Sterling listened to Terry complain extensively about the Department of Mysteries' inhumane management system. By the time he ended the call, Ron was practically drooling onto his chest from falling asleep upright.
"Terry's actually quite talkative, isn't he?"
Harry looked genuinely surprised. Though he'd spent considerable time with Terry, he always sensed some kind of barrier between them, a strange intuition he couldn't quite place.
Just like Terry's relationships with friends from other houses. He had many, many friends, but Harry's instincts told him those friendships differed from those with Utopia members, different from his bond with Sterling too.
For instance, Terry had never conversed with him for such extended periods.
Harry had always assumed Terry was someone who spoke concisely.
"Yes, with his Charms grades so exceptional, I suspect it's directly related to how much he talks. Next is Padma."
Sterling pressed corner "4". This time it took considerably longer before the connection was established.
"Sterling?" Unexpectedly, Hermione's voice emerged from the badge.
"Hermione? Isn't this Padma's number?" Harry leaned closer, pulling out the instruction manual that accompanied the communication badges to verify. No mistake, "4" was definitely Padma, while Hermione should be "3".
"Hermione's with me. We had a horror movie night together yesterday. One o'clock intersections with faceless people, ghosts wandering magical castles..."
Padma's voice was deliberately lowered and distorted for dramatic effect, making Harry's skin crawl with goosebumps.
Sterling felt somewhat puzzled by this revelation.
"Ghosts wandering magical castles? Do you find Hogwarts ghosts terrifying? I think the Fat Friar and others are quite adorable."
"Ah, really! Hermione, why are you still afraid of the Fat Friar? Hahaha."
Sounds of playful scuffling came through the badge. Sterling sighed and pressed the corner again to end the call.
"Heh, girls." Ron, who'd somehow awakened during the commotion, sat in his chair shaking his head like a world-weary adult.
Sterling wasn't particularly surprised. After a brief wait, corner "3" illuminated with Hermione's indignant voice.
"I want to clarify that I wasn't scared by the story of ghosts wandering magical castles!"
"Yes, she absolutely wasn't."
On the other side of the badge, Padma, clearly threatened by Hermione with homework assignments, surrendered to these dark forces.
"By the way, Sterling, what did you want from me?" Padma's voice squeezed past Hermione's protests.
"Do you know about something called the 'Room of Requirement'? It's somewhere inside Hogwarts."
"Room of Requirement..." Padma pondered for several moments, feeling she'd encountered this in The Quibbler. Which issue had it been?
"I remember now! Room of Requirement: Dumbledore's Secret Base to Counter the Ministry of Magic!"
Oh, so it was Dumbledore's secret base.
Wait. Dumbledore's secret base?!
Sterling and Harry exchanged startled glances, finding identical shock reflected in each other's eyes.
"Uh, Padma, I think we might not be discussing the same thing..."
"No, it's exactly this!" Padma interrupted Sterling enthusiastically. "Mr Lovegood believes that during the war years, Dumbledore secretly trained a magical creature army to fight You-Know-Who."
"Otherwise, why did You-Know-Who ravage every corner of England yet leave Hogwarts completely untouched? Because Dumbledore's army was stationed at Hogwarts! You-Know-Who didn't dare confront them!"
"After You-Know-Who fell, this army still wasn't disbanded by Dumbledore. He uses this army to threaten and manipulate Minister Fudge, making the Ministry of Magic Dumbledore's puppet."
"If you don't believe it, just observe Fudge when he first took office. He behaved like Dumbledore's little lapdog. Those are Mr Lovegood's exact words."
"How did Dumbledore secretly train this group? The answer is the Room of Requirement! This room can endlessly produce food and water. Dumbledore stationed his army there!"
Padma finished this elaborate conspiracy theory in one breathless rush.
"Let me sort this out... Mr Lovegood. This is a Quibbler story?"
"Not a story, a report!" Padma protested with wounded dignity.
Sterling nodded diplomatically. Good thing it was The Quibbler. Otherwise he'd really need some kind of verification process.
The Quibbler... only Padma treated it as legitimate journalism. Sterling and others read it as an entertaining story collection. Ignoring questions of truthfulness, those "news" pieces overflowed with entertainment value.
Sterling made some perfunctory responses before ending the call.
Though he hadn't obtained substantial progress from either Terry or Padma, he'd discovered an interesting commonality.
The Room of Requirement's existence didn't seem particularly secret.
Terry's father knew about it, and Mr Lovegood did too. Sterling considered Lovegood knowledgeable too, in his own unique way.
But a room that could infinitely produce food and water could be called anything. How coincidental to be named "Room of Requirement"? That wasn't exactly a common designation.
These two people, one an excellent Unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries and the other an entertainment tabloid editor, have completely different backgrounds, yet both are aware of the Room of Requirement's existence.
Sterling guessed it might be a secret circulating within specific social circles. Mr Lovegood was four or five years senior to Terry's father at school.
Meaning current upperclassmen had a considerable probability of knowing about it. Most likely Ravenclaw upperclassmen.
Among Ravenclaw upperclassmen they could contact...
"Harry, I remember Prefect Robert has been at the Quidditch pitch since holiday started, right?"
Contrary to Sterling's expectation, Harry shook his head.
"Initially yes, but he quickly caught a cold along with his friends. Ron seemed to see them at the library yesterday?"
Ron nodded in confirmation. "I saw him reading a book that seemed to be about magical creatures."
"That's quite remarkable! You actively went to the library! And not with Harry!" Sterling excitedly placed his hand on Ron's shoulder.
Knowing Robert's whereabouts pleased him, but Ron's apparent growth made him happier. This represented breakthrough progress, simultaneously overcoming both the "not studying actively" and "conjoined with Harry" problems.
"Uh, actually, I sent Ron into the library to borrow a book for me because I'd just returned from the Quidditch pitch covered in mud, making it inconvenient for entering the library."
Sterling withdrew his hand and wiped it on his clothes with no expression.
Excellent. Hadn't overcome either problem.
Ignoring Ron's wounded "Too hurtful!" protests, Sterling began addressing some problems Harry had recently encountered in his studies.
"Actually for Transfiguration, your will is much more important than understanding materials..."
"Pop!"
A crisp sound appeared behind Sterling. Dumbledore, missing all day, emerged from phoenix flames with Fawkes perched on his shoulder.
"Sorry, children... I'm afraid I need to occupy a little of Sterling's time now."
Dumbledore's face was rarely unkind, his brow wrinkles tightly knitted with obvious stress.
Sterling turned to look at him. Dumbledore returned an affirmative gaze that confirmed Sterling's growing fears.
"Sorry, excuse me... Harry, for upcoming questions, you can try finding answers in Professor McGonagall's second-year notebook. Ron! Practise your wand-waving angles more!"
After brief arrangements, Sterling followed Dumbledore out of Utopia.
On the way to the headmaster's office, the atmosphere was so silent it nearly solidified into something tangible.
Sterling had a growing premonition that Andrew's whereabouts were probably not encouraging news.