CH12 - The Room of Requirement

Saturday was the first full free day awarded to Hogwarts students. Most decided to spend it outside, taking advantage of the semi-decent weather while it lasted. Some spent time out by the lake, amusing themselves with the antics of the giant squid. Others took out blankets to have full-fledged picnics, courtesy of the ever-helpful house elves. The vast majority, however, sat in the stands by the pitch. That was because today was the day of Quidditch tryouts, and everyone was eager to see which team looked strongest.

Making excuses to his new friends, Edmund had managed to escape from the day's plans on his lonesome. For one, he already knew the outcome of each of the Quidditch matches that would take place in the year. And second, students being out of the castle was the perfect opportunity for him to explore what was likely going to become his true home at Hogwarts: The Room of Requirement.

Edmund planned to experiment with tens of variations of the incredible room. Doing so would require a lot of pacing in front of a rather exposed hallway of the castle. Even if no one saw the room opening and closing, he was sure any passersby would begin to think he was crazy.

Edmund was honestly fine with that, but he was trying to cultivate the reputation of a crazy genius, rather than a crazy lunatic. Appearances mattered.

Knocking seven times on a golden frame of a portrait on the ground floor, Edmund looked around warily, making sure no one was around. Upon confirming he was alone, he swung open the portrait and walked through the small hallway behind it. Immediately, the frame behind him swung closed, and he was left in darkness.

"No biggie," Edmund muttered, his voice echoing quietly around him.

Feeling along the walls, he eventually came across a leathery feeling barrier directly in front of him. Giving it a gentle push, Edmund poked his head out, once more checking for strays.

Happy with what he found, Edmund slid out of the small crack he had opened up, strolling down the hallway shortly afterwards.

The tapestry containing Barnabas the Barmy had been all too easy to find during his first night of exploration. To Edmund's further delight, he had realized it was near the 'elevator portraits' as well. If he ever needed to make a quick getaway, transport definitely wouldn't be an issue.

Letting out a deep sigh to clear his head, Edmund began pacing back and forth.

'I need a safe inconspicuous place where I can't be found to study all branches of magic. I need a safe inconspicuous place where I can't be found to study all branches of magic. I need a safe inconspicuous place where I can't be found to study all branches of magic,' he chanted as he passed by the same spot three times.

To his delight, the entrance that appeared wasn't the massive set of carved double doors that he was expecting. Instead, only a simple wooden door formed, the likes of which hundreds could be found all over Hogwarts.

Edmund almost ripped the door off in his excitement to open it, swinging around to seal the room before he even got a good look at it.

When he did turn again, the sight he was greeted with was downright eyewatering. A massive room, at least twice the size of the Great Hall greeted him. The area was divided up into tens of separate little sections while still maintaining a breathable open concept.

A muggle gym, a cozy fireplace surrounded by couches, a potions lab, a ward stone, various objects to test enchantments on, an Olympic-sized pool, a spell target range, a duelling platform, and a massive bookshelf that spanned from the floor to the twenty-foot high ceiling of one of the three walls...

These were only a few of the things that Edmund recognized, ignoring the countless others that he had no idea about the function of.

"Oh," he managed to get out softly. "I guess I won't need to test out that many variations after all."

A small leaflet made of ancient parchment sat before him on an equally old wooden pedestal. Flicking through it with gentle tenderness, he recognized it as a short manual on using the Room of Requirement.

The rules were relatively simple. He couldn't take out anything that wasn't in the room to begin with. Which, there was a lot of, thanks to the Room of Lost Things. Food couldn't be created, but house-elves could be summoned freely, so it wasn't much of an issue. No time dilation or any wonky properties were present in the room beyond its ability to transform at the will of the user freely. Speaking of, control of the room would remain in the mind of the person who first summoned it until the room was empty once more.

Pondering over the first course of action, Edmund suddenly felt a certain portion of his brain activate. Steeling himself, he waited for the voice he knew he would soon be hearing.

'Edmund,' Voldemort greeted.

'Other me,' Edmund replied back in the same tone.

'Well, that won't work. You certainly won't be addressing me as Tom. I suppose you may call me Marvolo. It was what I was known as to some of the older Knights of Walpurgis while I was at school myself,' Marvolo instructed with a hint of nostalgia.

'Marvolo then. Would you like my report?' Edmund queried.

'Yes,' Marvolo answered simply.

Edmund talked for well over an hour, detailing each and every single thing that he could. The conditions at Hogwarts, the political climate with the dementors, knowledge about relevant students at Hogwarts, the Professors, and finally what Edmund himself had been up to for the past two weeks. All the while, Voldemort did not interrupt once, merely "hmming" and "ahhing" at the relevant points to demonstrate his interest.

'Things are fairly stable then,' Marvolo mused. 'Dumbledore will have his hands full with the dementors and Black this year. He'll be far too busy to search for rumours of me. This bodes well.'

'Should I worry about Black?' Edmund asked, playing his part of ignorance.

'Black,' Marvolo scoffed. 'Black is harmless to you. He's not a follower of mine at all. No, my mole in Dumbledore's order was always Pettigrew. A shame he died, but even in death, he managed to ruin his killer's life. A coward, but a crafty one he was.'

'Leave that aside,' Marvolo ordered dismissively. 'I'm more impressed with you. The Room of Requirement already? It took me almost five years to find that particular secret of Hogwarts.'

