The Great Hall echoed with the excited chatter of students during the end-of-year feast. House banners hung proudly from the enchanted ceiling, though I couldn't help but notice the Slytherin green and silver displayed most prominently. I sat at the Ravenclaw table, Jarvey curled around my neck like a furry scarf as I pushed food around my plate.
"Unbelievable," Rebecca muttered beside me, glaring at the hourglasses that displayed the house points. "Just look at those snakes gloating."
I followed her gaze to the Slytherin table where Drake sat with Marcus and Dominic. He caught my eye and gave a small smile, which I returned with a mock salute.
"Don't take it so hard," I told her, "There's always next year."
"Easy for you to say," Adrian chimed in. "Some of us actually lost points instead of just... breaking even."
I winced at that. He had a point. Between my various exploits throughout the year – the countless mended buttcracks, zipped mouths, and Jarvey's colorful vocabulary broadcast throughout the castle – I'd probably cost Ravenclaw as many points as I'd earned them.
"Let's be honest," I said, lowering my voice, "Ravenclaw coming in third is nothing short of miraculous considering everything."
Roger Davies leaned across the table. "If you could just keep your wand to yourself next year—"
"And that foul-mouthed ferret quiet," Penelope added.
"I'm not a ferret!" Jarvey hissed, loudly enough that several nearby students turned to look.
"Case in point," Adrian sighed.
Dumbledore rose from his seat at the head table, and the hall gradually fell silent. His blue eyes twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles as he surveyed the room.
"Another year gone," he announced, his voice carrying effortlessly. "And what a year it has been! I hope your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts."
I snorted at that. My head was definitely fuller – not just with the standard curriculum, but with the knowledge from the Order of Scribes, my experiments with the Sorting Hat, and the countless spells I'd absorbed from the spellbook.
"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup needs awarding," Dumbledore continued. "In fourth place, Gryffindor with two hundred and ninety eight points; in third, Ravenclaw with four hundred an twelve; Hufflepuff has four hundred and eighteen, and Slytherin, four hundred and fifty six points."
The Slytherin table erupted in cheers. Drake caught my eye again and gave an apologetic shrug, which I waved off. House points meant little to me compared to everything else I'd accomplished this year, in fact I found house points as a system really stupid.
Oddly enough, despite having taken the Sorting Hat, I found myself wondering if it might have been watching this ceremony from wherever it was now. I pictured it sitting on a shelf in the Room of Requirement, grumbling about missing the end-of-year festivities.
After the feast, we returned to our common rooms to finish packing. I'd been mostly packed for days, since almost everything I had was stored in my wallet. Still, I made a show of checking under my bed and in the drawers to maintain appearances.
"Going to miss it?" Adrian asked as he folded his robes neatly into his trunk.
"What? The constant questions about me being a thief?" I replied with a grin.
He lowered his voice. "So you really didn't take it? The Sorting Hat?"
I held his gaze steadily. "Would I tell you if I had?"
Adrian shook his head, a small smile playing at his lips. "No, I suppose not."
"Besides," I added, "I've been busy with other projects."
That much was true and so the last day of school came to a close.
The next morning came quickly, and with it the usual chaos of last-minute packing and frantic searches for misplaced items. The train ride back was subdued compared to our journey to Hogwarts. Our expanded group – Ravenclaws, Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors alike – crammed into a compartment, sharing sweets from the trolley and swapping plans for the summer.
"My family's going to France," Ben announced, unwrapping a Chocolate Frog.
"Lucky," Bell signed, which I translated for the others. "I'm stuck at home with my grandparents all summer."
"You could always come visit," I offered, both speaking and signing. "My mom would love to meet you."
Everyone from the group turned to look at me.
"All of you," I added.
The conversation drifted to summer homework and next year's classes. I only half-listened, since I already had most stuff planned.
When the Hogwarts Express finally pulled into King's Cross Station, there was the usual flurry of hugs, promises to write, and last-minute exchanges of addresses. I spotted my parents through the crowd – Dad in his neat Muggle suit and Mom in her colorful wizard robes, looking as mismatched as ever.
"There's my little seer!" Mom called, waving enthusiastically.
I cringed at her use of the word, hoping no one around us knew its significance.
"Hey, Mom, Dad," I greeted them as they enveloped me in hugs.
"So good to have you back," Dad said, ruffling my hair.
"Did you get my letters about our radio show?" I asked as we made our way to the barrier between platforms nine and three-quarters.
"Of course," Mom replied her eyes swelling. "We tuned in whenever we could, and I promise I didn't take it apart and examined it."
Ok so that was a lie.
Dad grinned. "I've been practicing my air guitar."
Mom rolled her eyes fondly. "He's actually pretty good at it, even his cooking is getting good."
"Why thank you love," my Dad said before kissing my mom and grossing me the hell out, seriously kissing was gross, all that exchange in saliva, who knows what you could get.
