Chapter 32: 32: The Hidden Room

Considering Professor Snape's whereabouts was placed at the top of Sheen's priorities.

Even though Professor Snape had not explicitly told him that he was no longer allowed to brew potions in the dungeons, Sheen still decided to avoid him.

There was actually quite a bit of room for maneuver in this regard.

After all, Professor Snape could be described as one of the busiest men at Hogwarts.

First, as a professor, he had to grade student assignments, keep track of the progress of at least twelve classes, and prepare lessons.

Second, as Head of House, he was responsible for mediating student conflicts, catching students in romantic entanglements, and dealing with various student issues.

Finally, there were the special tasks assigned to him by Headmaster Dumbledore.

Looking at it this way, Professor Snape's irritability was entirely predictable.

It wasn't just because his teaching schedule was back-to-back, but also because he had to deal with troublesome students every single day.

Sheen could probably guess what Professor Snape frequently had to face—

"Merlin's beard! Go look, Professor Snape, those Gryffindors are starting trouble again!"

His workload was completely over capacity, and he didn't even have a teaching assistant.

If Sheen remembered correctly, Professor Snape's office was even located at the other end of the dungeons...

There was plenty of room to maneuver.

Thinking this, even the fireplace in the Great Hall seemed to feel warmer.

On the stone wall, the fire in the hearth flickered until two blurred shadows passed by.

"Oh, I must say, I've never felt like a Charms essay was so easy to write."

Justin had a slight smile on his lips. His left hand carried a magical lantern, while his right hand tucked a five-inch Charms essay and a light blue notebook into his bag.

"Well, Justin, I don't know who was complaining a couple of days ago that magic essays are harder than equestrianism."

Hermione lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes, giving Justin a look that suggested "you're being abnormal," before walking into the Great Hall clutching a large stack of books.

They had clearly just returned from the library, as they still carried the faint scent of ink.

Completing an excellent piece of classwork was difficult. For a Charms assignment, to put it simply

Here is how you wave your wand, and here is the incantation.

Now, write me a five-inch essay on the Levitation Charm.

The young wizards' expressions were likely: "Huh? Me?"

While it might seem like mere written work, completing it required far too much exploration and independent thought from the students.

Therefore, it was almost impossible to finish assignments without soaking in the library.

Learning how to consult appropriate references was the first important lesson.

Consequently, Hermione and Justin often spent their time in the library.

Compared to Hermione, who had memorized all the first-year textbooks and could quickly find the necessary information, Justin—who was less familiar with the books—progressed much more slowly. Combined with Professor Binns' muddled essays, the young wizards—at least those who wanted to complete their work properly—found it quite painful.

But today, Justin had not only finished a one-foot-long History of Magic essay but had even completed the Levitation Charm essay within three hours. Since it was an extra assignment from Professor Flitwick, even Hermione hadn't been quite that fast.

"You wrote a decent Charms essay, yet you didn't improve even a tiny bit during practice this afternoon..."

Hermione lifted her face and glanced at Justin.

"I guess you borrowed someone else's work. That person was Sheen."

"Oh, well, you're half right. Sheen told me the method."

Justin showed no embarrassment at being guessed; instead, he said with a sincere smile, "Although I'm sure Sheen would agree to me telling you this method, I still have to get his permission first... Look, he's right there."

Hermione let out an "oh," not thinking that a young wizard's method was particularly precious, even if that person was Sheen.

However, she still subconsciously searched for the young wizard's figure.

The Great Hall was full of wizards in identical school uniforms walking back and forth; Hermione somewhat doubted if Justin had seen incorrectly.

Just then, Justin suddenly sat down.

"Sheen."

Justin gave a warm greeting.

"Mhm."

Even while engaged in a fierce battle with a roast chicken, Sheen managed to find the time to respond.

"Would you mind..."

Justin said in a low voice.

"No."

Before he could finish his sentence, a voice drifted out from inside the roast chicken.

"Oh, okay,"

Justin's smile brightened. He passed the parchment to Hermione.

"You have to come see this, Hermione."

"Fine, but I must say, I don't think..."

Hermione brushed her hair back and took the parchment from Justin.

Ten minutes later.

Sheen sipped his pumpkin juice; the sweet taste always put him in a good mood.

"I must say, this is a genius structure. Oh... if only I had seen it sooner..."

Just then, Hermione suddenly let out a distressed sigh beside him. Sheen's hand jerked, causing the pumpkin juice to wobble.

He looked over and found Hermione's face gradually turning red, with the tips of her ears flushing a pale pink.

"Sheen, ah, I mean..."

Hermione stammered. She was not at all used to having her compliments overheard.

Fortunately, Sheen was always focused on his own business and heard nothing, and Justin was always quick to react

"I mean—no—Hermione said that the method in that essay was brilliant! And your Charms notes, too. If only I could put the theory into practice..."

He was always timely, not only answering the previous question but also smoothly steering the topic back to Charms.

"Mhm, practice is what matters."

Sheen nodded.

He was still wondering if the dungeons would welcome him today.

The result was obvious.

The dungeons were very dangerous today.

Professor Snape likely entered the dungeons to brew potions, and brewing potions never took a short amount of time.

Therefore, Sheen decided to allocate his evening time to his other six subjects.

Among them, the most practical was, naturally, Charms.

Thus, finding a place to practice Charms became his goal for the night.

"Let's go practice Charms, Sheen. Want to join us?"

Justin suddenly spoke up, and his light gray eyes brightened noticeably as he said it.

Sheen was slightly taken aback.

A few minutes later,

Three figures slowly moved through the corridor and ascended the spiral staircase.

There were a total of one hundred and forty-two staircases in Hogwarts.

Some were wide and grand; some were narrow, small, and wobbly; some led to different places every Friday; and on some, halfway up, a step would suddenly disappear, requiring you to remember exactly where to jump.

Additionally, there were many doors here; if you didn't politely ask them to open, or if you didn't poke them in exactly the right spot, they wouldn't open for you. Some doors weren't even real doors, just solid walls that looked like doors.

It was not easy to remember what was where, because everything seemed to be in constant motion.

The people in the portraits also visited each other constantly; Justin was certain that even the suits of armor walked.

In such a shifting castle, a hidden room didn't seem all that strange.

(End of Chapter)