The Shocking Change at the Room of Requirement

Chapter 21 The Shocking Change at the Room of Requirement

Hey, Baron! Merry Christmas!

After spending a semester together, Avada and Baron had become trusted friends. Even the "mental link" magic was tested with Baron's help.

Early Christmas morning, Avada got up and went to the auditorium, where he joined the small groups of students who stayed on campus to exchange greetings and enjoy Christmas cakes, gingerbread, and hot tea provided by house-elves. Then he saw Baron walking in from the gate and got up to greet him.

Merry Christmas, Ken!

Baron smiled and thanked him, then walked over and sat down opposite Avada—since there were only so many people staying on campus during the Christmas break, they didn't need to sit at separate tables for meals.

"How's your Christmas present? Are you satisfied?"

"I couldn't be more satisfied," Avada exclaimed. The Christmas gift Baron gave him was a book selected from his family's library, which contained information on modern wizards' research and exploration of psychic powers. It not only recorded a lot of knowledge about psychic powers, but also showed a complete historical context of the exploration of psychic powers.

This was written by Baron after he participated in Avada's mind link experiment and learned that Baron was studying psychic powers. He wrote a letter home and had it delivered to Avada. Avada was greatly inspired after reading only the beginning of the letter.

However, this precious gift also presented him with a dilemma: he was unsure what to give Baron in return. Galleon, being a pure-blood noble, had no shortage of gifts; the talent enhancement surgery was too complex to be completed in a day or two; he had taught Baron the mental link magic before Christmas, so it didn't count; and giving a few homemade pastries like other Hufflepuffs would seem rather inadequate…

After much thought, he decided to "give" Baron a very novel and invaluable gift, and he kept it a secret from him yesterday.

"I just received a gift from home this morning." Baron looked very happy, a rare sight of him so relaxed: "It's a quill pen that can write in the air, and if there's wind, it even changes the writing style and color according to the wind's strength and direction—I'll show you in a bit!"

Avada couldn't help but sigh inwardly upon hearing this. He had no relatives in this world, and his friends in the orphanage didn't even know where he was now, so naturally they couldn't send him any gifts. However, he did send some homemade candies and cookies, as well as a letter describing his recent situation, omitting, of course, the parts related to magic.

"Let's not talk about this now."

Avada gave a mysterious smile and switched the conversation to in-game voice chat via the mental link: "Let's go see the Christmas present I mentioned first. It's ready. I'll take you to see it after dinner."

As soon as the message was sent out, Avada immediately noticed that Baron was eating much faster.

However, Avada was the first to finish his meal. After all, Baron was of noble birth, and he had to maintain his elegance while eating.

After Baron swallowed the last bite of cake and elegantly wiped his mouth, Avada stood up first and waved to him: "Come with me."

"What are we going to do?"

As Avada led him up the stairs, he couldn't help but ask curiously. He couldn't fathom what kind of Christmas present required a special place, especially one so far away from the Hufflepuff common room on a higher floor.

"It's on the eighth floor. You'll find out when you get there."

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

This was a decision he made after careful consideration. First, the most important thing in the Room of Requirement, Ravenclaw's tiara, had already been moved elsewhere, and the Vanishing Cabinet was currently damaged, so it wasn't a big problem. Moreover, its existence wasn't exactly a big secret; Avada was sure that there were people in the school besides himself who knew about the room, and perhaps even left some traces in that room where things were hidden.

Moreover, the House of Requirement is indeed both magical and fun—who could refuse a house that can grant their wishes?

And so, Avada led Baron to the eighth floor and stood opposite the tapestry depicting the giant beating the foolish Barnabas.

"Okay, this is it."

Baron looked around, puzzled, and asked, "So, what exactly have you prepared?"

"Then it depends on your needs. Tell me, what do you want now?" Avada asked, barely suppressing a laugh as he looked at Baron's bewildered expression.

"???"

Baron paused for a moment, then looked into Avada's eyes and realized he wasn't joking.

"Um, I'd like to..." he asked tentatively, "I'd like to learn more?"

"Okay, we'll get started right away!"

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

"Is there a hidden library here?"

Baron didn't rush in. Instead, he stood outside, staring blankly at the suddenly appearing door. It took him a long time to react: "Wait a minute! If that's all, how did you know I would express my desire to 'learn more'?"

"Because this isn't just a library!" Avada finally dropped the preamble: "You can call it the 'House of Requirement'!"

Then he told Baron about the function and how to use the Room of Requirement.

"Is it really that amazing?"

Baron listened with skepticism, then began pacing back and forth, pushing open the door, going inside to look around, pacing again, and pushing open the door again...

Training grounds, lounges, washrooms, kitchens, libraries, greenhouses, classrooms… Baron explored virtually every type of room Avada could imagine, having a blast. After trying for what seemed like forever, Baron finally ran out of imagination, closed the door to the last room, and looked with delight at Avada, who was standing quietly watching him play.

"Thanks, Ken!"

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

"Of course! How could something I set my sights on be uninteresting!"

Avada gave a deliberately proud, raised-headed smile, then turned and said, "But I saw you try so many times, yet you still couldn't open the most valuable room..."

"There are still rooms I haven't opened?" Baron asked in surprise.

Avada nodded and smiled, "Try silently repeating 'I need a place to hide things' to yourself while you're pacing around."

Baron's eyes lit up at the mention of this, and he immediately began pacing back and forth three times. As he finished the last lap, the smooth doorway reappeared on the wall. He eagerly pushed it open and exclaimed in surprise.

"How about it? This place is filled with the collections of everyone who has discovered this house over the past thousand years. Their value is immeasurable. And now they are all ownerless."

Baron, whether he heard or not, excitedly ran inside, looking around at the messy pile of items, occasionally letting out a few exclamations of surprise:

"Is this the Ancient Flame of Bhri? By Merlin, it has been burning for hundreds of years!"

"A half-finished Golden Snitch! This is the first time I've ever seen the internal structure of the Golden Snitch!"

"What is this, a viewing mirror?"

"What is this egg? Why is it so big? It can't be a dragon egg, can it... Oh, it's just a fake."

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

"No! Ken, come quick! It's Professor Baker! He's collapsed here!!"

(End of this chapter)