Daily Life at Hogwarts - Chapter 22

Albert awoke to complete darkness in the dormitory, with a faint sound of rain outside the window. The rain from last night hadn’t stopped.

He sat up, stifling a yawn with his hand. It must’ve been that weird dream from last night that made him feel so exhausted when he woke up.

Moreover, he had woken up too early. The other three roommates were still asleep.

Albert reached out to the bedside table and picked up the wand that lay there, whispering a spell: “Lumos.”

A pale light shone from the wand’s tip. Bringing it close to his pocket watch, he saw it was only 5:40 a.m.

Too early indeed.

He extinguished the light and lay back down. The pocket watch slipped from his grasp and landed on the bedsheet.

It was a gift from Luke to celebrate his invitation to Hogwarts.

Having woken up, Albert didn’t plan to sleep again. He sat up, stretched, threw off his blankets, and walked over to the window. He unlatched and opened it to gaze outside.

A chilly gust blew in, making Albert shiver and instantly clearing his head.

The rain was light, and the surroundings were still pitch black. The entire castle was veiled in a misty curtain of rain.

“A grand adventure,” Albert muttered to himself, patting his cheeks lightly.

He closed the window, went back to his bed, dressed in his robe, and pocketed his watch and wand. As he was about to leave the dormitory, he tossed the clothes he’d just taken off into the bathroom laundry basket. House-elves would use magic to clean them and return them to his bed.

Speaking of which, the life of a student at Hogwarts was quite pleasant. Many things were taken care of, and students only needed to focus on learning magic.

The common room was silent, save for a female ghost reading on a sofa. Hearing footsteps, she looked up at Albert briefly before returning to her book.

Albert didn’t disturb the ghostly lady. He knew how annoying it could be to be interrupted while reading.

He didn’t linger in the common room. He decided to stroll around the castle before everyone else woke up, especially to find the legendary Room of Requirement.

Pushing open the door to the common room, he ducked out of the round entrance. The Fat Lady, still in her nightgown, looked sleepily at the departing student.

“Where are you off to?” she asked.

“Just for a walk,” Albert replied, looking down the dim corridor. He raised his wand and moved on. This time, he decided to explore different parts of the castle.

Perhaps it was the rainy atmosphere, but the corridors felt damp and eerie, reminiscent of a haunted castle from a horror movie where ghosts might pop out at any time.

Indeed, ghosts were not uncommon in Hogwarts.

Turning a corner, Albert saw the stone staircase he’d climbed the night before. This time, he continued straight.

After another turn, he spotted a large vase. Glancing around, he also found the tapestry of trolls wearing ballet dresses.

“Seems I’m quite lucky today,” he thought.

Albert approached the tapestry, illuminating it with his wand. It was hard to look at.

Trolls, dressed in ballet tutus, holding wooden or bone clubs, posed hilariously. A ballet instructor tried teaching a troll, but was being bashed by another with a bone club.

As Albert examined the tapestry, the troll stopped beating the instructor and stared back, as if saying, “What are you looking at?”

If Albert had a camera, he would’ve captured this comical moment.

But his main goal was still the Room of Requirement. It was said to be located across from this very tapestry.

Albert stepped aside and looked at the white wall. He then glanced at the tapestry, making a knocking gesture towards the troll.

Mirroring his action, the troll with rotten teeth lifted its bone club and smacked the unfortunate ballet instructor.

The scene was quite pitiful, enough to make one both laugh and cry.

Albert chuckled at the troll’s antics and approached the white wall, feeling its surface. It was a solid stone wall, with no apparent entrance to the Room of Requirement.

To access the Room of Requirement, one had to walk past this part of the wall three times, focusing intently on what they needed.

“Walk past it?” Albert illuminated the end of the white wall with his wand’s light. There was a window there, and when he turned around, he saw a large vase.

So, he had to walk past it three times?

“A place to practice magic, a place to practice magic,” Albert repeated to himself. Starting at the window, he paced towards the vase and back.

As he walked the third time, the wall began to change.

Patterns emerged on the white wall, slowly revealing a smooth door.

Albert grinned, realizing he had done it. He grasped the bronze handle, opened the door, and stepped inside. The spacious room inside resembled a classroom, with torches lighting the walls.

There were wooden bookshelves with hundreds of books, which Albert suspected were from the library. On the other side were magical dummies for practicing spells.

“This is fantastic,” he whispered. With these books, he wouldn’t need to visit the library often.

But he would have to be careful not to be discovered while using this room. After all, a door suddenly appearing on a wall might catch someone’s attention.

He didn’t linger. As he left the Room of Requirement, he pondered how to use this place discreetly.

To keep the room a secret, he’d need to make sure nobody saw him enter or exit. He’d need the Disillusionment Charm and the Marauder’s Map.

He believed he could find a book on the Disillusionment Charm among the books he just saw, but getting the Marauder’s Map, rumored to be with Filch, wouldn’t be easy.

Could he make his own?

He didn’t have the capability now.

No matter. He would figure it out eventually. He still had seven years at Hogwarts, after all.

As Albert walked away, the door to the Room of Requirement slowly vanished, returning the wall to its ordinary state. Few in the school knew about this magical room.