It actually exists!
Charlie stared at the wide, double wooden doors, thoroughly pleasantly surprised.
He wondered if it was a pre-set room or one tailor-made specifically for his request.
He placed both hands on the doors. With a heavy creak, a massive space revealed itself.
Directly across from the entrance stood several wooden training dummies lined up in a row. Along the left and right walls were tables and chairs meant for resting.
Torches lined the walls in a ring. Interestingly, despite being mere torches, the combined light they provided rivaled any modern electric lighting.
Charlie leaned in closer out of curiosity. He didn't feel any heat at all. Furthermore, the light radiating from the torches was significantly brighter than normal fire.
Magical fire? What was the fuel?
Then again, this was the Room of Requirement. He probably didn't need to worry about the logistics.
He crouched down. The floor beneath him wasn't hard stone, but solid wood paneling.
He pressed down on it, then gave a couple of small hops. The old, expected creaking never came.
Instead, the floor had excellent bounce and feedback. It felt practically newly renovated.
Amazing. This was absolutely amazing!
Charlie's eyes lit up. He didn't rush to whip out his wand and start practicing spells just yet. Instead, he backed out of the room.
"Keep the exact same layout, I still need to use it to practice spells. But I also need a brass cauldron and a set of brass scales."
Don't get it twisted—he had no intention of brewing potions. It was just a little test to figure out how the Room of Requirement operated.
However, after pacing back and forth three times, the Room of Requirement gave absolutely no response.
The wall remained a wall, and the trolls were still clubbing Barnabas the Barmy.
Did that not work? Could it be...
Undeterred, Charlie started pacing again.
This time, he changed his phrasing. He didn't ask the Room to "keep the previous layout."
"I need a spacious, safe room equipped with enough tools for me to practice spells. But also, throw in a cauldron."
He felt like a diner at a restaurant ordering Kung Pao chicken, but suddenly demanding the chef throw in a handful of cilantro.
The reason he was doing this was to test if the "chef" of the Room of Requirement was cooking from scratch or just serving up pre-packaged TV dinners.
After three passes, Charlie turned to look at the wall. He let out a sigh of relief. It had worked.
The exact same double wooden doors appeared. He eagerly pushed them open and stepped inside, greeted by the exact same scene as before.
Except for the cauldron now sitting on a desk to the left.
So it wasn't just pulling from a list of cookie-cutter templates.
He was thrilled and wanted to step out and try again, but then he slapped his own forehead.
Damn it, he almost forgot what he actually came here to do.
Shaking his head, Charlie pulled out his textbook. Skipping past the Fire-Making Spell, he set his sights on the Softening Charm.
The incantation was Spongify. He studied the text and the accompanying diagrams for the wand movement.
For some reason, Charlie suddenly thought of the Weasley twins from the original books and their Portable Swamps. They just threw a detonator and turned a whole corridor into a bog.
He wondered if whatever they invented had any connection to this charm.
"Similar to the Levitation Charm, the Softening Charm cannot be used on living creatures.
If cast upon 'false life' granted by Transfiguration, the charm may conflict with the target's existing Transfiguration, leading to unpredictable consequences.
During the practice phase, it is strictly recommended to cast this spell only on inanimate objects."
Can't be cast on living things? Charlie immediately scrapped his intrusive thought of turning a target into a puddle of mud.
He then looked across the room at the training dummies. Those shouldn't count as living creatures, right?
Magical training dummies. He wondered if they had any special enchantments on them.
Standing up, he held the book in his left hand and raised his wand with his right, carefully breaking down the actions detailed in the text.
First the incantation, then the wand movement, and finally, the desire.
Following Professor Flitwick's teaching logic: if casting the Wand-Lighting Charm required placing oneself in darkness to draw out the craving for light...
Then what desire should he draw upon to practice the Softening Charm?
Charlie didn't consider himself a prodigy. It had taken him quite a bit of time to practice Lumos on his own, and looking back, he had definitely taken some detours.
Because of that, he didn't dare arrogantly disregard the techniques and mental frameworks Professor Flitwick had demonstrated in class.
Just like in the original story when Harry Potter practiced the Patronus Charm, Professor Lupin constantly had him focus on drawing out happy memories.
Actively coaxing out emotions, memories, and desires. It was clearly a tried-and-true method endorsed by multiple professors.
After thinking carefully, Charlie sifted through his memories.
How old was he? Six? He and his 'brother' Weston were in a rundown shack, grinning like idiots over half a loaf of rock-hard, frozen bread.
Out of options, they had tossed the bread straight onto the fire. The end result was a loaf that was charred black on the outside, but still rock-hard and freezing on the inside.
