Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 449 The Room of Requirement

Wednesday arrived quickly, and it was Dumbledore's first history of magic lesson.

This Wednesday's History of Magic class featured presentations by seventh-year Gryffindors and Slytherins.

Unexpectedly, yet also expectedly—

Both the Gryffindor seventh-year group and the Slytherin seventh-year group's presentations were terrible.

Or, to use Dumbledore's words—

"I'd rather watch white elementary school kids sing My Little Pony than watch you two groups of idiots show the history of magic!"

Hermione didn't understand why Dumbledore was so angry, because in her opinion, the performance of the Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh-year groups, while not outstanding, was at least average.

This made Hermione a little anxious about the Gryffindor fifth-year group's presentation next month, and she even considered starting to prepare for next month's History of Magic presentation right now, regardless of the consequences.

Fortunately, after dinner that evening, Neville brought good news—

"I found it!" Neville Longbottom exclaimed excitedly. "I mean, I think I might have found it—"

"Shh!" As if she had already guessed what Neville was going to say, Hermione quickly stopped him. "Go to your dorm."

With that, Hermione took Neville and stepped onto the tower stairs leading to the boys' dormitory.

Harry and Ron followed behind.

“Don’t talk about important things where there are paintings,” Hermione said as they walked. “I suspect that’s how we got exposed.”

"Wh-what do you mean?" Neville asked, puzzled.

“Do you remember Tyrell’s final prophecy?” Hermione countered. “Don’t talk about secrets where there are paintings. The Pink Toad will send her little cat spies to spy on the whole castle.”

“When Harry and I went to Umbridge’s office for solitary confinement, we saw a whole wall covered with pictures of kittens,” Hermione said. “And ‘Hogwarts: A History’ clearly states that all the murals within Hogwarts Castle are interconnected, so—”

"So the kitten from Umbridge's paintings can appear in other paintings!" Neville Longbottom exclaimed excitedly.

“Yes,” Hermione nodded. “Now that it’s safe here, what is it?”

“I’ve found it! I’ve found a place where we can train!” Neville exclaimed.

"Where?" Hermione asked excitedly.

“I…I can’t…I’m not entirely sure…” Neville hesitated again. “Come on, I…I’ll take you there. It’s on the eighth floor, opposite that giant stick-beating Barnabas tapestry…”

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville stood up again almost as soon as they settled into their dorm room.

Harry picked up the Invisibility Cloak, but because it wasn't big enough, it only covered himself, Ron, and Hermione. Then he had Neville lead the way.

Neville pretended to stroll around, avoiding all the paintings, and then went to the eighth floor of Hogwarts Castle, in front of the tapestry where the trolls beat Barnabas.

"This, here! This is it!" Neville said in a panic. "I swear, it just happened right here. Suddenly a door appeared, and when I pushed it open and went in, there was a huge..."

Neville was speaking, in front of him, opposite the tapestry depicting the troll beating Barnabas—

On the opposite stone wall, a very smooth door appeared.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione lifted their Invisibility Cloaks, warily eyeing the door that had suddenly appeared on the wall. This was at the end of the eighth-floor corridor; there were no murals on the surrounding walls, and no one would come, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione could confidently lift their Invisibility Cloaks.

Harry gripped the brass handle, opened the door, and led the way inside.

Behind the door was a spacious room with torches burning inside. Two walls were covered with old, somewhat dirty but still bright mirrors, which made the whole room look quite spacious and bright, like a classroom in the basement.

There was a row of wooden bookshelves along the wall. There were no chairs on the floor, but there were about thirty large satin cushions, with about four or five cushions surrounding a low wooden coffee table.

On the wooden coffee table were a teapot, books, pens, paper, and envelopes.

On a shelf at the other end of the room were various instruments such as spyglasses and detectors, as well as a large, cracked mirror that Harry was certain was the same one that had hung in the fake Moody's office last year.

“These are useful when practicing the Stunning Charm,” Ron said excitedly, kicking the cushion with his foot.

"Look, look, look at these books!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly, stroking the spines of rows of thick, parchment-covered books. "Common Spells and Counters, Outsmarting the Dark Arts, Self-Defense Spells, wow! Fantastic! Fantastic, Harry!"

She turned to look at Harry, her face beaming. Seeing the hundreds of books finally convinced Hermione that their actions were the right thing to do. "Harry, that's fantastic! We have everything we needed."

She immediately pulled out two books from the bookshelf, "Fighting Poison with Poison" and "Outwitting Black Magic," and tucked them under her arm, seemingly intending to take them back to her dormitory to read.

“Well done, Neville, well done!” Hermione praised. “You must have found the Room of Requirement! I read about it in Hogwarts: A History of the School.”

“Wait, Hermione,” Harry suddenly called out to Hermione, “Wait! Do you remember Trelawney’s prophecy? The last part you never understood—”

“I remember! You, you mean!” Hermione looked at Harry with equal excitement—

“If you ask, you’ll never know; but if you do know, your wish will be granted,” Hermione exclaimed excitedly. “That’s it! The Room of Requirement! It must be here, the Room of Requirement!”

"That means the Resurrection Stone is here!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. "Quick, Hermione, let's find it!"

“But this house is too big!” Hermione said, somewhat dejectedly. “And we don’t even know what the Resurrection Stone looks like. Sigh, we’re probably going to have to stay here—”

"Come and see! It's right here!" Ron suddenly exclaimed, pointing to an envelope on one of the low wooden coffee tables. "Look, this envelope says: 'To Harry'—"

Harry and Hermione were taken aback by Ron's words, then rushed over at the same time.

Harry was a little faster than Hermione, almost impatiently grabbing the envelope—

“It’s Tierra!” Harry said, his heart filled with mixed emotions. “It’s Tierra’s handwriting…”

Then Harry carefully squeezed the envelope; it seemed to contain a stone.

Harry opened the envelope and gently tilted it downwards—

A black, angular, crystal-clear, gem-like stone rolled into Harry's palm.

……

“It’s time to test the Resurrection Stone’s capabilities.” Tyrell, sitting in the Headmaster’s office at Hogwarts, smiled, her entire being becoming ethereal and transparent—

Tiera gradually ascended to the divine dimension, leaving only a memory-like existence in her own spiritual dimension.

(End of this chapter)