Chapter 27: A Map of Secrets and Footsteps
Of course, Tom wasn't ready to tackle teleportation yet, but he was finally making great progress with the mind-control family of spells, so many months after school had begun.
The Room of Requirement couldn't provide real people for him to practice on, unfortunately, but there were training dummies and Remembralls that served the same purpose.
Sneaking to and from the Room of Requirement was no problem at all, because Tom was so well-known around the school that if he wasn't with one group then it was immediately assumed that he was simply elsewhere.
Everyone spent time with him at some point or another, so no one bothered to make sure he was accounted for at a specific time.
His increased stealth, coupled with Jerry's infinitely useful time-saving strategies, ultimately doubled the amount of private time he normally had to practice spells that were supposed to be too advanced for him.
Hogwarts was truly too busy and too large for its rather small population of students, so it was no wonder that even a well-known child like Tom could make his way around without much issue.
On the few occasions he might run into a nosy person or painting, his magic would protect him. And if a teacher happened to be near, he would know when to hide, thanks to The Map.
Because apparently The Map was a product of the Room of Requirement, too. Well, mostly.
Wait – so why haven't more people tried something like this?
Because people are stupid, of course.
How does this room even work, anyway?
Something we'll have to find out later.
Is that…OP?
Yes. Yes, it is, actually.
Do you think it's just a placebo, like everything else…? I mean, think about it. Technically, I bring a less powerful version of the Room of Requirement wherever I go.
Maybe this room is spelled, not to make or turn into whatever someone wants, but simply helps that person create it themselves. It would explain why it can "read your mind" despite not having an actual opposing consciousness.
That's an interesting theory.
Basically, it's just like a wand. It helps you focus your magic. Only, instead of a skinny little stick, which is weaker but more portable, it's an entire room. Like a speedboat versus a massive battleship.
And it's also the reason why you can't get references that don't exist yet – all these books were most likely summoned, or just duplicated, from somewhere else.
If only there was a way to actually test that, right?
Maybe one day, we can make our own Room of Requirement. And then use a Space-Expansion Charm on it so that we could carry it wherever we went. And then be hailed as the most powerful magical being since, like, forever.
We already kind of are.
It just doesn't show.
Eventually. Anyway, focus.
A map of all of Hogwarts and its secret passages already existed, as did resources on tracking charms (I need a room that will help me make a map that will show where everyone in Hogwarts is at any time).
Placing a tracking charm on every person in Hogwarts was impossible. But placing tracking charms layered with permanent sticking charms at regular intervals in Hogwarts connected to a main key on the map itself? Easily accomplished in a few nights.
Hogwarts was large, and had a bunch of secret rooms and corridors, but luckily, these tracking charms were path-indeterminant. They just operated within a certain radius by default, regardless if they were going through one of those rooms larger on the inside than the outside or not. Four per floor had been sufficient.
Of course, Tom still had to learn all those spells – no easy feat – but Tom wasn't a genius for nothing. What took even intelligent adults months to learn, he could master in less than a week. This was no different.
The thing about magic, was that within certain parameters, you could wish just about anything to happen if your will and ability was strong enough.
The hard part was knowing exactly what to wish. You had to formulate the right thoughts in your mind for the magic to manifest itself in the proper way.
When we conquer the world we'll have to make a world map for EVERYONE.
You are such a stalker.
You were the one who gave me this idea. Speaking of which, are there any charms that can change the colors of the letters?
I want to highlight all the teachers' names orange, and Professor Dumbledore's red, so it's easier to see if they're following us or not. There's, like, a few hundred people in this entire damn place. I absolutely refuse to squint at all these little names written in Edwardian Script.
Ask for a spell to change font, too. Use Times New Roman. Or any other serif font. Except that shitty typewriter font…what's its name…Courier New. And for god's sake don't use Comic Sans.
Why serifs?
One, because sans serif fonts annoy the hell out of me, and two, so you can tell the difference between number 1 and lowercase L and a capital I and a messy lowercase i that's written so tiny you can't even see the space between the body and the dot.
Makes sense…
Anyway, now we can start regularly sneaking back to here to practice mind control spells. These first few times we were lucky, but our chances of remaining hidden go down every time we sneak out.
All right. Let's go – no! Wait! Professor Dumbledore's starting down the seventh-floor corridor! Quick! I need a room no one else can get into!
The Room of Requirement morphed again, and this time it was a rather blank place, without a door.
The red flag marked "Albus Dumbledore" walked closer, closer, toward their hiding spot, and then passed it without another thought and disappeared around the corner.
Tom held his breath (and Jerry made a noise that imitated that because he no longer had any breath to hold) and didn't release it until the dot labeled "Albus Dumbledore" disappeared back into his study and became motionless.
That was scary. Does he know this room exists?
People have discovered it by accident multiple times in the past few centuries Hogwarts has been around. I'd say he probably knows it's here. Now, whether or not he was looking for it tonight, or simply happened to pass through this corridor, is debatable.
What we need is a way to hide the contents of this map in case it ever gets lost or stolen. No one can know we have this.
And maybe instead of just a map, we need a way to spy on people, too, so we can tell if they're just passing through or if they're actually up to something.
Like – what did you call them? Video cameras? Like, you tap their names, and then a screen pops up and you can see what's going on around them –
That is just so OP.
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