"Mr. Bones, I've been dealing with Ministry officials with the Goblin Liaison Office, as well as goblins for the last few days regarding your last discovery, and now you bring me the corpse of a wizard you found in a toilet?" Professor Sprout questioned, peering at Warren from across her desk.
"I didn't set out to find a dead body; we were only investigating a secret passageway that revealed a garderobe, and there was the body," Warren said. Professor Sprout sighed.
"What is it with you, then?" she asked. "What makes you do these things?"
"What do you mean?" Warren asked.
"I mean ever since you started here at Hogwarts you've had some sort of mission which has led to disruption of some sort. Every year, you arrive as if something were driving you. What is it, Warren?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"You have excellent grades, and you participate fully in your education. However, you seem to alienate your fellow classmates, and seem to have trouble relating to them. I've seen the way you join or start social groups, or keep your careful collection of Chocolate Frog cards for trading, and yet still seem to go through school an outsider. Then there are these missions of yours, as if something's propelling you to keep busy at all costs," Professor Sprout said. "In all seriousness, I'm concerned for your emotional well-being. What is it, Warren?"
"I think it's important to expand my mind and make myself useful," Warren said. Professor Sprout sighed.
"I think there's more to it than that, Warren, and I think you do too. You're too smart a boy to not be aware of it. Maybe all you need is someone to talk to."
"I have someone to talk to," Warren said. Professor Sprout looked back at his expressionless face.
"Forgive me, but I don't think Mr. Wag really counts. I was thinking you should talk to someone older, someone who could have a deeper understanding of your problems and help you work through them."
"I have someone to talk to," Warren repeated. "Not Wilbur, but someone older and wiser than myself."
"Do you discuss your feelings with this person?" Professor Sprout asked.
"To some extent," Warren said.
"I think it would be in your best interest if you allowed yourself to open up to this person, whoever it is, because you can't keep going on like this, Warren."
"Why not? What harm am I causing?"
"None that I know of, only continued harm to your emotional stability," Sprout said. "Warren, I wish you would talk to me, and start to realize that it isn't you against the world."
"I think you have a biased opinion of me, Professor Sprout," Warren said, his face still blank. "I appreciate your concern, but I believe I am emotionally stable."
Professor Sprout knew she was nowhere close to cracking that exterior. The boy had immediately seemed to withdraw into himself as soon as she had started discussing his emotional well-being. There was no doubt in her mind that he was a troubled young man, going through life the best way he could until he wouldn't be able to do it any more. She also didn't know how she could help him.
"Will you at least do me a favor, Warren?" Professor Sprout said. "As long as you're harming no one but yourself, there's little I can do without your cooperation. I just ask a small favor."
"What is it?" Warren asked.
"Simply that you continue to talk to this person you've been talking to. You don't have to tell me who it is, I just would feel better knowing that you're at least talking to someone who will listen to you, and help you deal with whatever you happen to be going through," Professor Sprout said.
"I will do that," Warren said. Professor Sprout nodded.
"Now then, I don't suppose you have any idea who this might be?" she asked, pointing to the body.
"No, we really did find him by accident. Kendra suggested that a closer examination of his armor might at least give you a better idea of the time period in which he died, if nothing else," Warren said. Professor Sprout nodded again.
"Alright, I'll send a message to the Ministry and see how they wish to proceed," she said. "You should probably head on up to your dormitory."
"Is that all then?" Warren asked.
"It is for the time being," Professor Sprout said, and she watched as the young man hurried out of her office.
Saturday turned out to be a beautiful fall day, perfect for the first trip to Hogsmeade. Wilbur led the way, with Warren slightly behind, lost in his own thoughts. Kendra and Fuzz-Head trailed behind, just happy to be out of the school for a nice day in town. There first stop, as planned by Wilbur, was Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
The joke shop was as busy as ever, packed with Hogwarts students marveling over the many innovative Weasley originals such as the Skiving Snackboxes and the Patented Daydream Charms. As Wilbur led the small group through the crowded store, a first year standing nearby suddenly turned into a canary, much to the amusement of his friends. Wilbur soon found an employee, a young woman re-stocking some love potions while a group of young girls crowded in.