'House-elves, you say? The creatures are more knowledgeable than I thought,' Marvolo admitted grudgingly.

Edmund repressed the fist bump he wanted to throw up into the air, relieved that Marvolo had bought his story. At first, he had considered concealing his discovery of the room altogether. However, how would he then explain his sudden jump in power if his prowess was ever tested? He would have to layer lies upon lies, something he wasn't confident to conceal from a talented Legilimens like Voldemort. No, the simplest deception was the best option. Technically, Edmund had discovered the existence of the room from Harry Potter who had learned it from Dobby. It wasn't a horrible stretch.

'If only I knew the possibilities of the room while I was in Hogwarts...,' Marvolo trailed off longingly. 'Regardless, this will make the plans I had for your training much simpler.'

Edmund's eyes widened, not daring to hope he'd heard correctly.

'Training?' he asked, trying to keep the anticipation out of his voice.

'What?' Marvolo chuckled, clearly picking up on Edmund's happiness. 'You thought I wouldn't give my greatest hope to return to a body the best chance it could possibly have?'

'I will train you. But don't get excited. It will be brutal. My expectations for you are sky-high. You will meet them, whether of your own volition or not,' he warned gravely.

Marvolo was unable to squash Edmund's eagerness, however, as the sparkle in his eyes only grew larger.

'Where do we start?' Edmund demanded.

'Ahhh, that familiar fire is nice to hear,' Marvolo said, Edmund able to picture the smirk he was sure was on the other's face.

'First, I need to know your interests,' Marvolo explained. 'Which subjects do you feel drawn to? Which do you want to focus on?'

Edmund hesitated, afraid of arousing Marvolo's suspicions.

'Won't my strengths and weaknesses be the same as yours when you were my age? I don't understand,' Edmund admitted.

'Tchh,' Marvolo let out as if offended. 'We are the greatest magical talent to be born in the wizarding world in over a century. There are no, and I mean absolutely none, subjects that we cannot become the best in the world at with a bit of effort.'

'Weaknesses,' Marvolo spat out, disgusted. 'While our reasons to pursue magic will be the same, our interests will naturally vary. At our age, we came to Hogwarts to learn how never to feel powerless again.'

'For me, that was through Defence Against the Dark Arts and then the Dark Arts themself. But that was only because the professor in my years was hugely talented. Partly because the quality of fighters was higher at the time due to brewing tensions with Grindelwald,' he explained.

Edmund listened intently, fascinated by the introspective view of Voldemort's adolescence.

'Conversely, Transfiguration was a sore spot for me. Dumbledore's eyes were always on me, and the old fool hindered my progress with his constant inquiries,' Marvolo said bitterly.

'Well... Transfiguration is definitely my favourite right now, but Charms and DADA are fine as well,' Edmund hurriedly explained.

Contrary to Edmund's expectations, Marvolo seemed incredibly pleased with his answer.

'Hah!' Marvolo exclaimed with triumph. 'If Dumbledore ever discovers your identity, I'd like to see the look on his face when he realizes who McGonagall has been praising as a Transfiguration prodigy to him all the while,' he crowed.

Edmund's eyes goggled.

'There should be a limit to pettiness,' he thought before he could stop himself.

'You will regret that thought,' Marvolo bit out sadistically as Edmund paled.

'There is no need for niceties about your Transfiguration progress. With or without Dumbledore's support, I never let myself fall behind in anything. Any knowledge I lacked at Hogwarts, I rectified with my learnings afterwards during my travels. If you find Transfiguration to be your initial strength, I will push you in it,' Marvolo promised.

'Don't think this will get you off the hook in your other teachings though,' he smirked warningly. 'In addition to your wanded subjects, I will be instructing you in Warding and Ancient Runes as well to start with.'

'Any particular reason for those two?' Edmund asked, though he already suspected the answer.

'Warding you will need to detect where the Hogwarts boundaries lie, as well as to open the entrance to Salazar's chamber when you find it,' Marvolo answered swiftly. 'Ancient Runes, on the other hand, will be necessary for the rituals I will be starting you on.'

'Rituals already?' Edmund asked, shaking with excitement.

'After eleven, your magic is stable. Time makes no difference after that. In fact, your foundation will be even stronger than mine in this regard,' Marvolo said bitterly.

'When I designed my own rituals, I was foolish and made many mistakes that I realized much after the fact. No, you will receive the benefits of having the full cumulative knowledge of Lord Voldemort dedicated to improving you,' he confessed.

'And how many will I be...,' Edmund asked, unsure whether he wanted to know the answer or not.

'Most powerful wizards, like Dumbledore or Grindelwald go for three sets of three rituals. Each set is dedicated to improving the mind, body, and soul respectively: the magical Trinity. I decided on seven sets of seven for myself, aiming to improve other aspects of myself and to do so at a deeper level,' Marvolo answered his unasked question.

'The four other aspects of myself I chose to focus on were not important, especially compared to the Trinity. It was a mistake, and my ritual balance suffered for it,' Marvolo explained with a grimace. 'However, the innovation of my ritual sets did have some benefits, considering I dedicated seven rituals to each aspect of the Trinity, rather than the usual three.'

'You will undergo a balance. Three sets of seven rituals,' Marvolo declared.

Edmund let out a deep breath.

'It's time to get serious,' he thought to himself resolutely, as Voldemort began instructing him on how to use the target range.