Moving Fluffy

At the mention of the Room of Requirement, Cedric raised an eyebrow.

William noticed his expression and asked, "What is it, Cedric? Do you know about it?"

Cedric nodded. "You know, our common room isn't far from the Hogwarts Kitchens.

"When I go to the kitchens for a late-night snack, the House-elves are always chattering away to me. Once, they mentioned a special room.

"They call it the 'Come and Go Room' or the 'Room of Requirement'!"

"Why?" Cho asked curiously.

"Because a person can only enter the room when they truly need it," Charlie said gravely. "It appears and disappears, but when it does appear, it's always furnished to suit the needs of whoever's looking for help."

"Once, I went to visit Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest at night. On my way back, I ran into Filch. I wanted to find a room to hide in, and it appeared on its own.

"I tried many times before I worked out the pattern behind its appearances."

"How many people know about it?" Hagrid asked excitedly.

"Very few. I'd say it must be the most secret place in Hogwarts. Even George and Fred don't know about it!" Charlie said with a smile.

"That sounds wonderful," Hagrid said loudly, his heart beating faster. "We can keep Fluffy hidden there all the time! Right?"

Hagrid had once again begun thinking about keeping Fluffy for the long term.

William shook his head. "That's impossible, Hagrid. Since Charlie was able to find the room, other students might too.

"At most, we can only keep Fluffy until next summer, when Charlie can take him away. Any longer than that, and Fluffy will be fully grown. Wouldn't it be dangerous if a young wizard accidentally went in?"

"That's right, William," Hagrid said, giving in. "You're right. We'll do that!"

Now that they had made their decision, the group prepared to act that night.

This was not William's first time sneaking out at night. He had been out with the twins several times before.

Hogwarts had plenty of rules, but only one was truly essential: you could break the rules, but you couldn't get caught.

If you were caught, you could only accept your bad luck, lose points, and serve detention.

Thanks to the Marauder's Map, William had never been caught while following the Weasley brothers.

At eleven thirty that night, after his roommates had all fallen asleep, William put on his robes, picked up his wand, tiptoed through the rooms in the castle, and descended the spiral staircase.

Bobocha followed behind it like a ghost.

Bobocha was certainly coming along. William hadn't asked the Weasley brothers to join them tonight, and the Marauder's Map was in their hands.

Bobocha had excellent hearing and a keen sense of smell, and could quickly detect Filch.

Most importantly, with Bobocha there, Mrs. Norris would turn a blind eye to William and wouldn't lead Filch to him!

When William entered the Ravenclaw common room, a few embers still flickered in the fireplace, casting a faint glow. The armchairs seemed to have turned into dark masses of shadow.

Bobocha meowed and stared into a dark corner.

William looked closely and realized someone was already sitting there, dozing.

Cho heard the noise and woke with a start. She yawned and complained, "I got here at ten thirty, William. What took you so long?"

William frowned. "Cho, why are you here? I remember Cedric said you weren't allowed to go, didn't he?"

Cho shook her head, waking up a little more. "Why shouldn't I be allowed to go?" she demanded.

Cho slid out of the chair. She was wearing robes and carrying a wand. "I can definitely help, and back in primary school, I was the long-distance running champion for several years in a row. I was known for being fast.

"If we get caught, I'll definitely run faster than you and won't get caught by Filch!"

William: "..."

"All right." William thought it over and nodded. "You can help carry the box Fluffy's in. He's too heavy."

Cho: "..."

The three met up at the staircase.

All the way there, Cedric complained about William bringing Cho along, as if she were a frail little child.

William glanced at Cedric and compared their builds. If anything happened, he only needed to run faster than Cedric.

Charlie was already waiting for the three of them in the entrance hall on the first floor.

"We need to hurry. Filch just came past here, and I led him to the trophy room."

"Are we going like this?" Cho asked.

"Of course not, miss!" Charlie pulled out his battered wand and tapped each of them a few times, not forgetting Bobocha.

It felt as though cold liquid flowed down from the spot where the wand had struck, spreading over their entire bodies.

William looked down at his body-or, more precisely, what had once been his body. Now it looked as though it no longer belonged to him. It hadn't vanished, but its color and texture had become identical to the floor of the hall.

He seemed to have become a human-shaped chameleon.

"Disillusionment Charm! Cool!" Cedric exclaimed.

Charlie walked at the very front and said quietly, "It's a very useful spell. The incantation is 'Phantom Stealth.' It took me a long time to master it."

Cho looked at herself curiously and said in surprise, "If you learn this spell, couldn't you sneak out at night whenever you want?"

"Of course not," William said, shaking his head. "Powerful wizards can see through the spell at a glance."

"That's right," Charlie said with a smile. "I tried it at home once, and Mad-Eye saw through it immediately.

"Of course, he has a strange magical eye, but I'd say Dumbledore could see through it too.

"I don't know about the professors, but it's enough to deal with Filch."

Filch was only a Squib. Ever since Professor Tywin had accidentally let it slip, the news had spread all over the school.

When they crossed the grounds and reached Hagrid's hut, they found the great hound Fang sitting outside, his tail wrapped in bandages.

Charlie lifted the Disillusionment Charm and knocked on the door.

Hagrid opened the window and spoke to them.

"I can't let you in," he panted. "Fluffy must have sensed something. He's very difficult to handle now-I can't do anything with him."

Charlie climbed in through the window, but even after a great deal of effort, the two of them couldn't get Fluffy to sleep.

Hagrid's singing no longer worked. Ever since Cho had sung to Fluffy a few times, he had started to dislike how off-key Hagrid's singing was and refused to sleep no matter what!

Only when Cho stood at the window and sang did Fluffy settle down to sleep.

After they put Fluffy in the wooden box, Hagrid's eyes filled with tears, though that might also have been because Fluffy had just bitten his leg.

"Hehe! It's all right, he only bit my boot-he was playing, that's all-after all, he's still just a little baby."

"I prepared lots of cured meat for him, and a few fat, round-faced chickens, enough for his breakfast tomorrow," Hagrid said in a muffled voice. "I also put his favorite doll in there so he won't feel lonely at night."

William comforted him. "It's all right. You can visit him tomorrow at noon."

Hagrid sniffled. "My precious, you're only leaving Mummy for one night. Poor thing, you've never been away from me before.

"Make sure you don't kick off your covers when you sleep tonight!"

Hagrid had put a blanket in the box for Fluffy to sleep on and cover himself with, though William thought it would be torn to shreds during the night.

William gave his wand a tap and used the Levitation Charm to make the box float. Each of the four grabbed a corner, and they headed toward the castle.

Merlin, he hoped nothing would go wrong tonight.

(Third update. Please vote for the story, and thank you, dear readers. Wishing everyone a happy New Year in advance.)