"Excuse me, but could you tell me if Mr. Weasley is here today?" Wilbur said. Warren watched as Fuzz-Head demonstrated the use of a fake wand.
"Which one?" the young woman asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Ronald Weasley," Wilbur said.
"Sure, he should be at the counter," she said. "If not, whoever is at the counter can fetch him for you."
Wilbur thanked her and pushed his way towards the counter, giving up on the other three. Kendra seemed to have eaten a nose-bleed nougat, and Warren was digging through a Skiving Snackbox to find the antidote. When Wilbur made it up to the counter, there indeed was Ron Weasley, talking to a third year boy about Bruise Remover Paste.
"Excuse me, sir. I was hoping I might speak to you," WIlbur said. Ron looked over at WIlbur.
"What can I do for you?"
"My friends and I are trying to discover all the secrets of Hogwarts that we can this year, and we were wondering if you could tell us something about a magical room on the seventh floor of the castle that's mentioned in Harry Potter's biography," Wilbur said.
"The seventh floor....."Ron said, seeming to be lost in thought. "Oh yeah! The Room of Requirement, you mean?"
"I suppose so," Wibur said. "Could you tell me about it?"
"It's this room that's only there if you're looking for it and need it for something," Ron said, looking more animated as he thought about the past. "In our fifth year, we needed a place to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the room gave us cushions and books and everything we could need."
"That's amazing," Wilbur said.
"It can also turn into a room to hide things in, and inside is everything that's been hidden in there over the years," Ron said. "Although it might be a bit crispy now that I think about it. There was an incident at the Battle of Hogwarts."
Wilbur was riveted, and was just about to ask Ron to tell him more, when a woman came out from the back room. She had long bushy brown hair, and was followed by a young, red-haired boy. This could only be Hermione Weasley.
"Ron, you're not trying to get more students in trouble, are you?" Hermione said, leaning over the counter.
"Er, no. I was just talking to this boy here about....Quidditch." Hermione raised a skeptical eyebrow at her husband, who turned as red as his hair. He turned to Wilbur. "It was nice talking to you."
Wilbur went off to find Warren. He was standing with a growing crowd of students around Kendra. Her nose had not stopped bleeding, and the poor clerk was desperately trying to find the other end of the Nosebleed Nougat to give to her, since that would stop the bleeding. In her panic, she ended up turning Kendra into a canary for a brief moment, and then gave her a Puking Pastille before finally pulling off one end of a Nosebleed Nougat and getting the bleeding to stop. Exasperated, Kendra ran out of the store before anything else could happen to her, and the boys followed her out.
"That was humiliating," Kendra said, incensed. "Not only did I have to stand there bleeding everywhere, and get turned into a canary, but I also had the privilege of having all my classmates watch as I vomited in the middle of a joke shop."
"What possessed you to eat it in the first place?" Wilbur asked, pulling out a handkerchief and dabbing a few spots of blood off her cheek.
"That would be Fuzz-Head over there," Kendra said, looking even more annoyed. Fuzz-Head had the decency to looked chagrined.
"I thought it would be funny," he said. "I didn't know it would turn into a spectacle."
"There was some good that came out of the whole ordeal, though," Wilbur said. Warren looked over at him excitedly.
"Did you talk to him? Did you talk to Ron Weasley?"
"I did, and you're going to be very pleased about what he managed to tell me before his wife pulled him away," Wilbur said, smiling.
The group decided after the debacle at the joke shop to go to the Three Broomsticks for a little while before they continued shopping. They ordered Butterbeers, and Wilbur told them all about his talk with Ron Weasley.
"So how do you find it?" Warren asked, leaning forward on his elbows.
"He said you have to really want to find it and need it for something," Wilbur said.
"That's it? He didn't say anything else about it?"
