Chapter 661 The Room Of Requirements
Evan recounted part of his conversation with Caresius, the suspicious figure he had seen in the hallway with Hermione the night before, his doubts about the identity of Professor Moody, the recent events in the wizarding world, the fear that Voldemort was gaining strength, and the ongoing plot at Hogwarts.
Despite the many startling news, Evan saw no surprise on Dumbledore's face. As expected, he was already aware of the matter and was prepared for it.
Overall, Dumbledore agreed and supported Evan's countermeasures and promised to cooperate...
As for some gaps in the discussion, Dumbledore did not ask any questions when it seemed logical.
Nevertheless, every time Evan looked up, he could see the director's kind and encouraging smile, which seemed to urge him to say more.
This feeling was truly dreadful! What Dumbledore had in mind... Evan did not know.
He tried not to make eye contact all the time because that was key to Legilimency.
Ultimately, after reaching a unified understanding and deciding on specific practices, Evan left the headmaster's office.
He did not rush down to the Great Hall for lunch but instead walked directly down the hallway on the seventh floor and headed towards the wall of the Room of Requirements.
It was a blank wall without portraits or decorations, opposite the tapestry depicting Barnabas the Fool's attempt to teach ballet to trolls.
The Room of Requirements, also known as the Room of Hidden Things, could only be accessed when a person truly needed it.
Sometimes it was absent, but when it appeared, it was always equipped according to the seeker's needs.
To enter this room, one had to focus on what was needed; pace back and forth three times in front of that part of the wall, and the room would appear.
The Chamber of Secrets, where Evan brewed potions, was inside. Over the past year, he had become very skilled at accessing the Room of Requirements.
After confirming that no one was nearby, he paced back and forth three times in front of the blank wall. Evan thought in his mind that he needed a place to hide things. When he ran for the third time, the door appeared!
Evan pushed the door and entered. Inside was a room the size of a grand cathedral, its tall windows casting beams of light over what looked like a city with towers, built with objects hidden by generations of Hogwarts' inhabitants over centuries.
There were alleys and paths lined with piles of broken and damaged furniture, perhaps stored to conceal evidence of misused magic, or hidden by proud house-elves of the castle.
There were thousands and thousands of books, undoubtedly forbidden, vandalized, or stolen.
There were winged catapults and toothed Frisbees, some still with enough life to lazily float over the piles of other prohibited objects; there were shattered bottles of frozen potions, hats, jewels, cloaks; there were what looked like dragon eggshells, capped bottles whose contents still gleamed malevolently, several rusty swords, and a heavy, bloodied axe.
Evan was here for the first time, shocked by what he saw.
This room had kept the secrets of nearly a thousand years. There were countless illegal objects hidden by Hogwarts students, hundreds of criminal outcomes of illegal experiments, and an endless array of secrets and useless junk.
For dark wizards and treasure hunters, this room was a paradise, a promised land.
But the whole process required time... too much time. Even if Evan had a general idea about it, finding Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem was difficult.
"Accio Diadem!" He tried and raised his wand. Unsuccessfully... nothing happened.
This room was protected by a mysterious magic, safeguarding the hidden things here.
Regarding the essence and operation principle of the Room of Requirements, Evan had always been curious, who left this magical room?
It could prepare a corresponding room and various objects based on the person in need. The room obviously was not in Hogwarts Castle before and could not be identified on the map, but only existed in the user's mind.
But these ideas could materialize in the real world through the concrete manifestation of the Room of Requirements.
This room involved an exceptionally high level of spatial and wishful magic, and Evan had yet to grasp how it operated.
He even speculated that the Room of Requirement was connected to Hogwarts castle through the door, but in reality, the phenomenon existed in the void, the space through which malevolent spirits existed and apparated. Now, one simply pushed the surrounding walls to enter the void world.
Of course, this was merely Evan's speculation. Who knew what lay beyond the wall and whether it was conducive to human survival?
Spatial magic was a deeply profound and complex branch of magic that had always been at the forefront of magical research.
Evan's eyes skimmed over piles of assorted objects and ventured down an alley amidst all this treasure.
After a few steps, he saw a stuffed troll, fifteen feet tall. It was encased in a massive glass bottle filled with green potions as preservatives. Evan clicked his tongue. Whoever had done this surely was someone of deranged impulses.
He could envision a mad wizard who lived centuries ago practicing anatomy with the troll's corpse...
Beside the troll, there lay a small stack of dusty books. Evan picked up the first one and examined it.
It was the Code of Chivalry, which documented the code of conduct of knights in the Late Middle Ages, as well as various practical combat techniques.
It appeared that a student from a knightly family had brought the book to Hogwarts.
He set the book down and picked up another with a black cover.
It was also a book on martial arts, explaining in great detail the techniques of spear throwing.
Evan set the book aside and felt that something was amiss. He drew his wand and softly clicked it on the book.
"Revelio!"
His voice barely fell as the black ink in the book gradually vanished, transforming into red script with fearsome patterns.
This was a hidden book of dark magic; the dark magic inscribed within was called the Howl of Hell.
This dark magic could actually unleash a terrible howl in a person's mind, making them feel more fear than ever before.
The spell itself could be categorized as a blend of soul magic and demonic magic, which Evan had seen before in the library.
However, the records in the book in his hand were not exactly the same as those in the library. Key details were different. Evan could be certain that he would not achieve the expected effect if he used this magic in battle following the incantation and wand-waving method in the book.
If not performed correctly, it would be a backlash curse, harming the soul of the caster.
It was truly dreadful. Whoever left this book here was not kind at all...