Time flowed slowly as Lynn spent his days busy with classes, tirelessly modifying his trunk, learning the Dark Arts from Professor Quirrell.
One day, after finishing Charms class, Lynn felt a bit idle and began wandering aimlessly through the Castle.
He strolled along and unknowingly reached the eighth floor via the spiral staircase.
It was much quieter here than downstairs; the tapestries in the corridor watched everything passing by in silence.
Just as he passed a corner, the faint sound of a deliberately lowered conversation came from ahead.
"Here... surely no one will come, right?" a female voice asked with a hint of nervousness.
"Don't worry... Clearwater, few people come here. It's very... secluded."
A male voice also lowered his tone, trying to stay calm, but a trace of imperceptible tension still lingered in it.
Lynn's footsteps came to a sudden halt, and his ears immediately perked up. Something was going on!
A signature "I've found something interesting" expression instantly appeared on his face.
He sneakily pressed against the wall and cautiously peeked half his head out from the corner.
Not far away, a red-haired boy was pacing somewhat anxiously in front of a tapestry depicting Trolls clubbing Barnabas the Barmy.
Standing beside him was a Ravenclaw girl.
Just as Lynn was wondering what they were going to do to the tapestry, a magical scene unfolded.
After Percy walked back and forth three times, the originally blank wall rippled like water, and then a smooth, polished wooden door silently emerged!
"Oh?" Lynn's eyes lit up instantly. "This place is quite interesting!"
Seeing the two preparing to push the door and enter, Lynn stopped hiding and stepped out from behind the corner openly, a harmless, bright smile on his face as he called out a greeting:
"Hello, senior! Hello, senior!"
The sudden voice gave the two at the door a fright.
Percy spun around, a flash of panic crossing his face. He adjusted his glasses and tried to maintain his composure as he asked, "Oh... you, hello. You are...?"
Beside him, Penelope's cheeks had instantly turned as red as a ripe tomato. Her eyes darted around, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into.
Only after stepping out from the corner did Lynn clearly see who they were, and he was delighted. Oh, it's a friend's brother and a famous senior!
But his face remained a picture of innocent naivety. "Hello, senior. I'm Lynn, a first-year from Hufflepuff."
After answering, his gaze "inadvertently" swept over the door that had just appeared, and he tilted his head in feigned confusion.
"Eh? Strange, this door... I remember it wasn't here when I passed by before. Did the Castle just conjure it up? Never mind that."
Lynn looked back at the two, his smile becoming even more "pure." "Seniors, are you here... for something?"
Seeing Lynn's attention drawn to the door, Percy's heart skipped a beat. Fearing he would ask why they were meeting here, Percy quickly took a step forward, trying to change the subject with the authoritative tone of a Prefect.
"Oh! You mean this! This is the Room of Requirement! A very magical place. You haven't seen it before, have you?"
Lynn nodded vigorously in cooperation, his eyes sparkling with the light of "seeking knowledge."
"The Room of Requirement? That sounds amazing! Can it really satisfy any request?"
Seeing that Lynn seemed attracted by the magical functions of the room and was no longer staring at the question of "why they were here," Percy breathed a secret sigh of relief. To quickly get rid of this little badger who had suddenly popped up, he rattled off the mechanics of the Room of Requirement—how to concentrate on the place one needs and walk past the tapestry three times—telling Lynn everything as if he were reciting a textbook.
"Oh~~ So that's how it is!"
Lynn put on an expression of sudden realization and sighed sincerely. "Hogwarts really is magical, to even have a room that 'makes wishes come true'!"
Having obtained the information he wanted and seeing the couple still so embarrassed they didn't know what to do with their hands and feet, his mischievous streak was satisfied.
He very "tactfully" stopped bothering them and waved at the two, his face still wearing that sunny, cheerful smile.
"Thank you, seniors, for telling me about such an interesting place! Then I won't disturb your... um... 'exploration of the Castle's secrets'! Goodbye, seniors!"
With that, he turned around in high spirits, hands in his pockets, humming a tuneless little ditty as he strolled away down the corridor, as if he had truly just happened to pass by and asked an irrelevant question.
In truth, Lynn was almost disgusted with himself; acting like a kid didn't quite suit him.
Percy and Penelope were left standing at the suddenly appeared door, looking at each other with blushes still on their faces. For a moment, they didn't know whether to go in or not.
Percy wailed inwardly, Merlin's pants! How did I run into a Hufflepuff freshman? He... didn't see anything, did he?
Lynn: Hehe~ Guess?
"Guys! Guess what treasure I just found in the Castle?" Lynn rushed back into the Hufflepuff dormitory like a whirlwind, his face beaming with the excitement of Columbus discovering the New World, unable to wait to start bragging.
William, who was buried in studying the variant structures of Runes, didn't even look up as he asked in a tone he was long accustomed to, "What? Did you fish up a new brand of old boot from the bottom of the Black Lake, or did your alchemy engine finally stop exploding?"
"Much more interesting than that!" Lynn slapped a hand onto William's book, stopping his research. "It's a magical room! A room that can become whatever you want it to be! It's practically alive!"
"For real?" Before William could respond, Edgar, who was on his bed practicing spinning a quill with his wand, flipped over and sat up, eyes wide. "It becomes whatever you want? Even a Quidditch pitch?"
"Why would I lie to you?" Lynn said solemnly. "I saw Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater use it to change into a—well, anyway, they made a room! But there are probably still people inside now. Tonight, I'll take you there to see for yourselves!"
In the midst of their itching anticipation, time finally dragged on until late at night.
The Hufflepuff Night-Tour Squad assembled once again, draped in an invisibility cloak—a poor-quality item Lynn had modified from an old robe that could only blur outlines—or casting clumsy Disillusionment Charms.
Tonight's goal: explore the Room of Requirement!
The corridor on the eighth floor was silent, with only the moonlight casting a cold glow through the high windows.
Edgar was both nervous and excited, unable to help lowering his voice to call, "Lynn~ are you sure it's this way? Where is it?"
"Shh—!" Walking at the very front, his figure nearly merging with the shadows, Lynn canceled his Disillusionment Charm, revealed himself, and turned back to make a silencing gesture to the three.
"Quiet! Do you want Filch to know we're here? We're almost there. See that tapestry of the Trolls clubbing the fool ahead? That's it!"
The group tiptoed to the blank wall opposite the tapestry.
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