"His wife interrupted," Wilbur said. "But we can find it. I suggest we go up to the seventh floor as soon as we get back to the school. Then, we can all concentrate on finding this room where all the hidden stuff is, and the room should present itself."
"What if there's more to it than that?" Warren said.
"I don't know," Wilbur said. "But it's more than we had before." Warren nodded, staring off into space. "Are you alright? You seem sort of distracted today."
"Hmmm? Oh, yes. I'm fine," Warren said.
"Have you thought any more about your Christmas list?"
"Broomstick servicing kits for the Quidditch team," Warren said.
"What about your parents?" Wilbur asked.
"Oh...I don't know," Warren said.
"And have you had any thoughts about Augustus?"
"Many. Most of them violent."
"I meant about his Christmas present," Wilbur said. Fuzz-Head grinned.
"No, I have no idea. I have to get to know him better somehow," Warren said, "along with about 100 other things on my to-do list."
"Oh yes, don't forget we need to get supplies for the GSA," Kendra said. Warren sighed.
"Alright. What kind of supplies?"
"We'll need easels to display portraits, some tables for displaying trophies, parchment and quills for making signs......"Kendra rattled off, but Warren suddenly set his head down on the table.
"What is it Warren?" Wilbur asked. Warren shook his head.
"I'm having a bad day, is all," Warren said. "Wilbur, do you have a completed shopping list for today?"
"I have the basics you need to purchase that you didn't get in Diagon Alley: some more sweets from Honeydukes, and your special quills and parchment from Scrivenshaft's. I have down broomstick servicing kits for the Quidditch team, but we didn't think to stop in Quality Quidditch Supplies while we were in Diagon Alley. It's alright, though, we'll order them. I have the rest of your Christmas list, but you haven't made any further progress on it since your recent revelation about the Quidditch Team," Wilbur said.
"Alright. We'll go to Gladrags for new robes for Mum and Dad. Augustus I'm still working on. What should I get the other students in our year?"
"We'll need to go back to Weasley Wizard Wheezes, I'm afraid. They'll have everything anyone would want. Perhaps a joke item and then some sweets?" Wilbur suggested.
"That leaves the Professors," Warren said.
"Oh let's just shop," Kendra said. "I'm much better at getting people gifts when I'm actually browsing in the shops for stuff. I'm not going back in the joke shop, however. I'd be happy to pick up whatever you need at Scrivenshaft's, though, I need to pick up a few items myself. As for the GSA stuff, we'll worry about that later."
"Excellent," Warren said.
"I'll go with her, I need to stop by Dervish and Banges to see if they can repair my telescope," Fuzz-Head said.
"He prefers the black and gold pheasant quills," Wilbur said. "He'll also need the full spectrum of colors when it comes to ink, and a large amount of standard parchment."
Warren pulled out his money bag and poured some out for Kendra.
"Thank you," Warren said. "I really appreciate it."
"No problem," Kendra said.
After they had finished their Butterbeers, Wilbur and Warren headed up to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes once again, while Kendra and Fuzz-Head headed towards Scrivenshaft's. Warren and Wilbur picked out several different varieties of Headless Hats for the fourth year boys, and some WonderWitch products for the fourth year girls.
"What about Kendra and Fuzz-Head?" Wilbur said to Warren as they walked out with their bags on their way over to Honeydukes.
"I was thinking of getting Kendra some Mrs. Skower's Magical Mess Remover. You know how she likes everything to be clean," Warren said. Wilbur nodded. "I'm not sure about Fuzz-Head."
"Oh! I have an idea. Fuzz-Head is a big fan of the Holyhead Harpies. I'll order something related to them when I send my order to Quality Quidditch Supplies," Wilbur said.
"Oh, that's a great idea. Look, two great reasons for going into Quality Quidditch Supplies when we had the chance."
"We couldn't have known," Wilbur said. As they neared Honeydukes they spotted Augustus walking with Delilah Booth. She looked up and saw them, smiling.
