The Room of Requirement, also known by some as the Come and Go Room, was a magical place — it appeared and disappeared at will, and only revealed itself to those who truly needed it.
Whenever it appeared, it was always arranged exactly according to the needs of the one seeking help.
"Whatever you want, I have it." The Room of Requirement was almost like love in that way.
No one knew when the Room of Requirement first appeared, nor who had created it. It had always been there, quietly waiting for those who needed its help.
Whether you see it or not, it is there — neither joyful nor sorrowful. Whether you think of it or not, it is there — neither coming nor going... No, better stop thinking about it, or it would start to sound even more like love, with all its sickly sweetness.
Inside the room, Eda's fingers brushed lightly along the spines of the books on the shelf. There were many books here — some with titles she had never even heard of.
She randomly pulled one out and flipped through it; besides recording ways to defend against Dark Magic, it also contained methods for using it — a rather bold and unrestrained collection.
Click. The last one to enter, George, locked the door behind them.
Everyone was very pleased with the Room of Requirement. It had everything they needed and, best of all, there would be no more interruptions from the annoying Filch or Lockhart. It was perfect!
The activities of Dawn, which had been interrupted for quite some time, began once again. Everyone threw themselves into practice with renewed enthusiasm. Spells of all colors flew through the air, and the shouts and laughter made the entire room lively and full of energy.
Having enthusiasm was a good thing — but too much enthusiasm wasn't. It made people overly excited.
That excitement showed plainly on everyone's faces, and it made their movements grow exaggerated, while their spell accuracy began to drop.
Why did books like The Standard Book of Spells exist? Their purpose was to standardize the gestures and incantations of beginners, ensuring that spells could be cast correctly.
Such discipline greatly improved a wizard's abilities during the early stages of learning or when one was still unskilled. But as one's understanding of magic deepened and their mastery grew, strict adherence to these forms became less important.
You could cast spells silently, and the motions of your wand would no longer need to follow rigid patterns.
You had to first learn to stand before you could learn to walk; only after learning to walk could you learn to run. The members of Dawn, still in their stumbling, early stages, couldn't yet control their movements properly — and the result was that their spells began to go out of control.
Misfired spells shot chaotically around the room, the soft cushions on the floor started flying everywhere, and books flew off the shelves, hurtling toward the crowd. As Eda moved around in circles correcting everyone's stances, she had to stay extra alert — she had no desire to be hit in the head by one of those thick, pillow-sized tomes.
Happy moments always passed especially quickly. When curfew time arrived, everyone had no choice but to return to their common rooms reluctantly.
From that day on, Dawn's activities resumed in earnest. The group would often come to the Room of Requirement to practice and study new magical knowledge together.
And one night at the end of January, Dawn welcomed its ninth member — Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff.
Some of Gryffindor's classes were shared with Hufflepuff, and Eda and Cedric had both chosen Ancient Runes. After spending a long time studying together, Eda found that Cedric was a friend worth having — loyal, brave, upright, and kind-hearted.
So after Ancient Runes class, Eda extended an invitation to Cedric — and Cedric gladly accepted.
With the addition of Cedric, the school's heartthrob, Dawn was filled with new energy. Led by Angelina, the girls also began practicing with renewed seriousness.
Humans were always drawn to beautiful things, whether they were adults or just young students. And for the girls, Cedric was that beautiful thing.
The twins didn't particularly care about Cedric joining. They all lived in Ottery St. Catchpole and had known each other for a long time — they just didn't hang out much because of their different personalities.
Lee Jordan, however, had quite the reaction. The sunny and handsome Cedric was a huge blow to him.
Wanting to prove himself in front of Angelina, Lee Jordan put away his usual laziness and started working hard, determined to outshine that "pretty boy" Cedric.
Under this lively atmosphere, Dawn thrived. Everyone's skills steadily improved, and laughter often echoed throughout the Room of Requirement during practice.
The smile on Eda's face grew more frequent, and her demeanor softened noticeably.
Time flew by, and soon it was February. After spending a month in the hospital wing, Hermione finally recovered — no more whiskers, no more tail, turning back from a cat-girl into Miss Beaver once again.
There had been no more attacks from the Chamber of Secrets for quite some time, and the school's mood was gradually improving. More students began to appear in the corridors. But on February 14th, the atmosphere at Hogwarts suddenly took a sharp turn.
It was Valentine's Day.
There were no new attacks — but something even more unbearable happened. That morning, as the students entered the Great Hall, they were greeted by massive, dazzling pink flowers covering all four walls.
The sight alone was enough to make everyone feel utterly sick.
But that wasn't the end of it — countless heart-shaped confetti pieces in all colors kept drifting down from the pale blue ceiling. They landed on your clothes, your plate, and even in your porridge (or soup) bowl.
And the culprit behind all of this was none other than the man in pink at the staff table — the ever-annoying Gilderoy Lockhart.
Looking at the greasy Lockhart, Eda suddenly remembered something Tom the bartender once said: "Pink and delicate — how old are you now, really?"
Right now, Eda very much wanted to deliver that exact same line to Lockhart. Her uncle might not always have had the best manners, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with that sentence.
Lockhart wasn't even thirty yet — still a young man — but the sheer oiliness he exuded made it hard to believe he'd been born in 1964. If someone said he was born in 1944, people might actually believe it.
Then Lockhart, completely shameless, announced that he had already received forty-six Valentine's cards.
At the same time, twelve grumpy-looking dwarfs came marching in through the doors leading to the Entrance Hall — another one of Lockhart's brilliant ideas.
According to reliable gossip (courtesy of Professor McGonagall), during his student days, Lockhart had once tried to showcase his "unique charm" by writing himself dozens of love letters on Valentine's Day — each one with a different design and text.
That kind of literary flair — truly worthy of a bestselling author. Respect!
All day long, the dwarfs barged into classrooms, delivering Valentine cards and driving the teachers mad with irritation.
Eda was equally fed up with them. She couldn't walk down a corridor without running into one of those dwarfs, getting stopped, and being forced to listen to them recite nauseatingly sappy love messages.
The twist at the end of last term had earned Eda quite a crowd of admirers.
This term, since she hadn't done anything particularly spectacular, and with the tense atmosphere caused by the Chamber of Secrets incident, that air of vulnerability around her only grew stronger — making people instinctively want to protect her.
These admirers were popping up like mushrooms after the rain, and many chose today to send her words of encouragement. Even those bold, death-defying admirers from before had come back to life this year — and unbelievably, some of the messages were from girls!
Crazy. The whole world had gone mad. Eda was certain she must have gotten out of bed the wrong way that morning — otherwise, how could Hogwarts have turned into this madhouse?
This day brought Eda no rosy memories of romance — it was more like a nightmare. Her jaw muscles had grown stronger from all the clenching she'd done; by now, she was probably capable of chewing through Hagrid's rock biscuits.
If the twins hadn't risked their lives to hold her back, there likely would've been only one survivor between her and Lockhart by the next morning.
To escape those unbearable message deliveries, Eda had no choice but to hide in the Room of Requirement. The dwarfs, unable to find their intended recipient, eventually gave up and went off to deliver their letters to someone else.
But Eda wasn't idle while hiding there. She searched through the bookshelves in the room, looking for something interesting to pass the time.
And to her surprise, she found a book that contained information about the Chamber of Secrets. The moment she discovered it, the gloom that had hung over her all day vanished completely.
Eda sat down cross-legged and began to read carefully through the book titled The Origin of the Gaunts.
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