The journey home was filled with questions including but not limited the disappearance of the sorting hat, turns out a few of my mom's friends were Aurors though I was certain she wasn't one and they had all talked about how no damned charm was working.
When we arrived home, I was struck by how unchanged everything looked. The same slightly crooked mailbox, the same flowerbed that Dad tended with meticulous care, the same creaky step leading up to the porch. Though this time I felt them, maybe it was a testament to how much I had grown but I felt the wards surrounding our house, they were plentiful and strong, seriously what did mom work as.
Dinner was Dad's latest culinary experiment – some kind of fusion between French cuisine and traditional English fare. It was as mom had said, really damn good.
"So," Mom said as we ate, "how much magic did you actually learn this year?"
I met her golden eyes, so like my own, and considered my answer carefully. "More than they taught us," I said finally.
She nodded, a knowing smile playing at her lips. "I expected nothing less."
After dinner, I excused myself to unpack, trudging up the stairs to my room with my trunk and Jarvey in tow. Then night came. Mom and dad were asleep and I stood once more in my pajamas outside of my bedroom door, with Jarvey on my shoulders.
"Let's do this," I muttered to myself as I moved my hands across each other creating some friction and then slapping my face. Time for a new demiplane room.
During the three months I had been a hermit, I'd also studied the demiplane spell for precisely this purpose – to connect my bedroom to the Room of Requirement. The theory was complex enough to make my head spin. Traditional demiplane magic created a separate subspace with nothing in it, which you had to fill, and you could add more connected rooms over time. What I wanted was something different – to add an already existing physical space to the connected network of rooms.
"I'm telling you this is a bad idea," Jarvey mumbled against my neck, his whiskers tickling my skin.
"Oh shush, Jarvey," I replied, reaching up to scratch behind his ears. "You just look cute while I do my work."
He huffed into my hair, blowing it slightly. "I'm not cute, I'm terrifying."
I smiled but said nothing, returning my attention to the door. Closing my eyes, I placed both palms against the cool wood. The spellbook materialized in my mind, its pages turning to the section on demiplane magic. I recalled the Room of Requirement's unique magical signature.
This was far more complex than anything I'd attempted before. Unlike "I Cast Fireball" or even "I Cast False Memories," this spell would require sustained magical output and precision control. One misstep and I could potentially trap myself in a pocket dimension or worse, but where would the fun be without a little danger, eh.
Drawing a deep breath, I centered myself and whispered.
"I Cast Demiplane."
The effect was immediate. My magic surged outward, draining from my being at an alarming rate. It flowed through my palms into the door, spreading outward into the air, following my will. It hurt – a deep, aching hollowness that grew with each second as my magical reserves depleted faster than I'd ever experienced.
This was worse than sustained flight, more draining than Misty Step, more taxing even than maintaining a simulacrum for months. My knees threatened to buckle as sweat beaded on my forehead, but I couldn't stop now. I was committed.
I felt my magic spread through my room at the other side of the door, saturating every object, filling every corner before flowing back into the door itself. From there, it stretched outward into the void between spaces, seeking the connection to the Room of Requirement. The distance was immeasurable yet somehow finite – like reaching across an endless chasm that paradoxically had another side.
My vision began to blur, dark spots dancing across my field of view. My ears rang with a high-pitched whine that seemed to come from inside my own skull. The magic continued to pour out of me, seeking, searching, building the bridge between worlds.
"Felix?" Jarvey's concerned voice seemed to come from very far away. "Felix, you're shaking. Stop this before you—"
His words faded as I concentrated even harder. I couldn't stop now, not when I was so close. I could feel it – the tenuous connection beginning to form between my humble bedroom and the ancient magic of Hogwarts.
Just as I thought I would collapse from magical exhaustion, I felt it – a mental click, like the tumblers of some cosmic lock falling into place. The connection solidified, and magic flowed freely between my room and the Room of Requirement. The spellbook materialized in my mind's eye, the text updating itself.
Demiplane magic.
Room of Requirement
Created by Merlin
1259 demiplane rooms connected
The text flickered and changed, the number incrementing.
1259 → 1260 demiplane rooms connected
Owner: Felix Serendipity
A wave of exhaustion crashed over me, nearly sending me to my knees.
"I did it," I whispered, my voice barely audible.
"You did it?" Jarvey asked from my shoulder, his tone somewhere between impressed and concerned.
"I did it," I confirmed, reaching for the doorknob with trembling fingers.
The door swung open to reveal my familiar bedroom – unchanged yet fundamentally different. I staggered to my bed, the mere act of walking requiring more effort than I wanted to use.
BAM
I collapsed onto the mattress, Jarvey tumbling from my shoulder to the pillow beside me. The last of my energy drained away as darkness crept in from the edges of my vision. Before unconsciousness claimed me, I managed a final, triumphant whisper.
"I fucking did it."
A/N: A chapter for you, power stones for me