the Prefect's Bathroom was luxurious, it was someone else's space after all, and the risk of being disturbed was too high; it was ultimately not as private as an exclusive space.

What's more, if he used the Room of Requirement as a bathroom, the interior decor could be made even more to his liking than the Prefect's Bathroom~

By the way, it is worth mentioning that Dumbledore never once mentioned the Mirror of Erised to Harry.

In this way, a certain suspicion in Harry's heart seemed to be confirmed...

Hmm, Schrödinger's Sorcerer's Stone~

Time slipped away day by day, and soon, Harry and Hermione welcomed their first Christmas since starting school.

In late December, heavy snow swept across all of Hogwarts, and even the Black Lake was covered in a thick layer of ice. Yet, the chill of winter could not dampen the enthusiasm of the holiday; the entire campus was decorated with lights and colors, and festive scenes could be seen everywhere.

"Harry, have you packed your luggage?"

Hermione dragged her suitcase into the Great Hall. She had changed into casual clothes for the first time in a while, and after shedding the heaviness of her robes and the dozen books she usually carried, she finally regained some of the playfulness belonging to a young girl.

"Ready to go at any time!" Harry, who was helping to decorate the Great Hall, pointed to the suitcase beside him and apologized to the few faculty members nearby. "Professors, Hagrid, and Mr. Filch, see you after the winter break. I'll bring you gifts~"

"Haha! We'll be looking forward to it then. You and Miss Granger must enjoy your Christmas holiday!"

Professor Flitwick laughed happily, and Professor McGonagall and Filch beside him also seemed quite moved, as if they were looking forward to what kind of gifts Harry would bring back.

"Just in time, this is my gift. Merry Christmas~" Hagrid, who was decorating the Christmas tree, shoved a package directly into Harry's hands.

"You're so kind, Hagrid!" Harry thanked Hagrid and walked over to Hermione with his gift and suitcase.

"Let's go, let's go home~"

Chapter 74: A 'Sneak Attack' from Behind Can Never Succeed (7/10)

"Mom, Dad, we're home!"

As soon as she returned home, Hermione was like a swallow returning to its nest. After running happily through the door, she gave Mr. and Mrs. Granger a big hug each.

For Hermione, who had never experienced boarding school before, this was her first time away from home for so long, and she must have missed her parents dearly.

Harry was relatively calm; after all, he was a boy, and being steady in front of his parents was acceptable.

Naturally, to celebrate Christmas and the return of their two children, Mr. and Mrs. Granger had prepared a sumptuous feast.

"Let me tell you, Hogwarts really has so many novel things..."

At the dinner table, Hermione chattered on about her experiences over the past few months since starting school, occasionally pouting and complaining indignantly about Harry's penchant for causing trouble.

Harry would occasionally offer a cute plea for mercy, though he spent most of his time acting as Hermione's interpreter, explaining to Mr. and Mrs. Granger some of the technical terms Hermione blurted out in her excitement.

He didn't want his adoptive parents to feel that after studying magic for a few months, he and Hermione no longer had a common language with them.

Thus, during this winter break accompanying Christmas, the Granger family, separated for several months, was finally reunited, and every face was filled with a happy smile.

On Christmas Eve, Harry sat at the desk in his room, beginning to organize his list of gifts to prepare.

This was his first Christmas and New Year since entering Hogwarts. Although he didn't have much sense of belonging to the school, he had always felt grateful to certain special people.

At the top of the list were naturally Hagrid and Professor Flitwick; since he started school, Harry had received their near-meticulous care.

Hagrid's physique was too large, and it was hard to find things suitable for him in the ordinary world, so Harry thought it would be better to get a brand-new collar for his hound, Fang; surely Hagrid would be happy along with him.

As for Professor Flitwick, considering he also serves as the choir conductor, an exquisite new bowtie would be the most suitable thing for him... Harry had heard him complaining about it for a long time, saying his own bowtie was worn out but he never had the time to buy a new one.

Next to consider was a gift for Filch; based on the experience of living together—er, being roommates—for these past few months, Harry easily found a direction.

A thick, stylish trench coat would not only be warm, but it would certainly look quite respectable for a date.

The remaining ones were Snape and McGonagall; the former was someone who protected him silently from the shadows, while the latter deserved recognition thanks to her sheltering and defending Hermione.

As for the specific gifts, they shall remain a secret for now.

In short, that was basically it for the faculty members. As for the remaining friends to consider, there should only be Neville and Ron... perhaps plus one Peeves.

Since this poltergeist had been physically subdued, he could now be considered Harry's underling, and naturally, Harry could not favor one over the other.

"Hagrid's gift... is a whistle?"

A somewhat weary Harry took a short break and casually opened the oil-paper parcel Hagrid had tossed to him earlier, discovering the gift was a Bird Whistle with somewhat rough craftsmanship.

This thing must have been handmade by Hagrid himself. Harry tried blowing into it and found the timbre sounded very much like the hooting of an owl.

Harry was not skilled in music, so his whistling naturally lacked any melody. After toying with it for a while, he set it aside.

Next, he still had to prepare the final, yet most important, 'gift' for Hermione.