13 Chapter 12: Room of Requirements

The Room of Requirements was truly an amazing feat of magic. That was my first thought as I entered the hidden room across from the painting of trolls doing ballet. I had decided to forgo my usual training routine in lieu of seeking out the Room, so it was still dark outside. I cast a quick [Tempus], showing me it wasn't even 5 am yet.

The room itself was a large, open hall, similar to the Great Hall. I had repeated the words 'Training hall' in my mind while pacing back and forth three times, and this is what appeared. I guessed this is what the Room of Hidden Things would look like if it wasn't filled with junk.

That was another room I had to visit, but not for a while. According to the books it was filled with cursed objects and dangerous items. Without the proper knowledge of enchantments and curses, picking up the wrong item could be fatal. That's not even mentioning the Diadem, which I knew I had to take care of at some point.

I shook myself out of my thoughts and looked around the room. It was around 100m long and 30m wide, with ceilings 20m high. Large arches held the ceiling up, making the nearly empty room look regal and imposing.

To the left side, there was an armory filled with any weapon imaginable. Swords, spears, shields and more littered a weapons rack, along with different types of golems. The golems were outfitted with different types of armor and weapons and presumably came alive at the user's instruction. It would be an amazing way to train my dodging and physical fitness, even if I wasn't planning on using a sword much in the future.

'Perhaps I could enchant one to be powerful enough to be of some use.' I mused to myself. A wand and a sword would truly be a cool looking combination.

To the right there were different arenas and environments, along with anywhere between one and five dummies in each. The dummies were slimmer than the golems and had no armor, but instead each carried a wand. The environments were diverse, including a swamp, a dueling stand, forest and what looked to be the ruins of a house.

'That will be perfect for spell casting and fights with magic. This will be absolutely vital to my survival and triumph during the war.' I thought. I knew that by resigning myself to changing the plot, I would need to step in and try my best to save the wizarding world. The only reason Harry won in the first place was Dumbledore's plans, which were already most likely in disarray, and a lot of luck. With plot out the window, I'd simply have to become powerful enough to not rely on it.

In the back of the room there was a wall filled with potions. I could make out Pepper Up Potions, Blood-Replenishing Potions and more. It looked like the equivalent of a personal infirmary. I couldn't go down to Madam Pomphery with horrible wounds too often or else someone would realize what I was up to. Showing my talent in classes was one thing, actively training for a war that no one knew was coming was another.

Even if Dumbledore wasn't some manipulative, scheming bastard, some flags would be raised if a first year was learning dangerous spells.

I quickly walked over to the magic half of the room, looking at the dummies. They were completely still, and if I hadn't read the books in my past life I would have thought they were statues. As I ran my hand over one of the dummies' chest, it came to life.

"Input dueling level." It said in a monotonous voice. I jumped back, startled. I had no idea it could talk. Collecting myself, I got in a rough dueling stance and called out, "First year!"

And… nothing happened. Confusion sparked in my brain as I called out different phrases trying to get it to activate.

"First level! Child level! Easy level!" Finally, as I yelled out "level one!", the dueling dummy jumped to life, shooting a spell out at a quick speed.

I was caught off guard due to the sudden activation and could only fall backwards in a dodge. The spell just barely passed over my head, splashing against the wall of the room. I wasn't given a moment to rest, however, as another spell was quickly coming my way.

"Protego!" I yelled out. A flimsy, milky white barrier formed in front of me with a shudder. The unknown spell hit the shield and shattered it, passing through with less than a second of pause, yet I was already on the move.

'Damn it, I'm too used to casting spells in a calm environment. The moment I was caught off guard my focus broke. I'm not great with the shield charm but it should have easily withstood a single first year spell if I had my head in the game.'

I continued to roll and duck behind some of the stone walls of the ruined house, trying to calm myself down. Luckily the dummy wasn't able to move at the first level of the program or I already would have lost. The ability for it to silently and quickly cast was unexpected, and I had already messed up more times than I cared to admit.

I peeked out from the wall I was hiding behind with a protego on my wand. This one was a light blue, far more solid looking than the last one. The expected spell splashed harmlessly across my barrier as I dispelled it. I realized that in between every spell there was a three second gap. By taking one of the spells head on, I had bought myself three seconds to attempt a counter.

"Flipendo!" I yelled, aiming at the dummy. Flipendo was a beginner spell that conjured a wall of force that pushed the opponent. Sadly for me, the dummy quickly abandoned the red spell glowing at the tip of his wand and conjured a slightly weaker looking shield than me. I didn't realize he could do shields as well, that was supposed to be a fourth year charm. The only reason I had learned it so early was that it was one of the most important dueling spells I could think of. I mentally reminded myself that the training dummy was a relic of the past and most likely the students had different curriculums back then.

The dummy dispelled the shield and fired another red spell at me. I charged forward, dodging the spell and running at him full speed. Once I was close enough I was certain not to miss, I stopped and prematurely cast a shield.

Right at the expected red spell bashed into it, I dispelled the shield and fired a spell.

"Impedimenta!" Thick ropes spewed forth from my wand, tangling up the dummy. A quick "Expelliarmis" disarmed it and ended the session.

After confirming it was actually back to a normal dummy, I let out a sigh of relief. I was completely caught off guard. Thinking about fighting and actually doing it were completely different things, and I was much better at the former. I had never imagined that my casting would be interrupted so much by being in a stressful environment.

Slowly, I regained control over my breath and settled into a meditative state in order to center myself and reflect on what I could have done better. After a few minutes of resting, I got back up with a determined look on my face.

I approached the dummy and stated "level one". The only way to get better was practice, so that's what I would do.