"...So, what exactly is this place?"
Picking up the ring that had fallen on the carpet, Cedric clumsily changed the subject.
"The Room of Requirement, also known as the Come and Go Room, think of it as a Secret Chamber in Hogwarts Castle. It usually only appears when someone truly needs it, and its space depends on your needs, for example—"
William snapped his fingers, and then the sky quickly darkened, and bright moonlight streamed through the window pane.
"Oh..."
Cedric looked out at the changed scenery, full of surprise.
"These are the plants I grew..." William pointed to a whole row of potted plants on the shelf by the window.
"I know, you stole them all from the Hogwarts greenhouse!" Cedric blurted out. "No wonder Professor Sprout was muttering about thieves in the greenhouse a while ago..." The boy's voice grew weaker.
"..."
"Okay, borrowed?"
"Yeah, a Wizard's business, how can it be called stealing?"
"..."
"..."
"Don't tell Professor Sprout."
"Got it."
"Ahem... Behind that door is a garden, with some of my more 'tame' little animals."
"Did you also... borrow them from the Forbidden Forest?"
"More or less..."
After giving Cedric a rough introduction to the Room of Requirement, William steered the conversation back on track—
"...Now, are you sure you want the ability to defeat Snape?" William asked seriously.
"Of course!" Cedric replied without hesitation.
"Do you want to stand out and become Hogwarts' duel champion?"
"Of course!"
"Do you want to defeat every Black Wizard in the world, even Voldemort?"
"Of-of course?"
"So, it seems you are ready to resolve then?"
"...Uh, resolve for what?"
"That's good."
"Wait, resolve for what..."
William smiled, waved his magic wand, and a dozen books flew down from the tall bookshelf reaching the ceiling.
Before Cedric could react, a pile of heavy books lay before him—the first few seemed normal, "Standard Spells (Level 1 to Level 6)", "Advanced Runic Translation", "Advanced Transfiguration Guide"… mostly textbooks accessible to upper-year students, but things got weirder further on, "Deadly Poison Magic", "Curse and Counter-Curse", "Advanced Black Magic Decryption"…
"Did you empty the Forbidden Book Area?"
"These are for you to finish within half a month and then give me a fourteen-inch essay—" William didn't answer the boy but continued, "Also, each book corresponds to three test papers, two and a half every day, just in time for before Christmas—" Saying this, he took out a stack of test papers.
"...Is it too late to regret now?"
"Regret what? There's only... a mere 532 days until your O.W.L. exams! Are you going to cry in the exam room then?"
"But...but the exam can't possibly include these, right?" Cedric pointed to the hefty volumes whose titles alone indicated their content, aware that these Dark Arts were certainly not part of the examination scope.
"Know your enemy and yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat. Only with rich theoretical knowledge can you know what those Black Wizards know, so you can defeat them!"
"...I suddenly don't want to..."
"Dobby, supervise him doing his homework until I return," William commanded in a tone that brooked no argument, and before Cedric could react, he turned and swiftly left the Room of Requirement through the big door.
"...Are you called Dobby?"
After a brief silence, the boy looked at the little elf beside him.
"Yes, Mr. Diggory." Dobby seemed to have anticipated what the boy was about to say and quickly said, "Dobby will definitely carry out Mr. Richard's task loyally, so please, Mr. Diggory, don't make it difficult for Dobby..." It raised a hand, and magic light flickered at its fingertips.
"Chirp chirp!" Kabuda, having regained its senses, climbed onto the table, looking gleeful.
"I..."
Cedric took a deep breath, looking at the pile of books on the table. In the end, he reluctantly picked up the slightly old "Advanced Transfiguration Guide", but when he saw the densely written red pen annotations on the book, his eyes slightly paused.
He seemed to understand what William intended for him to do...
...
Hogwarts Castle, eighth floor.
In front of an ugly gargoyle, William crouched down and petted Mrs. Loris's cat head, stuffing a fish snack into it, "Okay, here it is, thanks, you go play now."
"Meow~" Mrs. Loris nodded happily and then turned to leave.
"Pineapple Jam." William said softly, looking at the gargoyle.
The gargoyle remained motionless.
"Looks like the password has changed," William nodded, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket, "Chocolate Frog, Cockroach Cluster, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Fizzing Whizbees, Licorice Wand, Sugar Quill... Lemon Sherbet..."
"Boom—"
After quickly reciting over ten names of sweets, the gargoyle finally recognized the correct password, jumping aside to reveal the spiral staircase behind it—
"As expected, all of Dumbledore's passwords are sweets..." Putting Honeydukes' shopping list back into his pocket, William had to admit that these rumors circulating among Little Wizards sometimes did bear some truth.
William stepped onto the first step of the staircase, and with a slight tremor, his figure began to rotate and rise until it stopped in front of a wooden door.
Gentle arguing sounds came from behind the wooden door, but they quickly disappeared—the people inside were evidently aware that someone was outside.
"Come in."
A moment later, Dumbledore's voice came from behind the door.
The next moment, the door opened, and William walked into the Headmaster's Office—the scene here almost unchanged from his last visit, the portraits of former headmasters, the worn Sorting Hat, the warm yellow lights, and Severus Snape...
"...Good evening, Professor?"
Looking at the man sitting across from Dumbledore's desk, William greeted.
"..."
Snape clearly had no intention of interacting with William. Upon hearing the boy greet him, he immediately stood up, stepped back a few paces, then directed his gaze towards the bookshelf in the office—expressing his disdain for William through his actions.
"So, I came at a bad time?"
William took Snape's original seat and the once wooden chair instantly turned into a blue velvet high-backed chair.
"…Very skillful Transfiguration," Dumbledore nodded, "Professor Snape and I were just having some...academic discussions, so, for you to visit the Headmaster's Office this late..." It was indeed late at night, as Dumbledore was already dressed in blue and purple starry pattern pajamas.
"Oh, about the construction of Hogwarts School, I have an idea..." William glanced at Snape, his eyes clearly indicating—can idle persons be dismissed?
"School construction..." Dumbledore paused for a moment, evidently not expecting William to break school rules in the middle of the night and barge into the Headmaster's Office just to discuss such a serious topic. "Professor Snape is also a professor at Hogwarts, so I think he can attend?"
"Alright, then I'll just say it."
"By all means, as long as it's a reasonable idea..."
"I want to open a chicken farm in the castle."
"..."
"?"