HPS 114

Chapter 114: The Gifted Hope Room

In the distance, the somber daylight swallowed the last pine needle,

Inside the quiet crackle of the fireplace, the anti-biting gloves trembled slightly in the cold wind,

Filch looked down, a small sliver of sunset landing in his hand.

...

Sean walked briskly down the corridor, the noise in the castle never ceasing for a moment.

Bruce, the prefect, had brought back a large pile of things for them, even some floating candles.

However, when Sean saw him, his appearance was far from good—his hair was messy, his robes were stained with an unknown powder, and his boots were covered in mud.

Pistor and Leon, the other prefects, weren't much better off, Leon looked like a boiling kettle and dragged Bruce away, disappearing at the Great Hall entrance.

"Prefect Bruce... he..."

Sean hesitated for a moment, but still chose to ask about the situation.

"Oh, him,"

Prefect Pistor said with a sincere laugh,

"He replaced all the toffees at Honeydukes Sweetshop with hiccup sweets, causing the wooden staircase in the shop to be piled high with hiccuping wizards.

Even in the dungeons, people could hear the sound of the people in the shop above hiccuping, it was louder than a shaking bell..."

"..."

Sean was speechless for a moment, it wasn't easy to replace all the toffees with hiccup sweets right in front of a crowd of wizards.

He mentally mourned for a few seconds, then noticed Pistor's robes had many holes in them.

"That was... 'he set off a firework outside while someone was confessing their love, but the firework cannon tipped over and the shell exploded in the wizard's arms... and that wizard's Flame-Freezing Charm was very skillful...' "

Hearing this, Hermione's mouth hung open at the Great Hall entrance, and Neville was already trembling just thinking about the scene.

"Oh, and... 'he secretly poured Itching Powder into someone's Hair-Raising Potion... and told them 'It's supposed to itch, that means your hair is growing...' "

At this point, Sean and the three others felt the miserable cries Bruce let out as he was being dragged away were no longer grating.

"We sometimes wonder if he should have been put in Gryffindor..."

Prefect Pistor said with a calm smile, placing a Fudge Fly in Sean's hand before leaving the Great Hall.

Fudge Flies, also known as Fudge Flies.

It's quite peculiar, isn't it, the whole thing about the Minister for Magic being equal to a fly.

But what was even more peculiar was that the classroom had been decorated.

"Just leave it here, Sean."

Justin was busy and enthusiastic in the classroom, and though he said he could manage on his own, Sean and the two others couldn't just stand there while he labored.

Justin first hung floating candles in every corner of the classroom, especially above everyone's desks, he had to make sure everyone had bright lighting.

Prefect Bruce also helped bring three Jack-o'-Lanterns, which held Ever-Burning Candles inside, these were candles that had been enchanted to burn indefinitely.

Floating Candles, Ever-Burning Candles, honestly, Sean wasn't clear on the difference, but that didn't stop him from placing the Jack-o'-Lanterns with the Ever-Burning Candles beneath the two log tables, where the cozy light slowly cast the shape of a large, jagged-toothed mouth on the blanket.

Another one was placed inside the wooden cupboard at the entrance, right next to Sean's notebook.

The light inside the wooden cupboard wasn't bright, and Neville always ended up grabbing the wrong thing, last time he mixed up his 'Herbology' notes with his 'Potions' notes.

Next to the entrance cupboard was a small, switch-like object, that was the candle controller, the classroom didn't need to be this bright all the time.

After working hard for a while, this not-too-large room was completely transformed.

Rugs were laid out near both log tables, with soft couches and Jack-o'-Lanterns placed on top of them, the wooden cupboard was covered in hanging candles and filled with notebooks and everyone's spell progress charts.

There were green plants on everyone's desks, in fact, these plants were everywhere in the classroom, and their caretaker was the shyly smiling Neville.

Justin placed a mirror at the entrance, it was a magical mirror, a talking mirror.

Its purpose was to remind the person looking into it to pay attention to their appearance.

When Neville stood in front of it, it yelled:

"Hold your head up, smooth your robes, tuck your shirt into your trousers, you sloppy mess!"

It scared Mr. Longbottom into quickly tidying himself up as it instructed.

Spells flew around the classroom, and while tidying, everyone discovered so many dirty corners and so many places that could be improved—so the Cleaning Charm and the Levitation Charm came in very handy.

Compared to the dullness of practicing, the young wizards were highly motivated this time, and by the time the decorating was finished, everyone was basically exhausted.

Sean's Levitation Charm had gone from Expert-Level (110/9000) all the way to Expert-Level (600/9000), and his Cleaning Charm had also gone from Proficient-Level (100/3000) all the way to Proficient-Level (300/3000).

"I have a question..."

During their break, Justin suddenly spoke up,

"If we call this a classroom, then how is it different from the other classrooms?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the few people present froze.

"That's right!"

Hermione said blankly,

"We have to give it a name, so we know which 'classroom' we're talking about."

Her idea quickly won everyone's approval.

Justin excitedly said:

"We need a special name, one that reflects what we're doing here."

"How about... 'After-School Study Base'?"

Hermione suggested, she subconsciously looked towards Sean who had recovered the quickest after drinking his potion—he was already engrossed in a Transfiguration notebook.

"Hmm."

Sean nodded.

"Hey... you two are being way too casual!"

Justin refuted the suggestion helplessly,

"Neville, do you have any ideas?"

"Warm... a warm room."

Neville said instinctively.

"That's hard to use as a name, but it's not bad either."

Justin said, frowning, he knew he could hardly count on the three people in this room.

"The Gifted Hope Room! Hope Room for short."

Justin suddenly exclaimed,

"This name implies that the room itself is a gift that has been bestowed, specifically used to nurture and contain hope.

'It's like a safe harbor, where everyone who enters can regain the hope they were given.' How does that name sound?"

"Wow, wah..."

Neville was stunned, he wanted to say 'good,' but instead turned into a frog that could only 'ribbit, ribbit.'

"Not too bad..."

Hermione lifted her chin, though she was actually very satisfied.

"Sean, what about you?"

Justin turned and asked.

"Hmm."

Sean nodded, he felt like he hadn't said enough, so he thought for a moment and then added,

"Good."

"Then it's decided! We need to hang a sign with the name written on it."