"Warren! Wilbur!" she said, waving them over. "I've been finding some great portraits for our display."
"That's wonderful," Warren said. "What else are you two up to today?"
"I have Christmas shopping," Augustus said. "You can never start too early."
"That's the truth," Warren said, wracking his brain for something to say that might give him some clue to what Augustus might like for a Christmas present.
"What are you hoping to get this year?" Wilbur asked, to Warren's amazement.
"I'm hoping my parents get me the new Firebolt. Mine's still pretty good, but I could always use an upgrade," Augustus said. That didn't help, Warren thought. He'd have no way of knowing whether his parents intended to buy him the new Firebolt or not, unless of course he contacted them, and that would be strange. "How about you?"
"Oh, I hope I get lots of sweaters," Wilbur said. "I'm always too cold in the winter."
"And you, Warren?" Augustus said. "What are you hoping for this Christmas?"
Warren knew then that Augustus was planning to get him a Christmas present as well.
"Peace on Earth, goodwill towards men," Warren said, smiling at Augustus. Augustus nodded.
"Well, it was nice to see you again," he said. "Delilah and I need to stop by the post office before we start shopping."
As they walked away, Warren had two thoughts: First, when did Augustus and Delilah get so friendly? Second, Augustus didn't have an owl.
"Augustus doesn't have an owl," Wilbur said, as if reading Warren's mind. Warren nodded.
"I wonder why?" Warren said.
"Oh wait, I remember. His owl died last year, don't you remember? You laughed about it for days," Wilbur said. That's right. Warren recalled now that one morning, while everyone was enjoying breakfast and the morning owls were swooping in. Augustus's owl, a tawny owl, had fallen through the window rather than swoop, and slammed into the Hufflepuff's table, much to their shock. The poor owl was pulled out of a large tureen of porridge, quite dead. Warren had felt bad for the poor owl, but was rather amused it had happened to Augustus. With later events in the year, though, he had quite forgotten about the incident.
"That's great," Warren said. "I shall get him the most impressive eagle owl I can find."
"I'm sure the post office will let us purchase one," Wilbur said.
It was a long day of shopping when the group met up with each other once more at The Three Broomsticks. Dervish and Banges said it would take several weeks to repair Fuzz-Head's telescope, and he wasn't happy about that. Kendra presented Warren with his lovely new quills and a wide variety of ink. She had even picked him up some color-changing ink he was quite impressed by. Warren and Wilbur had lots of bags, from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Honeydukes, and Gladrags. They also had a large cage, covered in a cloth, which held Augustus's new owl.
"That will make three birds you know have in the Ravenclaw tower," Kendra pointed out.
"It will be worth it to present this to Augustus," Warren said.
"Are you staying at school for Christmas?" Kendra asked.
"Yes, I always stay here for Christmas. I always have too much to do," Warren said. "Wilbur always stays as well, though I don't require him to."
"Well, my sisters and I always are expected to go home for the holidays," Kendra said. "But if there's anything you need me to work on while I'm gone, just let me know."
"Me too," said Fuzz-Head. "I'm going home too, but it'll be boring."
"Thank you," Warren said. "You two have been invaluable to this year's mission."
"It's been a lot of fun," Kendra said.
They finished off another round of Butterbeer while Wilbur ran down his list one more time.
"Any more shopping to do?" Warren asked. Wilbur shook his head.
"I think we're doing quite well," he said. "And we'll have another Hogsmeade trip before Christmas, so you can be deciding what to get the Professors."
"Well, then, I propose we head back to the castle," Warren said. "We have a secret room to find."
Two hours later, the group had put away their purchases in their common room. Warren's house-mates had been a little startle to see Warren returning with yet another bird. The four friends had then met on the seventh floor, unsure of where to begin.
"He didn't say where on the seventh floor this room might be?" Kendra asked Wilbur. Wilbur shook his head.
