Sterling poked his head cautiously around the Great Hall entrance, scanning left and right to confirm Snape wasn't lurking at the professors' table like a black-robed vulture.
This was Harry's urgent warning when they'd parted the previous night. Snape had been hunting for him all day yesterday, and his expression suggested it wasn't for pleasant conversation.
Though Sterling couldn't fathom what he'd done to earn the Potions Master's ire, avoiding Snape seemed the wisest course. He had no desire to cost Ravenclaw house points during the Christmas holiday when so few students remained to earn them back.
Maybe Snape really did hate the idea of washing his hair? Merlin's beard, did the man actually consider greasy locks fashionable?
Just as Sterling prepared to enter the Great Hall, the communication badge on his chest suddenly blazed to life at one corner. Sterling pressed the number "1" at the badge's centre, and Harry's voice emerged from the illuminated section.
"Sterling, don't enter the Great Hall. I can see you at the entrance. Snape's waiting for you at the Slytherin table!"
Hiss. Worthy of cunning Slytherin tactics, having a professor actually station himself at the students' seating area like a spider in its web.
Sterling turned and departed swiftly, not forgetting to place a breakfast order with Harry while walking.
"I want two pieces of toast with bacon and egg inside, plus a separate chicken leg. Come to Utopia later and bring Ron with you."
"Got it... oh, Snape's looking this way!" The corner marked "6" dimmed abruptly. Before completely darkening, Sterling caught what sounded like a vague "Gryffindor loses..."
It definitely sounded like Snape's silky voice. Hopefully Percy would maintain his cheerful holiday mood after witnessing the house point hourglass.
Sterling silently prayed for the ruby gems in Gryffindor's hourglass, knowing they'd need divine intervention.
At Utopia's entrance, Sterling suddenly had an inspiration. Since this was Galahad's portrait, surely he could capture more of the knight's stories from it?
After activating his magical vision, Sterling felt profound disappointment. This portrait appeared as pristine as if freshly painted. Forget Galahad's stories; no narratives had left traces on it whatsoever.
Someone had definitely treated it with protective magic. Otherwise, given the painting's apparent age alone, its accumulated stories couldn't possibly be so sparse.
Entering Utopia, with only himself, Ron, and Harry remaining at school among current members, the entire room felt cold and eerily empty.
"Chirp! Is this where I'll live from now on?"
Robin emerged from Sterling's warm scarf, immediately spotting Sterling's designated area with that enormous cauldron, identical to the one in his dormitory.
"That's correct. You're now a permanent Utopia member. Should I craft you a communication badge too?" Sterling considered it briefly but decided to wait until next Christmas. Mainly because he didn't want to begin intensive alchemical work again so soon.
He produced the birdcage, previously shrunk and hidden in his sleeve. Robin found an ideal place to hang it, then Sterling snapped his fingers to restore it to full size.
"Excellent choice. I originally planned to hang a small cauldron there."
"Chirp?" Robin looked at this hook positioned about two metres up, finding it difficult to imagine how Sterling could use a cauldron suspended at that height given his stature. Even a hanging-style vessel would probably position the cauldron's body level with Sterling's chest, right?
"You don't understand, do you?" Sterling smugly crossed his arms with obvious pride. "This represents my revolutionary exploration of potion-brewing methodology."
"When I use the suspended small cauldron for potions, I'll seal its opening and use percussion instead of stirring. Think about it logically. Stirring exists to fully dissolve materials. Wouldn't punching the cauldron achieve the same effect?"
Robin didn't dare respond, timidly tucking its head beneath its wing.
Sterling didn't mind the reaction. When he'd explained this concept to Terry, Hermione, and the others previously, they'd displayed identical responses. This was perfectly normal. Many books acknowledged that the genius mindset was difficult for ordinary people to comprehend.
These individuals with mediocre potion-brewing talent naturally couldn't grasp his revolutionary vision.
As for Snape's vehement protests, well, even the fellow genius that he was, the man had truly exerted maximum effort to object. He'd even promised, "As long as you abandon this blasphemous concept, I'll treat Ravenclaw and Slytherin with equal fairness from now on."
