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Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Fleur and I continued our game marathon, which ended up lasting practically the entire rest of the night.
At some point between the matches, the adults — drawn by our cheerful shouts, teasing and laughter — came over to watch us play. Some even joined in.
We played several games, each with different dynamics and rules. And in this wave of fun, joy, and light competitiveness, no one noticed the time passing.
It was already past midnight, and we only realized how late it was when Cele and Gabi showed the first signs of tiredness.
The two little girls were sprawled on one of the sofas, leaning against each other while yawning, fighting to keep their eyes open.
And it seemed that seeing the two of them half–asleep was the trigger for exhaustion to hit everyone at once.
In an instant, everyone felt their bodies fatigued and their eyelids heavy.
Noticing the atmosphere of exhaustion that now dominated the room, we understood it was time to end the night.
"Well, everyone, I think that's enough 'special events' for today," Penny announced, interrupting our little private party.
"Uh… can't we stay here for just a few more minutes?" Ron asked, giving her a pleading look.
Normally he would be the first to give in to sleep, dozing off like a rock and only waking up in the afternoon the next day… but today he had a special reason to want to stay awake, and that reason was a table full of food, ready to be devoured.
And coincidentally, at this exact moment, he was doing exactly that… eating.
In one hand he held a pie he was chewing on, while in the other he had a plate with four sandwiches, six cookies and two puddings stacked together, forming a small mountain of food.
Hearing Ron's request, Penny turned to him with a firm look, "No, you cannot stay here. You must return to your dormitories in your common rooms."
"After everything you all went through today, you seriously need a good night of sleep. And that is not negotiable."
Faced with the firmness of the immortal lady, Ron lowered his head, disheartened.
"Oh…" he murmured sadly, before biting into his pie with far less enthusiasm.
Satisfied with his surrender, Penny nodded to herself before turning to the other teenagers in the room… or more specifically, the two remaining Gryffindors.
"And you two? Do you also want to stay here?" she asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
"No!" Hermione answered quickly, shaking her head frantically. "I think I'd rather go back to my dormitory." She looked slightly terrified.
Unlike her redheaded friend, she had not forgotten that Penny — even though she was a cheerful and relaxed witch — was still their professor this year.
And like any professor, she had the right to deduct points and give detentions, which terrified the girl more than she would ever admit.
Seeing that another child had surrendered to her persuasion, Penny calmly turned to the last member of the golden trio.
Feeling her gaze on him, Harry made a slight grimace.
"Uh… well…" he began, clearly uncomfortable and unwilling.
Everyone could see that Harry genuinely didn't want to go. And Penny noticed he seemed sincere — and that maybe he really did have a reason not to want to return to Gryffindor Tower… unlike Ron, who only wanted to eat.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Hermione was the one who asked the question everyone wanted to ask, looking worriedly at her boyfriend.
"Well, I…" he hesitated to answer.
But under all of our eyes, he gave in.
Letting out a sigh, he began to speak, "Actually… I'm really not in the mood to go back to my dormitory, or even to Gryffindor Tower."
"I don't want to get there just to be stared at and questioned by my housemates. And I also don't want to talk about what happened tonight… again."
"Harry, it's already past midnight… Do you really think your housemates will be awake waiting to interrogate you?" Andy asked, lips pressed together.
"It seems you still don't understand how Gryffindor works, Andy," Sirius said, frowning.
"Yeah," Remus agreed, also frowning. "After all the chaos tonight, the other Gryffindors will definitely be waiting to corner Harry for answers."
With a sigh, Andy looked at both of them irritably. "Seriously? They won't even let Harry rest? Do you Gryffindors have no common sense at all?"
Both former Marauders, being scolded by her, had the decency to look ashamed — even knowing it wasn't their fault.
And Sirius was so intimidated that the usual joke about his name didn't even cross his mind.
"Gryffindor and common sense in the same sentence is basically a joke," I commented sarcastically, breaking the tension.
Ignoring the five offended looks, I turned to the green-eyed boy.
"Okay, Harry, since you don't want to go back to Gryffindor Tower, then why don't you sleep here?" I suggested.
"Here?" he repeated, looking around uncertainly.
And what he didn't say was that, even though this common room was cozy, it didn't look like an ideal place to sleep.
Understanding his expression, I rolled my eyes. "Looks like you forgot what I told you earlier, didn't you?"
Turning his attention back to me, he tilted his head, confused.
"Sigh… Harry, this is the Room of Requirement. It can literally turn into whatever you want."
As soon as I finished speaking, the room began to tremble lightly, a soft glow emanating from it.
With the start of this phenomenon, everyone looked around, watching the structure of the room shift before their eyes once again.
It didn't take long for everything to calm down, and in less than a minute, the Room of Requirement's transformation was complete.
The common room we were in hadn't changed much, simply returning to how it was before I asked for a party room.
The real and significant change, however, was the addition of a second floor.
In the left corner of the room, there was now a staircase leading directly to the upper floor. From where we stood, we could see a few elegant doors stretching along a corridor on that new floor.
"Done. Now your problem of not having a place to sleep has been solved," I declared.
Raising my arm, I gestured toward the second floor. "Behind those doors are the bedrooms prepared by the Room of Requirement. Pick any of them to use."
"Oh, and if you need clothes or anything you left in your dormitory, the Room can bring it here — or you can just ask a house-elf."
"That… thank you," Harry said, grateful and clearly relieved.
I nodded at him before turning to the others. "And it's not just him. Upstairs there are enough bedrooms for everyone here, so nobody needs to return to their common rooms, their homes, or in Fleur's case, the Beauxbatons carriage."
"Uh, but can we really spend the night here at Hogwarts?" my dad asked, uncertain.
"And why couldn't you?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Because we're Muggles, son. And from what I read, no Muggle is allowed near the castle grounds."
"He's right," my mom agreed with a discouraged look. "Headmaster Dumbledore has already done a lot by allowing us to watch the Tournament and enter the castle… But spending the night here might be too much."
"I think you're overthinking this," I dismissed their worries with a wave of my hand.
"Headmaster Dumbledore may be the current 'master' of Hogwarts, but the one who actually decides things here is the castle itself… And from what I've seen so far, it doesn't seem at all worried about your presence."
"Oh." My mom looked at me slightly wide-eyed.
My casual dismissal of the Headmaster's authority was a bit surprising to her and the others.
And before anyone could say anything, a new voice — amused and calm — sounded behind us.
"Well, even though I do like to be told in advance about what happens inside Hogwarts… Ethan is correct."
Startled by the sudden intrusion, everyone turned quickly toward the entrance of the Room of Requirement, watching the door slowly open.
"Ethan… didn't you say no one could enter here while we were inside?" Dora asked me, confused.
Crossing my arms, an ironic smile appeared on my lips. "Well… that doesn't apply to him."
And unlike everyone else, I wasn't even slightly surprised by the intrusion. I had already sensed his powerful magic approaching the room long ago.
Before anyone could ask what I meant, the figure stepped inside.
"Good evening, everyone," said the calm, serene voice.
Headmaster Dumbledore entered the room with his usual peaceful, cheerful and friendly air. His light-blue eyes twinkled behind his half-moon glasses, shining with that indescribable mix of wisdom and mischief.
'Speak of the devil,' I thought.
End.
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