'Bloody brilliant mate!' Ron declared loudly at dinner, talking about how Gellert had magically tricked Professor Umbridge. His voice temporarily drowned out the whispering about Harry's shouting match.
'Yes, that was fantastic, was it all wandless?' Hermione shouted, despite him being seated next to her.
'What are you doing?' Harry asked, looking at his two friends in confusion, which spoke volumes for how successful they'd been at hiding the gossip. Gellert looked between the trio, then pushed his plate aside and stalked away from the table. He had promised to protect Harry, and by extension, Hermione. He had not promised to protect his feelings.
He stalked up the large staircase until his legs ached, he had absently counted the floors so he knew he was on the 6th floor. Of course, he had intended to go to the library and see what options he would have to stave off boredom but he didn't mind the exercise his unintentional detour had given him.
He explored the floor quickly, finding little of interest unless one was desperate for the bathroom... although the second bathroom did have a secret passage which he followed up a flight of narrow stairs. He emerged onto what he assumed was the seventh floor, decorated by a ghastly tapestry of a troll. He wandered in the direction of the corridor, then changed his mind and turned back and wandered past the tapestry to go to the quieter study room. A voice called his name and he turned again to see Hermione frantically beckoning him.
'Harry overheard Seamus, he's really angry at us again.' She explained, shouting down the corridor as he reluctantly wandered in her direction again. He wanted nothing less than to deal with Harry's teenage tantrums but without blatantly ignoring Hermione or seeming callous there was little that he could do. Even if he had the emotional capacity of a flobberworm, he knew that it was always best to pretend otherwise.
Just as he passed the tapestry for the third time, a door materialised out of the wall beside him. He spun, wand drawn at the unexpected movement and Hermione froze mid sentence. He paused, waiting for someone to exit as a stunned Hermione joined him.
'I've never seen that one before. Did you say anything that could be a password?' She asked curiously and he shook his head. He cautiously reached out and the door swung open easily but whatever was inside was dark, so he flicked his wand, sending a ball of light soaring into the blackness where it exploded into several smaller balls which zoomed into the lamps, flooding the room with light.
It was cozy; several couches arranged around a fire which blazed in the grate. The walls were packed with books and writing supplies. There was a desk with a lamp and a gramophone was tucked into a nook.
'I've never seen this room.' Hermione marvelled as she wandered in, fingers brushing the plum upholstery.
'I can't imagine a better place to study.' He habitually waved his wand, checking for enchantments, unable to comprehend how such a perfect space hadn't already been put to use. The response was overwhelming; the entire room hummed with magic. He had expected to find the enchantments on the gramophone, maybe a couple around the fireplace to stop sparks but even the chairs were woven into an enchanted fabric that made up the room. Of course magic was already woven into the foundations of the building but none of it was as active and intense as that already in the room.
'This room is new.' He finally decided but even as he said it he noticed the chairs were slightly worn and the ink pot on the desk was half empty. So the room had either been here for a while or had recycled furniture from somewhere else in the castle. With his curiosity peaked, he beckoned to Hermione and with only a brief explanation to raise her own curiosity, they left the room and closed the door.
It faded back into the stonework around it. He cast another revealing charm but came up with nothing but a faint echo that there might be something there.
'How did you get it to appear last time?' Hermione asked, casting her own quick revealing charm.
'I don't know.' He paused, running through his memories to figure out what he'd been doing. As far as he knew, all he'd done was walk past the wall. He hadn't said any password or performed any obscure hand motion, he hadn't even touched his wand.
'Aparecium' Hermione said bossily, assuming a textbook casting stance and waving her wand at the wall. He had to give her points for effort but the magic of this room was far beyond a simple concealment. It was for all intents and purposes as though the room had ceased to exist.
The young Gryffindor then insisted that they recreate the scenario, him walking away down the corridor as she called out to him. He turned and came back towards her, passing the frustratingly blank wall again. She huffed in frustration and he knew the young witch was regretting having left the perfect room. She ordered him to perform every spell he knew of on the wall to get it to reveal its secrets, which he only partially obliged. He'd found the cruciatus effective for learning secrets in the past but suspected that particular method would be mostly useless on a stone wall.
Defeated, the pair finally left, Hermione deciding to check Hogwarts a history and Gellert already brooding about the imminent teenage tantrum he had so nearly managed to avoid with the appearance of the room.
They entered the commonroom to find Ron sitting glumly in their usual chairs by the fire. Harry was nowhere to be seen, which was unsurprising but still worrying.
'Where's Harry?' Hermione had already asked even before they sat down.
'Upstairs. We've got detention with Umbridge on Monday.' He bemoaned, sliding over a pink piece of parchment. Hermione took it with a frown and Gellert peered over her shoulder. It was a single line, telling them a time and place for their detention.
'What did you do?' Gellert managed to grate out. He had left them alone for less than an hour and they'd managed to achieve what he had been at pains to avoid; could none of them see that she was out to get them?
'Harry shouted at Seamus. I punched him. He's at the hospital wing getting his nose fixed up now.'