Saturday night found a small, determined group huddled outside a blank stretch of wall on Hogwarts' seventh floor. Harry, Ron, Hermione, the Weasley twins, and a nervously excited Neville Longbottom watched as Zhang Ming paced back and forth three times, clearly thinking, I need a place to train, a place to research, a place safe from prying eyes…
A smooth, highly polished door materialized out of nowhere.
"Wicked," Fred (or George) whispered.
"Fascinating! The magical theory behind this must be incredibly complex!" Hermione breathed, her eyes wide.
Zhang Ming pushed the door open. The group gasped.
They hadn't stepped into a room. They had stepped into a different world. It was vast, easily the size of the Great Hall. One wall was a seamless crystal-clear window looking out onto a breathtaking, star-dusted nebula—a view no telescope on Earth could provide. The air hummed with clean, potent energy that made the hairs on their arms stand up. In the center, pristine white mats were arranged in a circle. Along another wall, strange, sleek instruments with glowing interfaces hummed softly. It was part dojo, part starship bridge, and part advanced laboratory.
"This… this isn't the Room of Requirement," Hermione stammered. "It's… more."
"It is the Room of Requirement," Zhang Ming corrected, walking in. "It simply provided what I truly required. An optimal training environment. The 'window' is a real-time projection of a deep-space sector I'm familiar with. Good for meditative focus. The instruments monitor vital signs and ambient energy density."
"Are we… in space?" Ron asked, looking queasy.
"Not physically. It's a simulation. Now, everyone, sit." Zhang Ming gestured to the mats.
The group sat, cross-legged and eager. Zhang Ming stood before them.
"Magic here is messy," he began, with no preamble. "You shout words, wave sticks, and hope for the best. It's inefficient, unreliable, and loud. What I will teach you is different. It's about control. Internal control."
He tapped his chest. "The power isn't in the wand. It's in here. You all have a core of energy inside you. Wizards call it a 'magical core'. I call it your foundation. Right now, it's a wild river, flooding out when you open the floodgates with a spell. I will teach you to be the dam, the canal, the architect."
He then began the first lesson: Qi Sensing. He taught them a simple breathing technique, a rhythm of inhales and exhales designed to calm the mind and turn the senses inward.
"Stop trying to forceit," he said, watching Ron's face turn red with effort. "It's not a muscle. It's a sense. Like hearing. You don't tryto hear; you just listen. Listen… inside."
Minutes passed. Then, Hermione let out a sharp gasp. "Oh! I feel it! It's like… a warm, buzzing pool in my stomach!"
"I think I feel something too!" Harry said, a look of wonder on his face. "It's… tingly!"
Neville, to everyone's surprise, was the next. "It feels… like sunlight on a cold day," he whispered, a tear tracing a path down his round cheek. For the first time in his life, something magical felt gentle, not frightening.
Even the twins grew quiet, their usual mischief replaced by intense concentration.
Zhang Ming nodded, satisfied. "Good. That is the first step. Remember this feeling. This is your power, untapped and waiting. From now on, you will practice this for fifteen minutes every night before sleep."
The session continued with basic energy circulation exercises. It was slow, tedious work, a stark contrast to the instant (if erratic) gratification of spells. But the group was hooked. They were being let in on a secret the entire wizarding world had missed.
As they filed out hours later, minds buzzing with new concepts, Zhang Ming stayed behind. He walked up to the starry "window."
System, run a diagnostic. Scan the castle's ward schematics. I want to identify all major power nodes and blind spots.
[Acknowledged. Scanning Hogwarts' defensive network…]
[Analysis: Ancient, powerful, but patchwork. Multiple layers added over centuries. Several inconsistencies and vulnerabilities detected.]
[Primary Power Source: Ley line confluence beneath the castle. Stable.]
[Noted Anomaly: Significant parasitic drain detected in the third-floor corridor. Signature matches 'Voldemort/Quirrell'.]
Zhang Ming's lips curved into a thin smile. So he's already trying to bypass the protections around the Stone. Amateur. The magical traps are child's play. But that parasitic link… it's fragile. A precise strike at the right moment…
He turned from the starfield, his plan solidifying. The first term's objective was clear: turn this group of children into competent initiates, secure the Philosopher's Stone before Quirrell could bungle the job and unleash a weakened Dark Lord, and continue his analysis of this world's magical laws.
He looked around his perfect, personalized cultivation room. Hogwarts was more than a school; it was the ultimate research and development lab. And he had just set up his headquarters.
The game was on.