Spellbound Souls

Chapter 11. A Magical Refuge

Sebastian

"I want to show you something," as Cassandra speaks, she takes my hand in hers and leads me to the Defence Against the Dark Arts Tower. As I trail behind her walking up the stairs, I wonder where she is taking me.

"It helped me a lot when I had all these extra assignments when I started as a fifth year," she has piqued my curiosity. As we are standing in the hallway before the Astronomy Wing, she looks both ways if no other students are present. I'm distracted by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. When I see the trolls smashing their clubs on Barnaby's head, I can't help but chuckle.

"Sebastian, focus," Cassandra hisses at me. I turn around and we both look at an empty wall. I look at Cassandra via the corner of my eye. When I open my mouth to ask her what we are doing here, I see something moving within the wall. I advert my gaze and at the centre of the wall, a door appears. Before I can react, Cassandra drags me inside.

We step into a large room. The architecture is of a Gothic style, the ceiling rises high, and books are flying like birds in the air. The walls are decorated with moving paintings and are coloured green. I see several vivariums distributed throughout the room. In the middle of the room there is a seating area with sofas and a table. I marvel my gaze around the room, and I see, to the left, there is an even larger area.

"What is this place?" I ask in full awe.

"This is the Room of Requirements. My private quarters." Cassandra answers, quite proudly.

"Cassandra Crimson! Deek is so happy to see you. And Deek sees you brought a guest."

A house elf appeared out of thin air and is standing before us.

"Hello Deek, it is good to see you too. I was showing mister Sallow the room. I thought he might use it for his studies," Cassandra explains to him with a smile.

"What an excellent idea. I have taken care of the plants and the beasts, as you requested Deek."

While Cassandra and Deek have a conversation about the room, I'm still looking for little details in the room.

"Sebastian, this is Deek," I'm ripped from my observations, and I turn to Deek. I have seen him around the castle, but I never knew his name.

"Sebastian Sallow. A pleasure Deek," I introduce myself. "Welcome mister Sallow. If you need any assistance, do not hesitate to ask Deek," before I can answer he snaps his fingers and he disappears.

"How come you are in possession of this?" I inquire, gesturing to the object in Cassandra's possession.

"Professor Weasley gave it to me. Come on, let me give you a tour!" Cassandra responds eagerly, taking hold of my hand and leading me towards the left side of the room. We pass through a small corridor and descend a flight of stairs.

The room below is bustling with activity, filled with potion stations and potting tables. Grand windows line one wall, allowing sunlight to stream in and illuminate the space. In the centre, a large table surrounded by eight seats catches my eye. At the head of the table sits a beautiful grand armchair, offering a commanding view of the entire room when seated. The table is filled with books, quills and pieces of parchment. Cassandra's stationary.

Against the left wall of the stairs, there's a cozy sleeping area tucked away, separated by partitions and a door. Inside, there's a bed, two small armchairs, a nightstand with a phonograph, and a bookshelf filled with trinkets.

My gaze lands on the bed, and I wonder why it's here and what lies behind the closed door. Turning to Cassandra, I ask, "What's this room for?"

"I slept here during the summer after fifth year. I had nowhere else to go, and Professor Weasley let me stay here," she explains. A pang of guilt washes over me as I picture Cassandra spending countless hours in this room, especially after all the turmoil of fifth year. Knowing she stayed here during the summer, likely mourning and grappling with everything that had happened, weighs heavily on my mind. Sensing my unease, Cassandra lays a comforting hand on my shoulder.