"Hey, Baron! Merry Christmas!"
After a full term of getting along, Avada and Baron could now be considered trusted friends. Even that "mental link" spell had only been successfully tested thanks to Baron's cooperation.
Early on Christmas morning, Avada got up and headed to the Great Hall. Together with the handful of students staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, he exchanged greetings while enjoying the house-elves' Christmas specials—rich cakes and gingerbread, accompanied by steaming hot tea. Then, from afar, he spotted Baron entering through the grand doors, and immediately stood up to greet him.
"Merry Christmas, Ken!"
Baron smiled as he returned the greeting and came over to sit across from Avada. With so few students remaining during the Christmas break, there was no need to stick to House tables.
"So, how was the Christmas present I gave you? Satisfied?"
"I couldn't be more satisfied," Avada replied sincerely.Baron's gift was a rare book selected from his family's private library—an account of modern wizarding research and exploration into mental strength. Not only did it record extensive knowledge related to the mind, it also laid out a complete historical trajectory of how such research had evolved.
After participating in Avada's mental link experiment and learning that Avada was delving into mental power, Baron had specifically written home to have this book sent over. Avada had barely read the opening chapters before feeling deeply inspired.
Yet the value of this gift left Avada troubled—he had no idea how to reciprocate. Galleons were meaningless to a pure-blood noble; his talent optimization procedure was far too complex to complete in such a short time; he had already taught Baron the mental link spell before Christmas; and sending homemade pastries like the other Hufflepuffs somehow felt insufficient…
After much thought, he finally decided to "give" Baron something truly novel, something whose value was impossible to measure. He had already teased it the day before.
"I just received gifts from home this morning too," Baron said happily, wearing an expression Avada rarely saw on him—completely unguarded. "It's a quill that can write words in midair, and if there's wind, it automatically changes its script and color depending on the direction and strength. I'll show it to you later!"
Avada couldn't help but feel a quiet pang. In this life, he had no family, and his friends back at the orphanage didn't even know where he was now, let alone send him presents. Still, he had mailed them some candies and biscuits he'd made himself, along with a letter describing his current life—carefully omitting everything about magic.
"Let's not talk about that just yet."
A faintly mysterious smile appeared on Avada's face as he switched their conversation into their mental link's team channel.
"Let's go take a look at the Christmas gift I mentioned. It's already prepared. After breakfast, I'll take you there."
The moment the message was sent, Baron's eating speed noticeably increased.
Even so, Avada finished first. No matter what, Baron was still a noble—he refused to abandon proper table manners.
Once Baron swallowed the final bite of cake and dabbed his mouth elegantly with a napkin, Avada stood up first and beckoned to him.
"Come with me."
"What are we doing?" Baron asked curiously as Avada led him toward the staircases.He genuinely couldn't imagine what kind of Christmas present required preparation in a specific location—especially one so far from the Hufflepuff Common Room, high up in the castle.
"On the eighth floor. You'll see when we get there."
That was right—Avada planned to reveal the existence of the Room of Requirement to Baron as a Christmas gift.
He had considered this carefully. The most important item once hidden there—the Diadem of Ravenclaw—had already been relocated, and the Vanishing Cabinet was still damaged, posing little risk. Besides, the Room's existence was hardly an absolute secret. Avada was sure that others in the school knew of it as well, perhaps even leaving traces in the room used to store hidden items.
More importantly, the Room of Requirement itself was simply too magical—and too fun. After all, who could resist a room that could fulfill one's wishes?
And so, Avada led Baron to the eighth floor, stopping opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being beaten by trolls.
"All right. Here we are."
Baron looked around in confusion. "So… what exactly did you prepare?"
"That depends on what you need," Avada replied, barely suppressing his laughter at Baron's baffled expression. "Go on—what do you want right now?"
"???"
Baron froze for a moment, then confirmed from Avada's gaze that he wasn't joking.
"Um… I want…" he ventured cautiously. "I want to learn more knowledge?"
"Very well. Preparing now!"
Avada walked back and forth along the wall three times. As expected, a smooth doorway appeared where there had previously been nothing. Under Baron's stunned stare, Avada pushed the door open to reveal a vast library filled with shelves of books.
"There's a hidden library here?"
Baron didn't step inside immediately. Instead, he stood there in a daze, running his hand over the suddenly appeared door. Only after a long pause did he react.
"No—that can't be it! If it were just a library, how did you know I'd wish for 'learning more knowledge'?"
"Because this isn't just a library," Avada finally said, no longer teasing."You can call it the Room of Requirement."
He then explained the Room's properties and how to use it in detail.
"Is it really that magical?"
Still doubtful, Baron began pacing back and forth, opening doors, stepping inside to look around, leaving, and pacing again.
A training ground. A lounge. A bathroom. A kitchen. A library. A greenhouse. A classroom…
Pretty much every room type Avada could think of, Baron tried at least once, clearly having the time of his life. After who knew how long, Baron finally exhausted his imagination. He closed the last door and turned back toward Avada, who had been standing quietly to the side watching him with a smile.
"Thank you, Ken!"
"Thank you for trusting me enough to share such a secret," Baron said excitedly. "This is absolutely the most interesting Christmas gift I've ever received!"
"Of course!" Avada said, striking a deliberately proud pose with a grin. "Anything I choose is bound to be interesting."
Then he turned his head slightly and added, "But after all that… you still haven't opened the most valuable room."
"There's still one I haven't opened?" Baron asked in shock.
Avada nodded with a smile. "Try pacing while thinking, 'I need a place to hide things.'"
Baron's eyes lit up instantly. He immediately began walking back and forth three times. When he finished the final pass, the smooth doorway appeared once again. He pushed it open without hesitation—and let out a stunned gasp.
"How is it? Everything gathered here are items left behind by all those who discovered this room over the past thousand years. Their combined value is unimaginable. And now, they're all ownerless."
Baron barely seemed to hear him as he rushed inside, examining the piles of miscellaneous objects, exclaiming in awe again and again.
"Is that Ever-Burning Fire? Merlin's beard—it's been burning for centuries!"
"A half-finished Golden Snitch! It's my first time seeing the internal structure of one!"
"What's this— a Probity Probe?"
"And this egg—why is it so big? Don't tell me it's a dragon egg… oh, fake."
"And this doll, it's so exquisitely made—it looks just like a real person…"
"No—Ken, come quick! This is Professor Baker! He's fallen over here!!"
(End of Chapter)