Chapter 106: After School Tutoring
The Room of Requirement.
Tamara's expression was so dark it looked as though water might drip from it.
These damned, persistent followers.
She had been so focused on sensing the Horcrux's fluctuations that she had failed to notice three idiots trailing her beneath the Invisibility Cloak.
"How did you get in?" Tamara asked through gritted teeth, each word squeezed out from between them.
"The door hadn't fully closed yet."
Ron poked his head out from behind Harry and spoke as though it were perfectly obvious.
"We were following you under the cloak. When we saw you push the door open, Harry grabbed the handle before it disappeared."
"We were worried you might run into danger out here!" Harry added quickly, his face full of concern.
Tamara took a deep breath, feeling as if she might laugh from sheer anger.
She stared at the three idiots whose faces practically screamed, We are doing this for your own good, and wished she could hit each of them with the Cruciatus Curse.
The Room of Requirement.
One of Hogwarts' deepest secrets. A magical place countless brilliant wizards had failed to discover over the centuries.
And now, this sacred gateway to the treasure trove of her soul had been breached in the crudest way possible by three stalkers with no proper magical sense at all.
Just as Tamara tightened her grip on her wand, preparing to use her newly unlocked Confundus Charm to turn the three of them into fools and throw them out...
Bang!
The next second, the door that had not yet fully closed was kicked open again.
"Potter! I knew you were up to no good, sneaking around like that!"
An extremely arrogant voice rang out from outside.
Draco stormed in from the other end of the corridor, accompanied by Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
"We saw the three of you acting suspiciously downstairs before you suddenly vanished. So you were stalking Tamara!"
Draco pointed at Harry with righteous indignation, but when he turned to Tamara, his tone instantly became hurt and resentful.
"Tamara! Why didn't you bring us along to explore such a mysterious place? Instead, you let these Gryffindor idiots follow you?"
Tamara's temple throbbed twice.
"I didn't bring them," Tamara said coldly.
"Then why are they here?" Draco demanded, pointing at the three Gryffindors.
Ron immediately roared back, refusing to be outdone.
"Who knows what you Slytherins are up to?"
"How dare you say we're up to something?" Pansy shrieked.
"..."
Tamara felt as though she was beginning to have trouble breathing.
"What is that sound?"
Before the Gryffindors and Slytherins could start fighting, a light, airy voice drifted in from outside.
Luna Lovegood, wearing her radish earrings, wandered in.
Behind her came Hannah and Neville, both looking bewildered.
"Sorry..." Hannah explained timidly. "We saw all of you coming this way, so we followed to see what was happening."
"..."
Tamara was completely numb.
Looking at this absurd scene where Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff had all converged in one place, she could only feel a deep and silent despair.
She had only wanted to retrieve a Horcrux in peace.
How had it turned into this?
Because too many people were now present, and each of them had entered with a different need, the Room of Requirement had clearly fallen into some kind of logical confusion.
To satisfy everyone's tangled wishes, such as finding Tamara, finding a place to gather, finding lost shoes, and wanting somewhere to study, the clutter in the room began to move aside on its own.
In the middle of the dusty clearing, several large mahogany desks, a dozen comfortable armchairs, a pair of old shoes, and even a blackboard covered in runic formulas appeared out of thin air.
The room meant for hiding things had been forcibly twisted by these brats' wishes into a fully equipped study room for after school tutoring.
"Wow! This place is amazing!" Hermione looked at the desks excitedly. "It's the perfect place to study!"
"Move, Weasley."
Draco rudely shoved Ron aside with his shoulder and naturally claimed the mahogany desk closest to Tamara.
He lifted his chin, his voice full of unmistakable superiority.
"I knew it, Tamara. You must have thought the idiots outside were too noisy, so you created this secret base especially for yourself, right?"
[Ding! Epic cross house academic exchange gathering detected!]
The system's damned voice, filled with celebratory joy like fireworks, exploded in Tamara's mind.
[What a touching scene! With your personal charm, you have broken the barriers between houses and united the future of Hogwarts!]
[Triggered Task: The Great Ruler and Mentor.]
[Task Requirement: Please comply with everyone's wishes and provide a half hour after school tutoring session in this room full of thirst for knowledge.]
[Task Reward: Wisdom +2, Love +2, massive increase in favorability from everyone present.]
