In the end, I tossed and turned until I finally fell asleep late.
Morning came the next day.
After heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast, I said to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, "Once you’re done eating, I need you to come somewhere with me."
"What’s this about?"
"It’s about that thing I told you not to talk about."
"Oh, right. If it’s that, then sure."
We quickly finished breakfast and left the Great Hall.
There was no way to make an Unbreakable Vow just anywhere.
Even if I used the secret map to find a place with no people around, someone could still come by in the middle of the ritual.
The safest option was to find a place no one knew about from the start.
And there was one place that fit perfectly.
I led my friends up to the eighth floor.
Everyone seemed to be wondering why we had come all the way up here.
"Leonard, what’s going on on the eighth floor? Is there some reason we had to come this far up?"
Harry asked.
I didn’t answer him and instead checked the enormous tapestry hanging on one wall.
Seeing the mad Barnabas being beaten up by trolls inside it told me we’d found the right place.
I walked back and forth three times, imagining an empty room the size of a classroom.
Then a new door appeared on the wall opposite the tapestry.
"Let’s go in."
The others stared at the suddenly appeared room in surprise.
"How did this happen?"
Ron said.
"Hogwarts is probably full of secret places no one has found yet. It’s a castle that’s been around for a thousand years, after all. Countless graduates must have made and hidden all kinds of things. This room might be one of them."
Well...
This kind of high-level magic wasn’t something a student could pull off.
It would be hard even for Dumbledore, so maybe Ravenclaw herself had made it.
We went through the newly appeared door.
The Room of Requirement gave me exactly what I wanted: a room that was neither too small nor too large, and had nothing in it.
As soon as we stepped inside, Harry asked, "Leonard, how did you even find this room?"
"I just happened to learn about it."
"Was it through that thing?"
"I can’t say. Think whatever you want. Anyway, I called you here because I need to make an Unbreakable Vow with you."
"What’s an Unbreakable Vow? I think I heard about it on the train last time."
Harry didn’t know what it was,
"An Unbreakable Vow? You’re really going to do that...?"
Ron looked uneasy,
"An Unbreakable Vow? You know how to do that? How?"
Hermione was astonished that I could do something she had only read about in books,
and Neville, who had received my prophecy, agreed very readily.
"Hmm. Harry doesn’t seem to know what an Unbreakable Vow is, so let me explain first. An Unbreakable Vow is exactly what it sounds like: a vow that truly cannot be broken. You can never go against it."
"What do you mean, you can never go against it? What happens if you do?"
Harry asked with a confused look.
"If you break it, your heart explodes and you die."
"What? You want to make us swear something that dangerous? Do we really have to go that far?"
"Harry. What did I tell you on the train? I told you never to tell anyone.
But Ron told Neville in less than five minutes.
And when we first arrived at Hogwarts, he even blurted it out in front of everyone, and we nearly got caught for real.
If people find out I can make prophecies, there’ll be loads of wizards coming to bother me.
And that’s not all. They’d probably try to kidnap me. If things went badly, they might even try to kill me. After all that, you still think I shouldn’t make you swear?"
"But... we haven’t said anything yet. Ron’s the one who messed up."
When Harry pointed out Ron’s mistake, Ron’s face turned bright red.
"Harry, Ron made the mistake, but you’re no different. You’re bound to slip up someday.
People can never keep secrets. Tell just one person something that’s supposed to stay between you and them, and by the next day ten people know, and the day after that a hundred do.
I don’t distrust you. I distrust people.
And it’s not even that dangerous. Even if you only think about leaking it, the signal reaches your heart right away, so you won’t die. It’ll just feel horrible."
When I held firm, Ron pleaded, "Leonard, can’t we skip it...? When I was little, Fred and George once tried to trick me into making that vow as a joke, and Dad caught them and beat them half to death. I’ve never seen Dad that angry before. If he found out I’d really made the vow, he’d try to kill me..."
"Ron, your parents were angry because they might have lost you.
Of course, you’re still too young to make a dangerous vow like this, but sometimes people have to do dangerous things with tears in their eyes. Danger never gives you a warning before it comes.
Still, I understand why you’re reluctant, so I’ll ask your parents for permission first.
As for you, Ron, the other three of you absolutely have to make the vow with me. After all, Ron’s the one who caused the trouble."
Neville stepped forward first.
"I’m not scared. I’ll go first."
"You really are brave when it matters most. Neville, you’re a true Gryffindor."
Just as Professor Snape had taught me, I pulled Neville’s arm close and gripped it.
"Making the vow is very easy. First, pull each other’s forearms in and hold them like this.
The important part is the wording of the vow. If you don’t state exactly what you want, the other person can find loopholes as much as they like.
