The Houses Competition
House: Slytherin
Class: Herbology
Prompt(s) Trying to be something/someone you're not. [Location] Room of Requirement/Come and Go Room
Word Count: 1473
Beta: Ash Juillet, Dhrish, Hope
Feeling alone and out of place Teddy comes across The Room of Requirement and finds something unexpected.
Lost Letter
At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, there is a very special room called The Room of Requirement, also known as the Come and Go Room. It's a secret room within the castle that only appears when a person is in great need of it. Throughout the legacy of Hogwarts, many people have used this room for a number of different reasons. In 1927, a professor by the name of Albus Dumbledore came to the room to reminisce about his history with a man named Gellert Grindelwald. Dumbeldore had been known to use the room when he was in need of the bathroom, opening the large doors to find it full of chamber pots when he became older.
In the year of 1995, Harry Potter asked a house-elf named Dobby if he knew of any place safe enough to build up Dumbledore's Army, a secret organisation initiated by Harry and his friends to teach the students proper Defence Against the Dark Arts; Dobby had also been known to use this room for his friend, Winky, when she would get drunk off butterbeer. The room was always filled with antidotes to a butterbeer hangover and a elf-sized bed for Winky to sleep off her inebriation and wondered if it could help Harry.
Argus Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts, often found extra cleaning supplies in the room. Fred and George Weasley revealed that the room once turned itself into a broom cupboard, which they used to hide from the sadistic caretaker on many occasions.
The room has even been known to show itself to a homesick student, replicating their childhood bedroom with every meticulous detail in place once they open the doors, and it was no secret that sometimes a couple of students would sneak off to the room for some alone time.
During the months between 1997 and 1998, Neville Longbottom along with several other students used the room as a hideout during the Second Wizarding War, escaping the wrath of both the Death Eaters and the Carrows. The room was considered a safe place for students to sleep and rest. The room would do its part by summoning cots with blankets and pillows along with any other needs the students had.
Once the Second Wizarding War was over and the school was rebuilt, no one knew if the Room of Requirement still existed, not knowing if it survived the damage. As years passed and students came and went, the room did not appear and it was deemed that it did not survive the war…
That was until on a cold October night in 2009, a young boy named Edward Lupin—Teddy to his friends and family—came across two large doors he had never seen before. Curious and desperate to be alone, he opened the doors and entered.
The room was filled to the ceiling with chipped bottles of congealed potions, corked bottles whose contents still shimmered, several rusting swords along with a heavy bloodstained axe, hats, jewels, cloaks, and many cages in different sizes and colours. Edward looked around in amazement as he realized the room he must be in, and once the realization hit, he allowed his tears to fall. Since coming to Hogwarts, Edward had felt out of place. Everyone expected him to be like his parents, and he had tried. He had tried so hard to be the person everyone wanted him to be.
Edward tried getting into Quidditch, but it wasn't for him; he didn't enjoy the sport as much as the other students. He didn't get good grades; no matter how hard he tried, and he always seemed to mess up in class. Yesterday, he had spilled his potion in class and ended up disintegrating his shoes, and he couldn't keep anything alive in Herbology. Charms were a disaster, too. Transfiguration was the worst, he was supposed to turn a mouse into a snuff box, but somehow, when he waved his wand, the mouse stood up on its two back legs and started to play the bagpipes that had magically appeared in its paws, and the small plaid kilt it was wearing made the whole class burst out into laughter.
When he tried to turn a match into a needle, all he managed to do was set his desk on fire; he didn't even want to think about what had happened when he tried to cast the Avifors charm.
He thought he could be good at flying like his mother, but he could barely get his broom to come to him, and when he did, he couldn't get it off the ground.
With every mistake he made, he only received looks of disappointment from his Professors, another reminder that he wasn't like his parents, that he wasn't what they wanted.
He thought he could be booksmart for a while, be the kid that was always reading, but he quickly learned not to read spells out loud after his book grew legs and ran away from him. He still thought it was unfair that he had got in trouble for not returning the book to the library. He had tried to explain that the book had run away and that he was looking for it, but it seemed like no one wanted to hear how he had messed up again.
Half the time, he couldn't even find his common room without getting lost in some part of the castle. Edward should consider himself lucky that he could walk the halls without tripping over his own feet.
Taking in a deep, shaky breath, Edward cleared away his tears with the sleeve of his robes as he made his way further into the room. He looked at everything the room had to offer: some old broomsticks that had seen better days, a record turntable that skipped when he tried to play it, a banjo which Edward thought was kind of strange, various metalware such as cauldrons with some coated with potions and various trophies throughout the school's life. But it was when he got to one of the many tables that he froze at what he saw.
On top of tangled jewelry and hair ties and a stack of dominoes was a small metal box with the name Edward Lupin carved into the top. Edward looked around, not sure what he was seeing was real. With a little bit of hesitation, he picked up the metal box and sat down next to the frames.
Edward ran his hand over the lid, removing the heavily caked-on dust it had collected before flipping up the latch and opening the box to reveal a letter inside. Running his finger over the parchment, Edward picked the letter up, peeled back the wax seal, and opened the three folded pieces of parchment.
"Dear Teddy,
We can only hope that this letter makes it to you somehow. I know you have many questions, but the one we fear the most is you wondering why we left you. We want you to know that it was the hardest decision that we ever had to make. Your gran begged us not to leave, and we wanted nothing more than to be with you and watch you grow up. But for you to grow up in the world we wanted for you meant we have to fight for it. We want you to have a good future, a good life, a life where you do not need to be afraid. We love you and we will always love you. You are worth so much to us; don't let anyone tell you otherwise. We know that things may be hard at times, but we know that you will be strong and you will be able to get through it. We love you so much, Teddy, and we are always with you. Whenever you feel lonely, just know that we are there with you. Read this letter, put a hand over your heart, and when you feel the thrum against it, know that it's our love for you pulsing against your hand.
Love, Mum and Dad."
The room suddenly swelled in deep purples and blues, mixing together to make a beautiful shade of violet. The colour of charoite with streaks of gold mixed in as Edward found himself in a new room, his room. All of the lost things were now gone and Edward now sat on a king-sized bed, the room lit by candlelight.
Edward gripped the letter tight in his hand, allowing himself to lie down on the bed before bringing the letter up to his chest, feeling the thump of his heartbeat. For the first time, Edward felt as if his parents were right by his side.
"I miss you, Mum and Dad," Edward spoke softly, feeling a warmth run throughout his body as if his parents were hugging him.