[Penalty: You will be forced to wear a fluffy bunny ear headband, give every student present a ten second affectionate hug, and shout: "Friendship is magic! We are all one big loving family!"]
Tamara stood there, feeling as though she was about to shatter.
She looked up.
The diadem containing a fragment of her soul was sitting quietly on the bust of an old wizard less than ten metres away.
It was within reach.
Even without the penalty, Tamara could not possibly retrieve her Horcrux in front of everyone.
If she acted now, there was a high chance Dumbledore would lock her in a solitary cell in Azkaban by tomorrow.
"...You lot."
Tamara took a deep breath, forcing the urge to slaughter everyone present deep into her heart.
She slowly turned around. A flawless smile appeared on her face, perfect in every detail, yet cold enough to chill one's bones.
"Since you are all so... studious."
She walked to the blackboard, drew her wand from her sleeve, and tapped the board sharply.
Crack.
"Then sit down."
Her voice was calm, cold, and impossible to refuse.
"Today, we will review several common misconceptions in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2."
For the next half hour, every student present experienced the most terrifying, oppressive, yet practical lesson of their lives.
Tamara poured almost all her resentment toward these idiots, who had ruined her plan, into academic sarcasm.
"Potter, your magical output is like a leaking ball. If you want to blow yourself up on the battlefield, feel free to keep waving your wand like that."
"Malfoy, put away your groundless superiority. Your Transfiguration basics are like the white peacocks your family keeps. Aside from showing off everywhere, there isn't a scrap of substance in your head."
"Granger, rote memorisation won't save your life. Magic is alive, not dead ink in your books."
"And you, Lovegood. Put away the invisible bugs in your head. Magic is for controlling life and death, not for daydreaming."
"Abbott, stop making that pitiful frightened rabbit face. If an enemy's jinx flies at you, do you plan to drown them with tears?"
She went all out.
She tore apart Gryffindor's recklessness, Slytherin's arrogance, Hufflepuff's weakness, and Ravenclaw's impractical whimsy.
Yet every point she made was astonishingly precise and struck directly at the core. None of them could argue. They could only take notes frantically while breaking out in cold sweat.
Half an hour later.
[Ding! Task completed!]
[Rewards issued.]
[Current attribute panel updated:]
[Wisdom: 35]
[Courage: 32]
[Love: 23]
[Life: 19]
[System Evaluation: What a hearty teaching session! Although your words were harsh, everyone deeply felt your love that stems from wishing they would do better!]
"Shut up."
Tamara cut off the system's noise in her mind.
"Class dismissed."
Tamara coldly dropped those two words, not sparing a single glance at the students left dazed by her lecture.
She turned around, and at the last moment before leaving the Room of Requirement, her gaze passed through the crowd.
Deep with longing, yet unbelievably sinister, she looked at the diadem hidden among the piles of junk.
"Wait for me."
She spoke to that soul fragment through gritted teeth in her heart.
"Sooner or later, I'll kill all these idiots standing in my way, and then I'll come for you."
With that, she swept her black robes behind her and strode out of the room, her heart still filled with unvented rage.
Behind her, a room full of young wizards remained immersed in academic shock.
"She's amazing..." Harry swallowed. "Even though she was harsh, I feel like I understand everything now."
"That's Tamara for you." Draco looked proud by association. "Only she is worthy of teaching us."
Meanwhile, in the Headmaster's office.
Albus Dumbledore was listening to reports from several old Headmasters and Headmistresses in their portraits.
"You're saying Miss Riddle gathered students from all four houses in that hidden room on the eighth floor..."
Dumbledore stroked his beard, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"And gave them extracurricular tutoring?"
"Yes, Albus! It was a brilliant lecture!" one of the old Headmasters in the portraits exclaimed in admiration.
"Not only did she show no favoritism toward Slytherin, she also lectured the children from all four houses. Everyone seemed quite impressed."
The sliver of suspicion that had arisen in Dumbledore's eyes because of Tamara's secretive movements melted away like snow.
"Breaking down house barriers, sharing knowledge, progressing together..."
Dumbledore's face softened into a gratified smile.
"It seems my earlier suspicions of her were indeed nothing more than an old man's prejudice."
"She really is... a good child full of love and unity."
.....
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