If there was ever a specific moment he desperately wanted something to soften, that was probably it.
Even though the bread wasn't in front of him now, the complex knot of emotions tied to that memory still lingered in his chest.
He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and gently began to flick his wand, mimicking the diagram in the book.
"Spongify!"
A surge of energy trembled at the tip of his wand. Then, a thin wisp of smoke smelling faintly of burnt plastic drifted into the air.
A failure.
Undeniably so. But he wasn't discouraged. He reviewed the attempt in his head for ten seconds before moving his wand again.
"Spongify!"
Time slipped away. Practicing this spell was taking much longer than he had anticipated.
Half an hour later, he whipped his wand at the dummy once more: "Spongify!"
Right before his eyes, the wooden dummy's shoulders seemed to slump down just a fraction.
He walked over and pressed his finger against the dummy's chest.
Under Charlie's pressure, the wood yielded slightly, denting inward. It now had the texture of thick rubber.
Even though it wasn't exactly soft and squishy yet, he still counted it as a successful cast.
He didn't rush to cast it again. Instead, he rapidly reviewed every detail of that specific attempt—every flick of the wand, every subtle shift in his tone.
It was almost a full minute before he raised his hand again: "Spongify!"
A subtle, barely perceptible flash of light hit the dummy. Before Charlie's eyes, the wooden figure's arms drooped heavily, stretching down nearly two inches.
Charlie reached out and lifted one of the dummy's hands. The arm flopped limply across his palm.
While the weight remained the same, the wooden arm now felt exactly like a piece of flexible rubber.
The progress was thrilling. Riding the high, he began casting the spell back-to-back in rapid succession.
He made it to his fifth consecutive cast, and just as he was raising his wand again—
Bang!
A sudden, sharp noise made his hand flinch violently, sending another puff of useless smoke from the tip of his wand.
He looked toward the source of the sound: the wooden dummy.
After Charlie's continuous casting, the dummy's arms had become so soft and stretched they were practically dragging on the floor. But now, it had completely reverted to its original, rigid state.
The noise he'd just heard was the explosive snap of its body violently snapping back into shape.
"What the...?"
Charlie stared at the training dummy in shock. He had to marvel at the sheer magic of the Room of Requirement and the deep pockets of Hogwarts.
Truly a millennium-old castle. He didn't know exactly how valuable these dummies were, but they certainly weren't cheap knock-offs from the high street.
Come to think of it, he had seen similar dummies sitting in the corner of the Charms classroom earlier.
They were probably the exact same type of enchanted training gear.
Taking a quick break, he fished a piece of moonlight chocolate out of his pocket and popped it into his mouth.
As he chewed, he thought back to Professor Flitwick's explanation of magical energy from that morning.
If magic was essentially the "stamina" used for magical exertion...
Did that make his moonlight chocolate the magical equivalent of a Red Bull?
Wait. Should he give Dumbledore a piece of moonlight chocolate to test out?
And maybe hustle him out of another Galleon while he was at it?
People with deep pockets were hard to come by, after all.
During his break, Charlie didn't just sit around. He left his textbook in the Room of Requirement and stepped out into the corridor.
"I need a room where I can brew potions and make sweets."
He paced three times. The Room of Requirement gave zero response.
Just as he thought.
Just like no one walks into a spicy Sichuan restaurant to order a birthday cake, asking a magical room in a wizarding school for a professional candy-making kitchen was pushing it.
Unrealistic.
However...
An idea was slowly beginning to take shape in Charlie's mind. Though, of course, he'd need to do a lot more testing on the Room of Requirement first.
Feeling refreshed, he requested the spell-practice room again and stepped back inside.
His textbook was still sitting exactly where he had left it on the desk.
Good news.
He turned his focus back to spell practice. Facing the dummy, he began waving his wand once more.
Time crawled by. Right as he popped his third piece of moonlight chocolate into his mouth, Charlie sat back down.
[Specialization Target: Softening Charm]
Finally...
Without hesitating, Charlie chose to upgrade it.
Instantly, his Wish Dust reserves plummeted.
In the blink of an eye, five points were consumed.
At the same time, a new skill popped up in the next row of his system interface.
[Traits: Natural Harvest, Softening Charm]
The effects of Natural Harvest went without saying; it was the foundation of his survival.
But as for the Softening Charm...
[Softening Charm: You may cast the Softening Charm upon yourself.]
?
For some inexplicable reason, Charlie's mind instantly flashed to a blue cat with a white belly, getting flattened and stretched into ridiculous shapes.
Similar to Natural Harvest, it seemed he could now cast a simplified version of this spell without needing a wand or an incantation.
Spongify!