But even among geniuses, distinctions existed. Obviously old-school genius Snape couldn't keep pace with new-era genius Sterling's innovative thinking. No need to heed his objections.
Sterling believed this technology possessed broad practical prospects. Potions' biggest combat drawback was requiring advance preparation. You couldn't begin brewing mid-battle. But if this experiment succeeded, Sterling could brew while fighting simultaneously.
Casting spells while punching suspended small cauldrons wasn't particularly challenging.
"Hey! Sterling! Ron and I are here!"
Harry opened the door with a brilliant smile, followed by a still-yawning Ron wearing a knitted hat that covered his ears completely.
"Good morning... achoo! I think I caught a cold. I'll get a potion from Madam Pomfrey when I return to the common room later."
"Actually, I could brew you something..."
"No trouble needed!" Ron instantly snapped awake. "Actually, my cold isn't that serious, achoo!"
Well, Sterling pretended not to notice Ron's obvious fear of consuming his potions.
Just because his brewing methods were slightly unconventional didn't indicate problems. In terms of effectiveness, his creations were all premium quality.
"Sterling, is today for combat practice?"
Harry helped redirect the conversation, though he genuinely craved another match with Sterling. He couldn't win, but such experiences were invaluable learning opportunities.
"No, Harry. It's not suitable yet."
Even with Harry's exceptional talent, given his current spell repertoire and proficiency, probably only his Disarming Charm had hope of striking Sterling.
Hitting wasn't sufficient anyway. Sterling never bothered using his wand when not taking opponents seriously.
"I called you mainly to ask, especially Ron, do you know about the 'Room of Requirement'? Or know anyone who might possess information about it?"
Harry and Ron exchanged puzzled glances, then shook their heads in perfect unison.
"I don't know if George and Fred are aware... but I doubt it. If such a magical place existed, they definitely couldn't resist bragging to us about their discovery."
Ron added thoughtfully.
Well, not beyond Sterling's expectations. After all, it seemed the "Room of Requirement" was Ravenclaw's secret chamber. As a founder's legacy, it would be extraordinary if it were easily discovered.
Perhaps consult Dumbledore?
No, since investigating Andrew's mysterious situation, the headmaster hadn't returned to school for two full days. Sterling couldn't contact him whatsoever.
"Sterling, maybe you could ask Terry and Padma?" Harry suggested helpfully.
Sterling felt somewhat puzzled. Terry being from an established wizarding family made sense, but Padma...
"Did you forget? She loves reading about such mysterious things. I think 'Room of Requirement' sounds exactly like something that would fascinate her."
True enough. Sterling experienced sudden understanding and immediately retrieved his badge to contact them, but first Harry stuffed two food packages into Sterling's arms.
"Eat something first. You didn't consume anything all day yesterday and walked such distances last night."
Sterling obediently finished everything before placing the badge on the table again, pressing the corner marked "2".
"...Sterling! How are you feeling?"
After brief static interference, Terry's somewhat muffled voice emerged. Normal, since he should be in Ireland now, quite distant from Hogwarts.
"I'm fine. Have you ever heard of something called the 'Room of Requirement'?"
Terry on the other end seemed genuinely stunned.
"Sterling! You won't even chat with me for a few sentences before launching into questions! Don't you care how I'm doing?"
But... it had only been two days since they'd last met...
However, Sterling was someone who humbly accepted constructive criticism. "Alright, Terry, how are you managing in Ireland?"
"Terrible! Let me tell you everything..."
After Terry complained extensively about numerous holiday tribulations, satisfying his desperate need to share experiences, he mercifully remembered Sterling's original question.
"Room of Requirement... sounds somewhat familiar. My father might have mentioned it. Hogwarts supposedly has a magical room that can alter its interior decoration according to visitors' thoughts and needs."
"That does sound quite 'requirement-fulfilling'."
"Exactly... I can ask for specifics when Dad returns, but you'll probably have to wait quite a while. Who knows when the Department of Mysteries will grant him rest?"