I was standing in front of rows of barrels, in the basement of Hogwarts in the middle of the night. Now I know what you're thinking. Felix, what are you doing? You shouldn't be drinking ale at 11!
Well, I wasn't doing that. I was here for a reason, a very simple reason: Hufflepuff was the last dorm I hadn't placed in my own map. I looked at the opened Marauder's Map in my hands, a bubble of text appearing, revealing the password.
To open the entrance, tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff."
I placed my hand on the barrel, feeling the magic cycle through the door, just like with the Fat Lady portrait, the Ravenclaw doorknocker, and the Slytherin Wall. Weirdly enough, the Slytherin wall and the Fat Lady had the exact same cycle, meaning that I just needed the reading charm for one of the two, a grateful surprise once I found that out.
I then began to knock on the barrel to the rhythm of Helga Hufflepuff. Each time I knocked, I felt the magic move up, diagonally downwards, diagonally upwards, left, and diagonally downwards, the pattern of a star. The intricacy of the magic never ceased to amaze me - how such complex enchantments could be woven into something as mundane as a barrel lid.
The lid swung open with a quiet creak, revealing the Hufflepuff common room beyond. No one was in there; after all, it was 4 am, the time people are statistically least prepared. The room was bathed in the warm glow of the dying embers in the hearth, casting long shadows across the cozy armchairs and overstuffed sofas.
Remembering the way the magic moved, I rolled up the Marauder's Map and grabbed my wallet, opening it up. I dove my hand inside, feeling the Jarvey radios I had made and something else - my own map. I grabbed it, unfolding it with a rustle of parchment.
I waved my hand in a tick above the map.
"Legibilis."
"Okay, let's check," I muttered. I placed my index finger on the map, my magic traveling through my body and into the enchanted parchment.
"I am one with words."
Lines started appearing all over the map, small dots with names sprouting up like mushrooms after a rainstorm. I had also modified the Homonculous charm so it could distinguish between people who had the same name, with things like Junior, II, Senior...
The map lines continued to grow out of the map; they grew and grew, and soon a layered version of Hogwarts was in view, only a few dots walking by: Mrs. Norris, Filch, and Mrs. McGonagall. I watched with a mixture of pride and apprehension as the tiny labeled dots moved about the castle, a testament to the power of the magic I had woven into the map.
I looked at the dorms, first Slytherin; in small letters, the password was there.
Dominatus
My gaze traveled to the Gryffindor common room, the password there.
Balderdash
My gaze then went back to the basement, the newly formed Hufflepuff common room, the way to enter clear to see.
Tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff."
The only one the reading charm couldn't constantly say was the Ravenclaw dorm since, until the doorknocker said the riddle, the password wasn't chosen, and the charm couldn't read it. A minor frustration, but one I would have to live with for now.
I was really happy over how it turned out. I had put a few more charms on the map, like the lumos charm and similar things. There were a few places I had left blank in the map, mainly the offices of the teachers and their living quarters. I hadn't gone in them, so they were blank. Something which I also didn't have was the Headmaster's office password in either the Marauder's Map or my own. I knew from the gargoyle vision that it would probably be a sweet, but I hadn't read how the password was chosen, just the gargoyle's reaction to the right password, but I guess that would do for now.
While lost in thought, I placed both of the maps back in my wallet and grabbed something else. A sleek band of metal as small as my index finger emerged. Once I touched it, the metal turned the same color as my skin, an engravement I had put while at Hogwarts: Skugga, basically a camouflage rune. And since the sound rebounded in a weird way, there was basically no way to actually find the radios once they were placed.
I hadn't started to radio anything yet; I was gonna do it all at once, and this was going to be the last one I would place for a while, since I didn't have a lot more stashed up from the radios and materials I had brought to Hogwarts. I had made 69 radios in total (yes, I know, hilarious number), and I had just 14 left.
I entered the common room fully, taking a moment to appreciate the space. It was a low-ceilinged, circular room which didn't feel claustrophobic but rather cozy. They had big sofas and chairs, much more inviting than the rough study tables of the Ravenclaw dorm. Tons of plants were asleep, their leaves rustling softly in the gentle air currents, and everything was painted in a myriad of hues of yellow and gold. The effect was warm and welcoming, like being wrapped in a handmade quilt.
"I Cast Fly," I whispered, feeling my magic surge through me.
I began to fly up to the roof, which wasn't that far, you know, low ceiling and all that. I pushed myself off the ceiling so as to move around while not wasting a ton of my magic. I placed the Jarvey Radio on the roof; it immediately gained the same color tones as the ceiling, blending into it perfectly. If I hadn't known it was there, I never would have spotted it.
I slowly released my hand from underneath the Jarvey radio and....
It stuck.
Another rune I had placed (and created, by the way) on the circuits: Festa, basically the sticky rune. It looked kind of like a mix between a J and an X with a circle surrounding it; basically, it was a simple mix between the Gebo and Eihwaz runes. Yes, I know I had already used it, but the fusion with the Gebo rune basically messed with the original, so I had to make an extra one - not exactly visionary, but hey, what works, works. At least, that's what I told myself as I eyed my handiwork with a critical eye.
"Well, today's done. Time to go back to the dorm. Jarvey will get mad if I'm not back soon; seriously, he's such a nervous little guy," I muttered, floating down to the floor and silently making my way out and closing the barrel lid with a soft thunk.
The return journey to Ravenclaw Tower passed in a haze of drowsiness, so much so that I didn't use either of my maps. The corridors seemed to stretch endlessly before me, the shadows playing tricks on my tired eyes. Twice, I could have sworn I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned to look, there was nothing there. Just the product of an exhausted mind, I told myself firmly, ignoring the prickle of unease on the back of my neck.
It wasn't long until I made it to the eagle doorknocker, knocking once and awakening it. It soon recited:
"The person who makes it doesn't need it. The person who buys it doesn't use it. The person who uses it doesn't know they are. What is it?"
"I'm gonna steal you, no matter what," I said, my fingers caressing the doorknocker. I could have used my map, but I actually knew this riddle, so I just answered.
"A coffin."
The knocker clicked its beak before swinging forward to admit me. I stumbled across the threshold, suddenly intensely grateful for the single-occupancy dormitories afforded to Ravenclaw students. The thought of navigating a shared sleeping space in my current state of exhaustion was almost enough to make me weep.
I went to my own room, alohomora, you know the deal already. The familiar sight of my bed, with its blue and bronze covers, was like a balm to my weary soul.
As I collapsed face-first onto my bed, not even bothering to remove my shoes, I felt a small, warm weight settle against the back of my neck. Jarvey crumpled himself on my neck and, instead of berating me about leaving him alone to sleep as he usually would, he simply breathed soundly, his tiny breaths tickling my skin.
"G'night, Jarv," I mumbled into my pillow, already halfway to the land of Nod. "Oh, and happy birthday to me."
Yeah, I was born on March 20th. I'd almost forgotten, what with all the excitement of my nocturnal adventures. But as I drifted off to sleep, a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.
And indeed it would be a happy birthday. With the final radio in place, it was time to bring "Real Wizards FM" to life and play chants, chants, and even more chants.
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