Chapter 45 The Room of Requirement

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Roger's appetite was as good as it had been at noon, and all the house-elves in the kitchen happily served him.

"Period."

"Master Travis!" Period hopped over excitedly, "Please give your orders."

"Are there any secret passages in Hogwarts?" Roger's question left Period struggling to answer. It fetched a frying pan and began banging it repeatedly against its head.

"Period knows the answer but cannot tell, Period is a bad elf..." Period chanted while striking his head incessantly.

"Alright, I was just asking casually," Roger intervened, but Period seemed not to hear and continued punishing himself.

"Enough, bring the food!" Roger slammed his hand heavily onto the table. The house-elf instantly stopped its self-harm and began serving Roger.

"Prepare some dinner for me and send it to Professor Snape," Roger instructed. "If he asks, tell him it's to pay off the debt for the potions."

"Very well, Master Travis," Period agreed hurriedly, the bustling work making him happy once again.

On the eighth floor, Roger found the tapestry Snape had mentioned. It was a nearly four-meter-square tapestry located in the middle of the wall.

The tapestry depicted six trolls in ballet tutus holding bone clubs of various sizes in a clearing surrounded by fruit trees. Standing in the center was a wizard named Barnabas the Barmy, who had tried to teach these simple-minded fools how to ballet dance, only to fail and be severely beaten by the trolls wielding their bone clubs.

Standing outside the tapestry, Roger could practically feel the pain in Barnabas's bones, especially considering he had been taking beatings for hundreds of years.

"I need a room to brew potions..." Roger muttered to himself as he paced back and forth down the corridor.

As he passed the tapestry for the third time, a very smooth door materialized on the wall. Roger's eyes lit up, and he quickly pushed the door open. Inside was a spacious and bright room, with a workbench placed right in the center. Cauldrons, test tubes, and other apparatuses were neatly arranged on the workbench, surrounded by various vessels and potion-related books.

"Such a wonderful place, why must it be ruined?" Roger couldn't help sighing as he looked at the Room of Requirement.

He remembered that at some point in the future, the Room of Requirement would be consumed and destroyed by fiendfyre.

[Independent space detected, available for system integration.]

[Initiating integration...]

[Warning! Warning! Blocked by anomalous power, insufficient energy, insufficient energy...]

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Roger was startled. What on earth was the status panel doing, suddenly springing into action? He certainly didn't remember ever developing such a function; could it be that his transmigration had magic-tweaked the system?

However, these error messages made him realize that Hogwarts was protected by some miraculous power, one so strong that even the panel could not pierce through the defense.

In the headmaster's office, Dumbledore, who was knitting a sweater, frowned. He keenly sensed that the Room of Requirement had come under attack. That mysterious force quickly receded, causing no damage whatsoever.

Dumbledore pushed open his door and stared at the smooth stone wall. He lifted his half-moon spectacles, seemingly deep in thought. After a moment, he shook his head and turned away.

Inside the Room of Requirement, Roger was flipping through the notebook Professor Snape had given him. From boil cure potions, neutralizers, to Felix Felicis, Veritaserum, and even the recipe for Polyjuice Potion.

"It seems choosing Slytherin was a very wise decision after all," Roger nodded, noting down the required ingredients for the first potion in his booklet.

"Going to the Forbidden Forest to gather ingredients is out of the question," Roger thought of Voldemort's face and cowardly chose to let Cyller buy them for him instead.

"Since I don't have the Savior's plot armor, I shouldn't try to steal the Savior's job," Roger warned himself, reminding himself never to be impulsive. Why risk your life when money can solve the problem?

"Oh, hello Headmaster!" Roger stepped out of the Room of Requirement, holding his books, and ran right into Dumbledore.

"Roger, it has been a while," Dumbledore said with a benevolent smile. "To discover a secret room in Hogwarts on your second day of school—truly impressive!"

"Headmaster Snape told me about it," Roger smiled, visualizing Snape's grim, lifeless face in his mind. Pinning everything on his own Head of House was definitely the safest bet.

"Oh?" Dumbledore nodded. "This place is still quite difficult to find. Once, when I was looking for a restroom and took a wrong turn, I happened to stumble into this room. Care to guess what was inside?"

"A restroom?" Roger laughed. "I wanted to find a place to brew potions, and it manifested a room with a workbench for me."

"If the headmaster had been in a rush to use the restroom at the time, it certainly would have been a restroom!"

"Hahaha, guessed wrong," Dumbledore laughed heartily. "A room full of chamberpots."

Roger couldn't help but chuckle softly; his headmaster's hobbies were truly unique.

"Care to come up to my office for a sit-down?" Dumbledore invited. "I have some rather delicious lemon drops up there."

"Ah! (Simulation)"

[1] You accepted Dumbledore's invitation and entered the headmaster's office;

[2] Dumbledore inadvertently cast Legilimency on you, only to see a blank void;

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[3] Dumbledore suspected you had mastered Occlumency and raised his guard against you;

[4] You accidentally sustained an injury from a magical mishap and had to suspend your studies for a year;

(Stop simulation.)

Roger hurriedly declined, "If I go back too late, Mr. Filch will catch me."

"Very well, it is indeed getting late," Dumbledore nodded upon seeing the pocket watch in Roger's hands. "See you later, Roger."

"See you later, Headmaster Dumbledore."

Watching the figure disappear around the corner, Dumbledore mused inwardly, "Roger is truly extraordinary, especially given his unusual background."

"For a child like that to live a normal life is already remarkable, let alone being so brilliant." Dumbledore couldn't help thinking of Neville, the boy who was so frequently forgetful.

"Still, was it necessary for Snape to let him access the Room of Requirement at such an early stage?" Dumbledore returned to his office, worrying whether Roger might be hiding some secret, such as dark magic.

"Let's observe a little longer," he thought, recalling that Roger could summon a Patronus, which theoretically meant he was not a malicious wizard.

"Perhaps he is simply interested in power," he murmured softly.

"Phew!" Roger only breathed a sigh of relief once he had left the main building. A magical mishap? What kind of magical mishap could possibly cause me to suspend my studies for a year? I'll believe that when I see it—this crafty old man is thoroughly wicked.

Under the piercing gaze of Filch and Mrs. Norris, Roger managed to slip back into the Slytherin dungeons at the very last moment.

"Good night, Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris." Roger executed a flamboyant turn and waved at the wretched Mr. Filch.

"Hmph! You won't be this lucky next time," Filch glared fiercely at Roger, turning away with his cat to patrol the other corridors of the castle.

He felt that Roger was mocking him. Everyone knew he had to patrol the school all night long to catch those little wizards sneaking out after hours. Not to mention that cursed Peeves, who caused chaos every single night.

"Don't let me catch you, little wizard!" Filch glared back at the Slytherin secret passage entrance; Roger had officially been placed at the top of his blacklist.

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