Chapter 112 - Who's There?
Chapter 112 - Who's There?
Albert and the Weasley twins pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and crawled out of the hole.
"Who's there? Who's leaving at this time?" The Fat Lady mumbled sleepily as she opened her eyes and saw three dark figures leaving.
The three didn't respond and quickly made their way down the corridor toward the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, struck by a giant's club.
"Is this the place you were talking about?" George whispered as he eyed the wall opposite the tapestry.
"Yes, this is it," Albert replied. "Concentrate on the kind of place you want, and then walk past that wall three times. A door will appear." He gestured for the twins to step aside as he prepared to focus his mind and open the entrance to the Room of Requirement.
However, after walking past the wall three times, Albert found that no door had appeared.
"No door?" Fred and George looked at Albert with confused expressions.
Albert fell silent as he gazed at the wall opposite the tapestry. Before the twins could speak again, he pushed them gently and motioned for them to leave quickly.
"What's going on?" Fred asked, stopping after they had walked a short distance down the corridor.
"There's someone inside the Room of Requirement," Albert stated confidently. "The only reason we can't open the door from the outside is if someone is already in there. Unless you can guess which room they're in."
"Are you sure you're doing it right?" George asked, his face full of doubt.
"Impossible. I've done this several times before," Albert shook his head. "And I have no reason to deceive you; it would be pointless."
The twins exchanged glances, agreeing that Albert had no reason to joke about this, and he didn't seem to be joking anyway.
"Who do you think is in there?" George asked curiously.
"I don't know. Probably a couple. It's a great place for a date, and no one would disturb them," Albert replied casually. "But I doubt many people know about this place."
"Why?" Fred asked, puzzled.
"Would you want to share a secret like this with too many people?" George rolled his eyes.
"Exactly," Albert nodded. "The Room of Requirement is amazing. It provides exactly what you need."
"That's incredible!" they exclaimed in unison.
"Of course," Albert whispered. "Let's try again some other time. If you don't believe me, feel free to think I'm lying."
"Why wouldn't I believe you?" Fred said. "This will be our secret hideout from now on."
"What do you plan to use it for?" Albert asked.
"Nothing yet," George thought for a moment. "At least, when we're roaming the castle at night, we won't have to worry about being locked out of the common room."
"That's all you can think of?" Fred scoffed.
"What about you?" Albert countered.
"I... haven't decided yet," Fred mumbled.
"And you're calling me out?" George retorted.
"What about you?" they asked together, turning to Albert.
"Me?" Albert paused. "In the future, I can come here to brew potions, practice magic, find a quiet place to do homework, or make something. It's all possible here."
"You can even find a chamber pot here when you need to pee."
"Or go on a date."
"Come on, admit it. You have a crush on someone and plan to ditch George, don't you?" Albert asked bluntly.
"Why are you making it sound like I'm the one being abandoned?" George was speechless.
"Enough of that," Fred rolled his eyes. "Let's show you some other places first. We know a lot of hidden passages, and we'll go to the library later!"
"Alright, that's a good idea," Albert agreed, nodding. It would be a great opportunity to explore more of Hogwarts.
As for who was using the Room of Requirement, Albert didn't think it was a couple, although he couldn't rule out that possibility. He had someone else in mind.
Who in Hogwarts was the most suspicious?
The answer was undoubtedly the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Although Professor Quirinus Quirrell had left a good impression on Albert, every Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts was suspicious: from Voldemort's follower, to a writer and fraud, a werewolf, a fake ex-Auror turned spy, a troublemaking Ministry toad, a double agent, and finally, the Death Eater siblings.
The reason Albert suspected Professor Quirrell was because they had encountered him in the castle before.
Could he be another one of Voldemort's followers? Albert's imagination ran wild, but he quickly dismissed the thought.
If it were a Death Eater, they probably wouldn't be willing to talk to a Muggle-born wizard. After all, it was a fact that Death Eaters despised Muggle-borns.
"This way..." Fred led them forward, and they stopped in front of a statue of a knight. The twins showed Albert how to use the password to open the secret passage.
For most of the remaining time, the trio wandered around the castle. Albert was pleased with their exploration progress, and after George showed him the passage leading out of the castle, he wondered if Sirius Black had used that route to sneak into the school a few years later.
"The Peeves is on the third floor. Shall we use it to wake Filch up?" Fred suggested as he checked the map. "He must have just fallen asleep. It would be fun to have him looking for us all over the place."
They both looked at Albert, awaiting his opinion.
"Alright, but where will you hide? Don't tell me you plan to play hide-and-seek with Filch in the castle," Albert agreed.
"We can cause some trouble for Filch, and with your Disillusionment Charm, he won't be able to catch us," Fred said, pulling a bag of Dungbombs from his pocket and winking at Albert. He seemed well prepared.
"Alright, what's the plan?"
"You two go invisible first, and then I'll take care of the rest," Fred said, and with that, he disappeared.
"Let's go!" Albert raised his wand and gently tapped George on the head. George's body shimmered, and he was astonished to find himself blending seamlessly with his surroundings.
"This is awesome!" George exclaimed as he inspected his body with a Lumos spell. "I bet Filch wouldn't be able to catch me even if I stood right under his nose."
"It's best not to take risks. My Disillusionment Charm isn't that advanced. Filch might notice if he looks closely," Albert reminded him after casting the same charm on himself.
The two had just exchanged a few words when they heard Peeves shouting from the other end of the corridor, "Students out of bed, wandering around at this hour!"
"Last time we were roaming the castle at night, we met Peeves, and he did the same thing," George said, winking at Albert. However, he forgot that he was under the Disillusionment Charm, so Albert couldn't see his expression.
Soon, Fred came rushing back and was pulled into the secret passage behind the portrait by George.
"This is so cool! I didn't even notice you two were there!" Fred exclaimed as he examined their bodies. "Albert, cast the Disillusionment Charm on me too."
(End of Chapter)
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