With a mere thought, he cast the spell on his own right hand.
However, his right hand didn't look any different.
Thinking for a second, he picked up his heavy textbook and slowly pressed the spine into his palm.
Quickly, as he applied more and more pressure, a deep dent formed right in the center of his hand, yielding perfectly to the book.
"Did I just become a cartoon character?" Charlie laughed helplessly.
Looking at it this way, he could likely completely negate a massive amount of standard blunt-force physical trauma.
It was actually a brilliant defensive ability.
In a place as predictably chaotic as Hogwarts was going to be, having a skill like this was incredibly reassuring.
Having finished testing his new ability, he walked out of the Room of Requirement.
He strolled down the corridor and stopped by a window.
Looking out at the darkening sky, he let out a sigh.
A true gentleman ought to carry a pocket watch.
Shame he was just a broke kid from the streets.
He hurried down to the Great Hall. Perfect timing—dinner was still being served.
The Gryffindor table was right next to Ravenclaw's. As Charlie walked over, he ran straight into a few familiar faces.
"Charlie! How was your first day of classes?" Hermione waved at him. "Neville and I tried looking for you earlier, but we couldn't find you anywhere."
Just as she spoke, a sandy-haired boy standing a few feet away from them began furiously waving his wand at a toothpick on the table.
He was swinging it so hard he was practically whipping the air.
"Lumos!"
"Lumos!"
He was practically screaming the incantation.
The very next second—Bang!
Like a firecracker going off, a blinding flash of light and a sudden explosion echoed through the Great Hall, making almost everyone nearby jump out of their skin.
"Er, and this is...?" Charlie asked, looking at Hermione.
"Seamus," Neville whispered. "Seamus Finnigan. My roommate."
"Ah." Charlie nodded slowly. "Perhaps you might want to remind him about basic safety protocols."
Hearing this, Hermione took a deep breath.
"Hey! The school rules have clearly stated time and time again not to wave your wand around recklessly. Do you not care about the safety of others at all?"
Listening to Hermione, Charlie opened his mouth, closed it, and then looked at Neville.
Zero tact, opening straight with the rulebook. Classic.
"Who are you?" Seamus glared at Hermione, before noticing Neville beside her.
"Neville, who is this?"
I'm just going to leave now. Do not contact me, Charlie desperately wanted to say.
"Granger," a very annoyed voice answered for Seamus.
It was Ron Weasley. He rubbed his nose absentmindedly, remembering how she had barged into their train compartment the day before.
Honestly, Ron didn't have a single nice thing to say about Hermione. She was just an insufferable know-it-all.
"Don't know her," Seamus snapped. "And what's it to you anyway?"
"You were violating school rules, and you could have seriously injured someone," Hermione countered, planting her hands on her hips.
As they bickered, both of them suddenly turned their glares onto Neville.
Watching the trainwreck unfold, Charlie found it simultaneously exasperating and hilarious.
"I have to say, Hermione..." Charlie sighed.
"You truly are a master of the art of conversation."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Figure it out yourself." Charlie shrugged with a smirk, having zero intention of acting as her life coach.
"Sorry about that, mate. I'm the one who suggested they remind you to be careful," Charlie said, turning to Seamus.
"Just don't want you blowing your own eyebrows off. As for the spell—it's only our first class. It's completely normal not to get it right away. No need to rush it. I was waving my wand around like that this afternoon too, and made an absolute mess of things."
Looking at Charlie's calm smile and listening to his easy, empathetic tone, the irritation in Seamus's chest mostly evaporated.
He let out a breath. "Right. Yeah, I suppose you're right. Thanks for the heads up."
"Don't mention it." Charlie tapped two fingers to his forehead in a casual salute.
Seamus offered a goofy, exaggerated military salute in return.
"At least you know how to talk to people," Seamus added, clearly taking a shot at Hermione.
"You still shouldn't have—" Hermione started up again.
"Okay, hit the brakes," Charlie smiled, cleanly cutting her off.
He turned to Neville, deliberately changing the subject.
"So, you guys had Charms today too?" he asked.
"Yeah. No classes this morning, so we got to sleep in. Charms was in the afternoon," Neville nodded. "What about you?"
"Charms, just in the morning," Charlie confirmed.
He thought back to Professor Flitwick's lesson—the three pillars of spellcasting, the foundational breakdown of the Wand-Lighting Charm...
So Charms class was scheduled for everyone on Monday to serve as the official "introduction to spellcasting" for all the first-years?
It made sense.
After all, Professor Flitwick's lectures were incredibly accessible and easy to understand. Plus, the core mechanics of Charms inherently laid the groundwork for Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and pretty much everything else.