𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙇𝙀𝙎𝙎 | mattheo riddle

84 | the room of requirement

Author's POV

Enzo takes a seat in his History of Magic class, his leg bobbing up and down with impatience as he waits for the long and boring class to end.

The class that never used to be so boring, when Layla was there sitting beside him, with him - entertaining each other and joking about as minutes passed. Time flied when the two best friends were together, and now Enzo doesn't have that.

He groans and looks over to Layla's empty seat, before shooting out of his chair when he hears the blissful words, "Class dismissed."

Finally, the end of the school day arrives and Enzo begins to race out of the classroom, running through the corridors and pushing past people until he makes it to the Slytherin common room. Bursting into the room, swinging the doors wide open, he stands there, bending over, hands on knees, and panting heavily.

The boys get up from the sofas and look at him worriedly, heading over to him.

"Enzo mate? You good?" Theodore asks and he nods.

"I found something." He whispers.

"Not here." Mattheo says under his breath, noticing the watching eyes of other students. "Come to my dorm."

The boys make their way to Mattheo's dorm and he locks it shut, using a silencing charm so no one can hear the conversation happening between the boys.

"Tell us Berkshire." Malfoy says.

"The Room of Requirement. I remember learning about it in class. It showed up for me, in an empty corridor." Enzo says, still breathless. "God, I need to be taking my iron tablets."

"The Room of Requirement!? You got to be joking." Blaise gasps.

"What was in it Enzo?" Liam asks curiously.

"Follow me and you'll find out."

***

The boys stand outside an empty wall in an empty corridor, and Enzo closes his eyes. As he opens them, he finds the same two grand doors standing before them and the boys gasp.

"Holy shit!" Dylan exclaims, holding his head.

"You got to be joking." Malfoy scoffs, looking up at the grand doors in wonder.

The boys pause for a second and glance at Mattheo, who nods and the proceeds to open the doors, as they all step inside. Mattheo stops in his tracks and the boys behind him fumble and bump into him, but they too stop in amazement when they look around at the room.

The Training Hall. An exact replica of the one back at base, only this one has a bar, filled with drinks and snacks. The interior design is much more technological and intricate, and the equipment much more advanced.

Their jaws are dropped and their eyes widen as they look around in utter awe.

"Hogwarts." Liam sighs. "It's telling us to be ready."

"A war is coming lads. We need to be prepared. Otherwise, this room wouldn't have shown up for Enzo." Mattheo explains to the rest of them.

"It's- it's exactly like the training hall back at base but ten times better." Dylan says, still in shock.

A moment of silence, before the boys look at each other and in an instant, run off in all directions, claiming their equipment and immediately starting to prepare and train for the war that they know is coming for them.

Blaise heads to his kitchens, preparing his healing food and drinks, which once he's cooked, packs them in a satchel. Liam heads over to his worktop, only to find that the suits he made have been teleported from underneath Enzo's bed to the table in front of him. Dylan gets into his boxing ring, a hologram suddenly appearing before him, ready to attack.

"Bro this base is so much better than the original!" Dylan gasps, before ducking as the hologram attempts to punch him.

Mattheo begins to prepare his knives. Choosing his favourites for the battle to come, as well as Theodore who prepares his guns, but he stops and looks around, Enzo not with him.

He scans the room, only to find Enzo by the bar, grabbing some snacks.

"Enzo man." Theodore groans.

"Layla must be hungry! I'm just saving these for her of course." He shrugs, shoving another biscuit into his mouth.

"Enzo you fatty." Draco snorts.

"Shut it Malfoy. Look! They even got your wifey." Enzo laughs, throwing a green apple at Draco, who catches it with one hand.

"Five-a-day Berkshire, five-a-day!"

***

After a strenuous hour of training and getting prepared with the things they need, the group gathers around a circular table in the middle of the hall, and Mattheo places a large map down onto it. He leans forward, both hands on the table has he points to the map, looking around at the boys.

"This is the night club which he's keeping her hostage in. Dylan and Blaise both observed that many guards were placed around the venue, including by the white door which we suspect leads to Layla." Mattheo explains.

"Me and Dylan tried our best to memorise where each of the guards are placed." Blaise adds, pointing to each of the 'X' marks drawn onto the map with red pen.

"As you can see, it's heavily guarded, and we have to presume that they're magic folk. So we need to be high on alert. This isn't some ordinary night club. It's owned by Spector, so he has all the control in this situation, therefore," Mattheo takes a breath. "We're going to have to go in with disguises."

"Ooo, time to play dress up." Enzo giggles, rubbing his hands together.

"I've already cooked up some Polyjuice potion. That should do the trick." Blaise says.

"Right. Then we're ready." Mattheo sighs.

"So... we just waltz in there and hope for the best?" Theodore asks.

"We go in, get Layla, and get out. But, we'll have to find a way to get past those two guards." Mattheo says. "Luckily for us, I've already thought of that."

"We'll do whatever it takes to get her back." Dylan says, cracking his knuckles.

"Whatever it takes."