I'm so sorry about the sudden hiatus! School this year has been taking away a lot of my time and energy...


"The Room of Requirement?" Hershel wondered aloud.

Randall nodded, grin growing ever wider. "Yep. Apparently, Helga Hufflepuff- one of the Hogwarts founders- hid a room in the castle. It's supposed to show up when you need it, with whatever you need in it."

"And... What about it?"

"Don't you get it, Hersh? We're gonna look for it!"

Hershel blinked. "But where are we supposed to look? It could be anywhere in this castle."

"That's what I was saying." Clark spoke up. "We need to narrow down where we're gonna search."

"Well, from what I've heard, Helga Hufflepuff intended the room to be used by everyone." Randall informed them. "So the room has to be accessible by everyone."

"The dormitories are out of the question, then." Brenda said, brow furrowed in thought.

"I don't think it would be near any other room, for that matter." Henry said. "Even with magic charms, you need to have some space to work with. A room that can give you anything you need needs to be pretty big."

"So would it be somewhere around the upper floors of the castle, then?" Angela asked. "There aren't too many rooms up there, just a bunch of tapestries and statues."

"That makes the most sense." Claire nodded. "I'd suggest starting tonight, but unless any of you know any concealing charms, we'll have to wait until tomorrow to avoid Filch."

"In that case, we'll have to put off night-searches for some time. Who knows, maybe the room will give us a few spell books with concealing charms or something." Randall stood, looking around at all his friends. "Rest up, mates. First thing tomorrow morning, we're looking for the Room of Requirement."


The following morning was a Saturday, so classes wouldn't be a hindrance to their search. As they all sat down for breakfast in their Muggle clothes, Randall announced his plan for going about finding the room. "We'll go in groups of two or three so it's not as suspicious looking. We'll search for a door until lunchtime, and then we'll regroup back here. If you're caught, well, let's hope it's not Filch who catches you and that they'll let you go easy." He paused. "Who wants to go with who?"

"I get to go with Angela." Brenda said. Angela nodded in agreement.

"Could I go with you?" Henry asked Randall, receiving a nod and a smile as confirmation.

"We'll stick together, then." Claire flung her arms around Hershel and Clark's shoulders, grinning.

"Perfect." Randall grinned. "We can get started as soon as everyone else starts to leave. Don't want to seem too suspicious, you know."

The three groups staggered their departure. Randall and Henry left first with another group of First Years as they walked away from the Great Hall. Claire, Clark and Hershel left a few minuets afterwards, with Brenda and Angela following behind a few minuets after that.

Their search began slowly. They could only search when nobody was around, as explaining why they were tapping the walls would be a one-way ticket to trouble. As less and less people began walking through the hallways, their search picked up, and they were able to search more efficiently. However, as they regrouped at the Great Hall at dinnertime, they all came to the same conclusion.

"We've searched all day and haven't found anything." Randall was more than a little disappointed. "And I was really looking forward to finding it!"

"Are we going to try again tomorrow?" Hershel asked.

The red-head nodded. "If you want to, you can look for it on your way back to your common rooms. Henry and I can't risk going up that high into the castle this late at night, 'cause it'd take too long to get back to our rooms after that."

The group of friends finished their dinner and said their good-night's before going their separate ways. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors followed their classmates up into the higher levels of the castle, lingering behind in the hallways to check for the Room of Requirement. They hadn't even realized just how long they had spent searching for the room when they heard a raspy meow coming from the end of the corridor.

"That's Filch's cat!" Brenda hissed, backing away from where Mrs. Norris stood. "We've been out for too long!"

They ran in the opposite direction of the cat, only to discover that Filch was approaching them from the other side, the light of his lantern flickering eerily across the walls. Hershel found himself pacing in front of a stretch of wall, a single thought running through his head. We need to get somewhere we can hide from Filch we need to get somewhere we can hide from Filch we need to get somewhere we can hide from Filch maybe we can use that door wait what?

In the space where previously-empty wall was sat a plain, unassuming door. Hershel twisted its handle and pulled it open; it appeared to be full of boxes, miscellaneous school supplies and large, white sheets. Perfect.

"We can hide in here." Hershel decided, calling his friends' attention.

"Will we all even fit in there?" Clark asked him as the girls began finding hiding places.

Hershel gestured to the boxes frantically. "Just hide before-"

"Before what?" A low, threatening voice asked. Both boys turned to see Filch looming over them, Mrs. Norris sitting faithfully at his heels. "Students aren't supposed to be out after hours, so tell your little friend to come out."

Both boys turned white. "L-little friend?" Clark asked, failing to retain any ignorance.

"Don't play dumb with me." Filch growled. "There's someone in that closet, isn't there?" One of the white sheets began to move, and Brenda stepped out, head hung low. "Is there anyone else hiding in there?" Brenda shook her head. Filch narrowed his eyes, commanding them to follow him. Mrs. Norris lingered for a moment more before stalking after her owner.

Under the cover of darkness, Claire and Angela stepped out of the closet, carefully shut the door behind them, and dashed away to their common rooms.

The door was gone by the following morning.