"The strong never make their own choices… they want everything…" Tom was thoughtful after listening to Robert's analysis.
Suddenly, the door to the Room of Requirement opened.
Anne walked in, glancing at the two people in the room. She was about to speak when her eyes landed on Tom Cat, who was carefully brewing a potion.
Anne blinked. Then, she rubbed her eyes.
Frowning, she shook her head, stepped out, and closed the door again.
A moment later, the door opened once more.
Anne peered inside again at Tom, still stirring the cauldron.
Then, she retreated once more.
After repeating this three times, Tom finally asked, "Are you performing some kind of strange ritual?"
"No… I don't know… I think I'm hallucinating. I just saw a cat brewing a potion..." Anne stared at Tom Cat, who was concentrating on his work. "Well, I guess I'm sick. This hallucination is still here..."
"This is not an illusion, Anne," Robert said helplessly.
In fact, if Anne hadn't spent nearly all her free time over the past three months searching for the source of magical power, she would have discovered Tom Cat's transformation much earlier. It wouldn't have taken her until today to witness him brewing a potion.
However, the fact that she was in the Room of Requirement today was proof that she had finally found it.
Otherwise, her expression wouldn't be so relaxed.
After a moment, Anne finally accepted that what she was seeing was real.
Then, she became so absorbed in watching Tom Cat work that she forgot why she had come in the first place.
Once Tom Cat poured the finished potion into a bottle, he stood up and trotted over to Robert, holding the bottle in his paws.
Robert, who was brewing another batch of potion, took out his wand and tapped the bottle.
The potion instantly cooled.
Seeing this, Tom Cat tilted his head back and eagerly gulped it down before running back to his nest, where he lay on his back and fell into a deep sleep.
After witnessing the entire event, Anne turned to Tom, who was calmly reading a book beside her.
"Tom… does this seem normal to you?"
Tom shrugged. "A lot of outrageous things seem less outrageous when they happen around Robert."
He had grown completely used to the strange occurrences surrounding Robert.
Moreover, since he had grown up in an orphanage and had only recently been introduced to the wizarding world, Tom was far less surprised by these peculiarities than Anne, who had grown up in a wizarding family.
"Alright… as long as you're happy…" Anne now fully understood why Grindelwald was so interested in these two.
"So, why did you suddenly come here? Or do you want to practice magic with us?" Tom asked.
"Ah! Yes! I almost forgot!" Anne suddenly remembered her reason for coming. "I have something important to tell you both!"
Robert and Tom exchanged glances before turning their attention to Anne, waiting for her next words.
"It's about that magical power! Grindelwald didn't take all of it! There's still a lot hidden in places he hasn't discovered!" Anne said excitedly.
Robert and Tom immediately showed great interest.
"You mean… there's still a lot of magical power left undiscovered? But how is that possible? There was barely any left in the Forbidden Forest!" Robert asked anxiously.
"I've been investigating this for a while now!" Anne explained. "You might think it's hopeless, but I just couldn't give up. Then, it suddenly occurred to me—since this magical power was hidden in the remains of the Forbidden Forest, why wouldn't there be some in the largest nearby building… Hogwarts Castle? Maybe Professor Morgana left some behind in the castle as well?"
"So, you started your search in Hogwarts Castle?" Robert asked. "If you had this idea, why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"I… I was afraid you'd laugh at me," Anne admitted. "What if I found nothing? It would've been a waste of effort."
"That makes sense… Ahem, I wasn't planning to laugh at you," Tom said.
"But since you're telling us now, that means you really found something?" Robert asked.
"Yes!" Anne exclaimed. "I searched everywhere but couldn't find anything. Just as I was about to give up, I saw Peeves throw a dung bomb at a group of students and then run straight through a wall. That's when it hit me—ghosts roam the castle all day. They must know places that we don't!"
"Oh! Yes! We can ask the ghosts! Why didn't I think of that? Anne, you're amazing!" Robert said admiringly.
"That's a great idea, Anne! You're really smart!" Tom added, feeding into her excitement.
Anne felt flattered. She had worked hard on this investigation, and hearing praise from these two—who were valued by Grindelwald—was incredibly gratifying.
She nearly floated from the compliments.
"Then, I started talking to the ghosts. I didn't dare ask directly about magical power, so I asked them if there were any hidden rooms or secret passages in the castle…" Anne said, pulling a large piece of parchment from her pocket and spreading it out.
Robert and Tom leaned in to look. The parchment displayed a detailed floor plan of Hogwarts Castle.
Many corridors had "secret passage" marked on them.
Even the Room of Requirement was labeled.
This proved that Anne had made significant discoveries over the past few months.
Even though she hadn't located the magical power yet, she had found numerous useful secret passages and rooms.
Robert was thrilled. His knowledge of Hogwarts' secret locations mainly came from his memories before traveling through time.
He had long wanted such a map, but the Marauder's Map hadn't been created yet.
And now, Anne had placed a complete map of the castle's secret passages right in front of him!
This was what people called an unexpected windfall.
His eyes briefly flickered toward the third-floor girls' bathroom on the map.
However, there was no secret passage marked there.
Robert wasn't surprised.
Although it was the entrance to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, it required going through a long pipe first.
Male ghosts typically avoided girls' bathrooms, and the female ghosts who passed by probably assumed it was just an ordinary sewer pipe.
No one had ever looked closely, so it made sense that they didn't know its secret.
Come to think of it… how did fifth-year Tom discover it?
Could it be that… this guy had a habit of sneaking into the girls' bathroom?
Robert shot a suspicious glance at Tom.
Tom, confused by Robert's expression, frowned.
"It's here!" Anne pointed to a hollow space beneath the castle. "The Bloody Baron said there's a huge secret chamber here. Someone stored a powerful force inside, and a great battle took place there… That sounds exactly like the place described in the manuscript where Professor Morgana first gathered this magical power!"
"Then how do you know there's still magical power there? What if it was taken during the battle?" Robert asked.
Anne hesitated. "I don't know for sure. But now that we know about it, don't you want to check it out?"
Anne had actually read about this location in a manuscript she secretly took from Grindelwald. But she couldn't tell Robert that.
"Alright… we'll find a time to investigate," Robert said with a smile. "Anne, when do you want to take action?"
"I'll do more research! You guys should prepare! I'll let you know once I have everything figured out!" Anne said as she packed up her map and left.
After the door shut, Tom asked, "Why is she telling us this? Isn't this out of your plan?"
"Plans change, Tom," Robert replied, smirking. "In fact, this development is beneficial for us."
"Beneficial?" Tom raised an eyebrow.
Robert chuckled. "I admit there's an element of risk, Tom… but fortune favors the bold."
Tom sighed. Robert had surely prepared for every possibility.
But what worried him was… in all of Robert's careful planning, had he accounted for Tom himself?
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