"No, he didn't. As I said, we had little time before Mrs. Weasley came over," Wilbur said. "However, I think we should just walk up and down the corridors, concentrating on finding the room. Particularly the hidden objects room."
With little to go on and no other options, the four students concentrated on finding the room. They each went in different directions, staring at the walls and thinking about their discovery, giving them a rather odd, blank look as they passed by the occasional student. Peeves, noticing the group's lack of attention to where they were going, set up a few hazards for them to trip over that work successfully on both Warren and Fuzz-Head. Fuzz-Head tripped over a suit of armor Peeves had knocked over, and Warren tripped over a text book Peeves had stolen from a nearby classroom. Peeves zoomed down the corridor, laughing madly.
"Peeves! I could have broken my neck!" Warren yelled down the hall, running after the poltergeist, but Peeves had zoomed off down the staircase.
The four friends soon found themselves at the seventh floor landing again.
"Did anyone find anything?" Warren asked. Wilbur and Fuzz-Head shook their heads. Kendra sighed.
"I didn't find the room either, but I did bump into Sir Cadogan. He says he bribed an old warlock down on the second floor into agreeing to talk to me," Kendra said.
"Does he have something interesting to tell you?" Warren asked. Kendra shrugged.
"I don't know, Sir Cadogan didn't say. He just said he'd bought the fellow some wine and asked him if he'd be interested in talking to me about Hogwarts and he said yes," Kendra replied. "I suppose I'll go check it out. Maybe he'll have something interesting to say."
"I'd really like to find this missing room," Warren said, frustrated. He kicked the wall.
"I don't think that will help," Wilbur said. "Perhaps there's some sort of spell that has to be said to reveal the room, although if there was I would think Mr. Weasley would have mentioned it."
"How did Harry Potter find the room?" Kendra asked. Warren thought about this, trying to remember what he had read. He shook his head.
"The book didn't say. All I remember it saying was that it was there when they needed it for Dumbledore's Army. Later, it was used to bring Death Eaters into the school via the Vanishing Cabinet inside. Then it was mentioned in the Battle of Hogwarts as a means for getting people, including Harry and his friends, into the castle from Hogsmeade," Warren said.
"Wait. How? Throught the Vanishing Cabinet again?" Kendra asked.
"I don't think so. I believe the cabinet was removed after the Death Eaters got in," Warren said, frowning. "That's a good point, Kendra. How was this room used to get people from Hogsmeade into the castle?"
"It seems to me there must be some place in Hogsmeade that connects to the room," Kendra said.
"Ron Weasley didn't say anything about that," Wilbur said. "He said they got to it through a seventh floor corridor."
"Yes, but the biography clearly states that there's a way to get to it from Hogsmeade," Warren said.
"That seems strange to me," Kendra said. "Who all do you suppose knows about the Hogsmeade way?"
"Anyone who came into the castle the night of the Battle of Hogwarts through the room," Warren said.
"Professor Longbottom would know, but he's not about to tell us, I'd wager," Fuzz-Head said.
Warren walked up the corridor slowly, thinking and running his wand along the wall. The others followed him, thinking about finding the room and staring at the stone walls. It was getting late in the evening, however, and they knew they'd have to go back to their common rooms soon. When Warren reached the stained-glass window at the end of the corridor, he turned and sighed.
"Alright. It's going to take some more effort to find this room, but it is here somewhere and it's been found before," Warren said. "We'll have to go back to our common rooms, now, but perhaps we can meet up again in the morning?"
The others agreed. Kendra and Fuzz-Head headed downstairs for the Hufflepuff common room, while Warren and Wilbur headed for Ravenclaw tower.
"You look exhausted," Wilbur said.
"I am," Warren said. "I think I shall sleep for just a little while, though, and then I'll need to sneak out again."
"Whatever for?" Wilbur asked.
"I'm just going to visit Madam Yuan. We like to have tea in the evenings."
The Astronomy Tower by Moon110581
Chapter Notes: Warren has a talk with Professor Sprout, and the group heads off to Hogsmeade.