And an Unbreakable Vow always needs a witness. Hera, will you be the witness?"
"Yes. I’ll be the witness."
I shaped my magic into a thin chain and wrapped it around our joined arms.
"Neville Longbottom. Do you swear that, of your own free will, you will not reveal the fact that I can make prophecies to anyone, by any means whatsoever?"
"I swear."
The chain of magic shone brightly, then disappeared a moment later.
I made Harry and Hermione swear the same thing.
Honestly, I trusted Hermione not to leak the secret, but you never know what people might do, so I made the vow with her too, tears and all.
"All right, that’s everything. Not a big deal, right? Oh, and about this room: the fewer people who know about a secret place like this, the better. You all understand what I mean, right?
Never tell anyone unless you really trust them. The way to open it is simple. Stand in exactly the same spot as before, think very specifically about the place you want, and walk back and forth three times. Want to try it yourselves?"
"I really want to try. / Me too. / Me too! / I want to try too."
My friends were so fascinated by the Room of Requirement that they all wanted to give it a try.
Harry succeeded in opening the room he’d always wanted for himself, Hermione opened a room where she could practice spells, and Ron and Neville failed.
I asked the two of them what kind of room they had asked for.
"What were you imagining that it wouldn’t open?"
Ron answered, "I imagined a room full of Galleons..."
Oh, you poor fool. As if that would work.
"Neville, what about you?"
"I was thinking of a place with medicine that could cure my parents..."
"Hmm... I think this room probably doesn’t produce things that don’t exist in reality yet. That might be why it didn’t open, since that cure hasn’t been developed yet. Don’t worry too much, Neville. Your parents will definitely get better."
Neville, who had been downcast for a moment, brightened up again.
"Anyway, I’ve accomplished the reason I called you here, so you can head back now."
Harry and Ron asked, "Leonard, do you still have something to do here?"
"Yeah, I still have something to do here. You go on ahead."
The three boys left the room first.
Hermione was about to follow them out, but I stopped her.
"Hera, why don’t we hang out here a little longer?"
"Here? That’s a good idea, but don’t we have to leave the room and think of a new one anyway?"
"It’s fine. Actually, this room can change into another room from inside the room itself. Want to try?"
Hermione immediately closed her eyes and imagined a new room.
Then the Room of Requirement shuddered, and a room filled with all kinds of books appeared.
Yes... this was Hermione all right.
Well, a cozy little library date wasn’t bad either.
*
After lunch, I went to Professor Snape’s office and knocked on the door.
"Hello, Professor."
Professor Snape greeted me with a sullen face.
"Yes. Have you eaten?"
"Of course, Professor. What are you going to teach me today?"
"Let’s see. What do you want to learn? We still need to finish Occlumency from last time... Hmm, I heard you summoned a Patronus at Mr. Ollivander’s wand shop. How about learning Patronus magic?"
Oh! A Patronus!
"That sounds great. Let’s do Patronus magic, then."
"Then I should explain what a Patronus is first.
A Patronus is a very old form of ancient magic. It can only be summoned when the caster thinks very strongly of a happy memory, and it is usually used to ward off Dementors.
It can also be sent to deliver messages to other people, but its main purpose is still driving off Dementors.
The form of the guardian is always an animal, and the animal it takes on is determined by the caster’s mind’s eye.
Rarely, a Patronus that has already taken shape can change into another form, and when that happens, it follows the Patronus of someone the caster loves deeply.
That’s why a married couple’s Patronuses are often a male and female pair.
As an aside, it’s said that Andros, a very powerful wizard of ancient Greece, could summon a Patronus the size of a giant. With that Patronus alone, he earned the nickname Invincible."
"Oh, giant-sized? That’s amazing."
"Well, that’s only an aside. The record is far too old, and its reliability is questionable. A Patronus is the same size as the original animal, so where would you even find an animal that big?
Ah, one more thing. All Patronus forms are ordinary animals. Magical creatures don’t appear as Patronuses.
The only exception is Professor Dumbledore.
Professor Dumbledore’s Patronus is a phoenix, but that’s a family trait. Every few generations, a phoenix appears in that family to help them, so I imagine it has something to do with that.
It’s not very important, so just keep it in mind."
A phoenix... Hah, I want to raise a phoenix too. Beautiful, with healing tears. And feathers that can be used as wand cores, the perfect partner. But only if you can get one, of course.
Professor Snape drew out his wand and continued.
"I’ll demonstrate first. The Patronus charm is unusual in that the way you wave your wand doesn’t matter. What matters far more is what you think of. The happier the memory, the greater the chance of producing a Patronus. The incantation is Expecto Patronum. Watch carefully. Expecto Patronum!"
