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Chapter 67: “Mysterious room”
🕑 Added 2024-02-15 15:29:01 +0000 UTCJames' theory about Lupin grew even stronger. Clearly, Lupin was weak and low on energy. If you watched him a little, you could easily tell.
However, he would wait another month. He must not rush. Then, he will converse with Lupin to hear from his mouth whether he is a werewolf or not. As for his position, he doesn't care that Lupin is. He has no discriminatory thoughts against werewolves.
As for why he will confront him when it is certain that Lupin wants to keep it a secret, it is simple. It is because they are friends. His mother has told him that friends should trust and help each other, plus he thinks it must be very lonely for Lupin to have to hide the secret, so he wants to give him a hand.
James was currently exploring the castle. The strange thing was that he was alone. No member of the marauders was in sight.
His objective was to find a classroom that was empty and hidden enough that it would be hard to find, and he could train without being caught by Filch or another professor.
The castle was big, very big. It wasn't the first time he had explored just looking for such a room. At first, he thought of Classroom 11, where he met Gwen, but it would be too easy for Filch to find them.
James looked at the map he held in both hands. It was a recent creation of the marauders when they were out exploring the castle.
'This map is garbage...' thought James, looking at the ugly layouts, the ugly handwriting, and many more flaws. If a cartographer saw this map he would set it on fire without hesitation.
They still had more to learn before. They could try to draw a good map that would cover the whole of Hogwarts and do it correctly.
He rolled up the map and put it in his tunic. He knew it would be of little use to him. It was not the first time he had gone out in search of such a classroom in which to train. He was getting less and less hopeful of finding such a convenient classroom.
He was now walking down the seventh-floor corridor, or so he thought as it was very difficult to guide himself through the huge castle.
'I just need a place to practice my magic and not be found. Damn it. It's not that hard. Maybe I can find some training dummies like the ones in the training room at home...' James thought grumpily as he walked down the hallway.
James stopped and looked at a huge moving tapestry where there was a group of eight trolls each with a club, and a little person was trying to teach them to dance ballet. The trolls were wearing the uniform that ballet dancers wear. Only the bottom part and the slipper were a very strange sight.
James stopped looking at the strange tapestry and kept walking forward.
'No. If I keep going this way, I'll go through the area I already explored yesterday...' thought James as he turned around and went back to the place where the tapestry with the trolls was.
As he was about to reach the window he stopped abruptly, 'No... I think I'd better go that way,' he thought, scratching his cheek, turned around, and resumed his previous path.
'For a good place to practice, I need a large classroom... maybe I should go to the dungeons, though I'm likely to cross paths with the Slytherin guys...' thought James.
Again, he paused. This time, he pulled out the second-hand map they made with the marauders. Maybe it could be of some use to him in this situation.
'Then I'd better go the other way...' thought James, turning around for the third time in a row. Luckily, the corridor was empty. Otherwise, he would have looked like an idiot for turning around so much.
However, as he started walking, out of the corner of his eye he noticed something wrong.
In front of the troll tapestry was an empty stretch of wall, but now there was a shiny wooden door.
James looked at the wall with caution and surprise. He rubbed his eyes gently. He was sure there was nothing there just an empty wall.
'Since when do doors appear out of nowhere on walls...?' thought James, slowly approaching the door.
It was the first time he had noticed this happening in Hogwarts castle despite being a magical castle, he had not seen such a thing until this moment.
James slowly reached out, grabbed the tin doorknob, and slowly turned it, opening the door. Seeing that there was nothing dangerous, he decided to enter.
He entered a large room in which flickering torches burned like those that illuminated the dungeons eight floors below.
In one corner, James discovered perfectly aligned magical dummies, much like the ones he had at home. In the center of the room, a large, open area designed specifically for magical duels was spread out. The floor was marked with magical lines delineating safe boundaries and penalty areas.
Subtle but efficient lighting focused on the dueling area, allowing every move to be visible. In another corner was a room with several couches and a couple of bookshelves with many books.
"What the hell...?" muttered James with his mouth hanging open.
The room was perfect for practicing. It was very large and had everything he needed there were even books, which after glancing through. He could see that they were books on offensive and defensive magic.
James thought about going to look for Sirius and the others, but he didn't know how exactly this mysterious room worked. He couldn't miss the opportunity to practice, since if he left he might disappear when he came with the others.
'I'll train on my own today. Tomorrow I'll come and try to find out how it appeared...' thought James while with a Wingardium Leviosa, he moved the mannequins towards the center of the room.
The only thing magical about the dummies was their defense. They had great durability, and no matter how many spells you cast on them they would not be destroyed. They could not attack you, but they served to enhance your offensive charms.
Two hours passed. In addition to practicing his offensive spells to improve his mastery, he also spent about thirty minutes to read quietly one of the magic books that were on the shelves.
It was much more comfortable to read in an armchair in a private room all to yourself, 'It could be the marauders' lair...' thought James with a faint smile as he was slumped on the couch comfortably.
This room was better than the library. On the shelves were all the books you needed. You didn't even have to look for them on your own. You had a comfortable couch and you could make whatever noise you wanted.
'I wonder what face they'll make when I show them,' thought James, standing up and putting the book away.
On the other hand, no one knocked on the door. In itself, the hallway was already uncrowded, but James believed that the room had some special power and was harder to find.
This thought was because he passed by the empty wall several times and saw no door. He left the room and walked out, but after five minutes, he returned. The wooden door was gone.
'Mm, it's time for lunch now. I'll investigate better tomorrow or maybe tonight,' James thought as he made his way to the Great Hall. He still didn't plan on telling the marauders about this. He wanted to know the exact method of making the door appear.
