"We really don't know. When did this person sneak into the Gryffindor dorms?" Fred and George squished together, staring hard at the name on the map.
"How would I know? I'm not a Gryffindor student," Louis replied, reaching out to take the map back.
"Wait, hold on! You can't take it now," Fred and George quickly pressed down on his hand.
"Oh? Regretting the deal already?" Louis asked.
"Not exactly. We just want to use it to track down this Peter Pettigrew guy," George explained. "He's been following Ron around—we're a little concerned."
"No problem. Just remember to return it," Louis said, letting go and handing the map back to them.
The twins huddled together to discuss a plan—mostly about how to investigate this person. After hashing it out, they finally remembered that Louis had never actually told them about the Room of Requirement.
"So… how do we get into this Room of Requirement?" George and Fred asked in unison.
"It's simple. You just need to…" Louis described the method in the simplest terms he could. The explanation left the twins wide-eyed in disbelief. Finally, George sighed, "Fred and I must've just gotten lucky and triggered it by accident. You've only been at Hogwarts for a week and already figured out how to use it?"
"Looks like that Merlin bloodline of yours is legit," Fred added. "You're seriously smart."
"Basic stuff," Louis said modestly—but he accepted the compliment all the same. Still, flattery wouldn't make him go easy. "Alright, time for you two to go."
"Huh? Why? We haven't even tested the Room of Requirement ourselves yet!" George and Fred protested in unison.
"You can test it next time. Tonight, I need it." Louis waved dismissively, completely authoritarian. "Unless you'd prefer to have nightmares."
"So mean."
"Yeah, threatening us like that." The twins grumbled in defeat but could tell Louis wasn't going to budge.
"I think we need to negotiate the usage schedule for the Room," George suggested. "This arrangement feels unfair."
Fred nodded. "Agreed."
"You can have it during the day. I get it at night," Louis declared. "Any other suggestions are rejected."
"Does that include weekend days too?" Fred asked, like he'd found a loophole.
"Mm-hmm." Louis nodded.
"Then it's settled! Enjoy yourself." The twins, now satisfied, lit their wands. "We're heading back to the dorm."
"Good night. Sweet dreams," Louis said offhandedly.
The twins froze mid-step and turned to look at him.
"…Was that a blessing just now?" they asked.
Louis's eye twitched slightly.
Apparently, this whole Merlin bloodline thing was pretty convincing. He wondered if there were still any students in the other three Houses who didn't believe it.
"You could think of it that way," Louis replied vaguely. Then, with a flicker of magic in his left eye, he cast a gentle dream illusion over the twins—sweet dreams guaranteed.
After all, he had to stay in character.
Just as the twins turned to go, they suddenly spun back around again.
"What now?" Louis asked, not hiding the irritation in his voice.
"We forgot to tell you something—thought we'd warn you since you're going into the Room," George said. "There was a problem just now. Our room and another one got merged together. It was… intense."
Fred added, "And before we came out, we saw a strange guy inside. He was standing in the other room, didn't look like someone with good intentions. Then he just disappeared."
"We think he might be dangerous. Just giving you a heads-up."
"That guy might be the reason the Room glitched. I've been in there a few times and never had any issues—until you two showed up," Louis said with an utterly serious face… despite being the very one responsible.
"I get it. Now off you go—waste any more time and you might miss your sweet dreams."
"We're gone!" the twins yelped and dashed off like their lives depended on it.
Once he was sure they were long gone and not coming back, Louis finally removed the Snake Talisman's invisibility effect from the two blobs of Volumen Hydrargyrum, letting their silvery, mercury-like forms shimmer into view.
He then tried activating the Room of Requirement again, muttering, "A place suitable for brewing potions." After walking past three times, the door appeared.
Looks like the Room's integrity held up—hadn't taken long to recover.
Satisfied, Louis pushed open the door and stepped inside with the two floating mercury blobs.
The room's layout resembled a Potions classroom, though less cluttered—just one long table in the center. Around the walls were shelves and cabinets, most of which were now empty, though clearly meant for potion materials and herbs.
The Room could create the necessary space, but apparently didn't provide materials on its own. Louis didn't mind.
Using his spiritual energy, he cleared the dust from an open patch of floor. Then, the smaller blob of mercury—the one holding the Acromantula—unfurled and gently released the still-living spider, which had nearly suffocated. The larger blob wove itself into a chair for Louis.
Soft. Comfortable. Volumen Hydrargyrum—truly a must-have for home, travel, murder, and mayhem.
The Acromantula took a few moments to recover, then its eight venomous eyes locked onto Louis. Without hesitation, it lunged at him.
Louis's expression flashed with brief disgust, but he didn't move.
Instead, he controlled the larger blob of mercury to hurl something directly at the charging spider.
A silver crown—Ravenclaw's Diadem, one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
Release the Voldemort!
The diadem landed squarely on the Acromantula's head as if drawn there magnetically. Instantly, the spider let out a horrible, shrieking scream and collapsed, rolling across the floor in wild agony, trying desperately to shake it off.
But no matter how much it thrashed, the diadem remained, as if rooted into its very skull.
Louis, seated in his mercury chair, calmly slid several meters back to give the spider room to flail.
It didn't last long. Soon, the spider stopped moving—like a wind-up toy that had suddenly run out of power, frozen in place.
Black mist squirmed across the surface of the diadem. Like a picky eater discarding bones after the meat was gone, it slithered off the spider's head.
The Ravenclaw Diadem had not granted the Acromantula wisdom.
Instead, it had become its grim reaper.
All thanks to the soul fragment of Voldemort embedded inside it—the part that turned this legendary relic into a Horcrux.
*