As Professor Snape swept his wand, silver mist began to pour from its tip.
Before long, the mist condensed into the shape of a doe.
"A doe?"
"Yes... Lily’s Patronus was a doe too..."
Oh, here we go again.
"Then I’ll try it now."
"... Fine. This time, you try it. The most important thing is a happy feeling. Think of your happiest memory."
A happy feeling, huh... I happen to have a good one.
I thought of my date with Hermione from yesterday and cast the spell.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Then, just like Professor Snape’s, silver mist poured from my wand and soon began to condense.
This feels much better than last time.
"Yes, Leonard, that’s it! You’re doing well!"
Once I was sure I had it right, I thought even more strongly of yesterday’s memory.
Silver mist kept streaming from the tip of my wand.
But... how much bigger was this going to get? The magic won’t stop...?
The silver mist pouring from my wand soon filled the office.
Professor Snape, pushed all the way back against the wall, shouted in panic, "Stop, stop! Leonard, you idiot! What on earth are you doing?"
"I’m not doing anything!"
"Cut the magic off, now!"
I hurriedly stopped imagining it.
Then the silver mist slowly began to fade.
What on earth was that just now?
"What on earth was that just now!"
That’s what I’d like to ask. What was it?
"It seems your Patronus is very different from everyone else’s. Judging by the amount of mist, it must be much larger than an elephant. We can’t practice your Patronus here. Come with me. We’ll have to go outside."
We left Professor Snape’s office, went out of the castle, and walked along the Black Lake.
Many students looked at me walking side by side with Professor Snape and felt sorry for me.
I wasn’t going to get scolded, though.
After walking along the lakeshore for quite a while, there was no one else around but the two of us.
"This should do. Leonard, try it again just like before."
"Yes, Professor."
I summoned the Patronus again exactly as before.
Once more, silver mist flowed from my wand. There’s nothing to worry about out here, so I should speed things up.
Now it was practically pouring out like a water cannon from my wand.
The mist kept gathering larger and larger. No, seriously, how big is this thing going to get...?
The silver mist, which had grown without end, turned into a tightly compressed sphere of light.
And from inside it emerged—
"Is that... a whale? Yes, a whale would make this size understandable. It looks almost fifteen meters long. But I’ve never heard of an aquatic animal becoming a Patronus."
"More importantly, is that really a whale? It doesn’t look like a whale to me at all... I’ve never seen a whale that looks like that."
What... is it...? What is it really...?
While we were trying to guess what it was, my Patronus had completely turned into something whale-like.
The whale(?) let out a silent roar, as if delighted to have been summoned.
Then, like a supernova exploding, waves of light burst outward and covered the entire lake.
"Leonard! There aren’t even any Dementors here, so what are you doing?"
No, I didn’t do it...
"Cancel it already! You damned fool!"
Of course, I also tried frantically to dismiss the Patronus. But it wouldn’t cancel easily.
The whale grumbled as if displeased that I was trying to send it back.
Both the professor and I were dumbfounded.
Hey! Go back already!
After I thought a few more times that I needed to send the whale away, the thing finally disappeared.
"I’ve never seen a Patronus that doesn’t listen to its master! You can’t even control your own Patronus?"
"How was I supposed to know it would do that? I have no idea why it won’t listen."
"Well, anyway, you’ve learned the Patronus charm now. Still, keep in mind that it’s much harder to summon a Patronus in front of a real Dementor. No matter how happy a memory you think of, they’ll just devour it. Now let’s go back to the office."
We took the long way back to the professor’s office.
"Quite a bit of time has passed. We’ll only have time for one Occlumency practice. Shall we begin right away?"
"As you wish, Professor."
"Now, look into my eyes. One, two, three! Legilimens!"
Once again, just like last time, the professor’s magic began to flow into my eyes.
Since I’d experienced it once already, I had a rough idea of how to block it now.
I could show him completely different thoughts, or just block him outright.
But here...
"Leonard, you little brat! You’re deliberately not blocking me?! Why are you showing your teacher memories of your love life?"
"Hey! What’s wrong with that? I was showing you on purpose so I could brag about my proper future daughter-in-law!"
"Daughter-in-law, my foot! I never had a son like you! Get out, you brat! Get out now!"
"Yes, sir! Thank you for another fruitful lesson, Professor~"
I turned around and reached for the office door handle.
"... Wait."
Then Professor Snape called me back in a heavy voice.
"Yes?"
"... If I had had the courage to confess to Lily before James Potter did... would Lily have accepted me?"
"Nope?"
"What? You little—! The other day you were going on about how a man should face things head-on with courage! Get out! Get out now, you wretched little fool!"
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