"What? You're saying you want to take some time off?"
In her office, Professor McGonagall looked at Kyle, momentarily thinking she had misheard him.
"Yes," Kyle nodded. "For a month or two. I want to be able to use my time as I see fit during that period."
"Well..." Professor McGonagall frowned, not answering immediately. Instead, she asked, "Does Professor Sprout know you want to take some time off?"
"Yes," Kyle said. "I went to Professor Sprout first, and she agreed, but only for Herbology class."
"And she told me that if I wanted to be absent for a longer period, I would need to get the Headmaster's signature."
"That is correct," Professor McGonagall acknowledged.
"But Professor Dumbledore has been away from school recently," Kyle shrugged. "So I had to come here."
Since Dumbledore was frequently occupied, Professor McGonagall, as Deputy Headmistress, handled most administrative matters at the school. Naturally, she had no issue signing necessary documents.
"I can grant your request," Professor McGonagall said, glancing at the application Kyle had handed her. After only a moment's hesitation, she signed her name on the form and added,
"But I must warn you, even if you don't attend classes, you cannot leave the school. You need your parents' permission to do so. This is non-negotiable, no matter how outstanding your grades are."
"Of course, I understand," Kyle said. "I'll just stay in the castle and not go anywhere."
Seeing that Kyle had agreed, Professor McGonagall returned the application to him and asked casually,
"Can you tell me why?"
"Ah, I may have to attend an important remedial class during this period, and I'm a bit short on time, so I'll have to give up my regular classes."
"What did you say?" Professor McGonagall's head jerked up.
She had assumed Kyle simply wanted to spend the rest of his time at Hogwarts in the library—after all, this was not uncommon.
Many top students, especially in the latter half of their seventh year, found that attending classes became unnecessary. Studying independently in the library was often just as effective, if not better.
"Who's going to give you extra lessons?" Professor McGonagall asked, her tone almost as if she were expecting him to say Professor Dumbledore.
In her mind, only the Headmaster was capable of providing Kyle with private lessons.
"No, it's Rowena Ravenclaw."
Kyle's tone was so calm and matter-of-fact that for a moment, Professor McGonagall nearly jumped from her chair.
In her sudden shock, the quill in her hand snapped.
"Who did you say?"
"Rowena Ravenclaw," Kyle repeated. "Professor Dumbledore probably mentioned it. Ravenclaw's Diadem is in the castle, along with some of her memories."
Professor McGonagall nodded stiffly.
Dumbledore had mentioned it.
In the search for the legendary Diadem, several professors had scoured the castle, turning it upside down, but they never found anything.
Because of this, there had been a division among the faculty—some believed Dumbledore, while others were convinced he was simply getting senile.
Although Professor McGonagall had never explicitly stated her opinion, she had leaned toward the latter... at least until she saw the Diadem.
"I met her yesterday," Kyle continued. "I helped Madam Ravenclaw with a small task, and she arranged this tutorial as a way of thanking me."
Professor McGonagall took several deep breaths.
For a brief moment, she wondered if Kyle had cast an advanced Confundus Charm on her.
Someone from a thousand years ago had not only returned but was also giving private lessons?
No rational person would say something so utterly absurd.
And yet—
This was Kyle.
And in the story Dumbledore had told, Kyle was the one who had brought Ravenclaw's Diadem back to Hogwarts.
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips tightly and asked, "Are you serious?"
"Of course," Kyle replied.
He had no intention of hiding the fact that Ravenclaw had opened a "tutoring class" in the Room of Requirement, at least not from the professors at Hogwarts.
Everyone ultimately had the same goal, and even Ravenclaw herself had no objections, so there was no reason for him to keep it a secret.
Of course, this only applied to the professors—not the students.
There were simply too many of them, and the supplementary lessons primarily focused on runes. Kyle estimated that fewer than fifty students in the entire school had taken Ancient Runes classes.
And even among those fifty, most could barely manage to translate runes. It would be useless for them to attend—at best, they would just be taking a sightseeing tour of Hogwarts from a thousand years ago.
Ravenclaw had also mentioned that the "cram school" had a limited duration, and Kyle had no desire to waste time leading tours.
Seeing that Professor McGonagall still seemed unconvinced, Kyle spoke plainly.
"If you don't believe me, I can take you to the place where I attend the lessons."
"Okay," Professor McGonagall said, standing up immediately.
But before she could step out of the office, Kyle added, "But not now..."
"Why?"
"Because I don't have the key with me, and I can't get in right now." Kyle shrugged. "If the professor doesn't mind, how about after dinner?"
There was nothing Professor McGonagall could do but agree.
After Kyle left the office, she turned back to the stack of homework on her desk. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't focus.
In the end, she simply pushed the work aside, stood up, and walked toward the Headmaster's office.
Although she knew it was unlikely that Dumbledore had returned, she still wanted to try.
More than anything, she needed to process what she had just heard.
A thousand years ago, Rowena Ravenclaw had somehow returned to Hogwarts through her Diadem and was now offering to give private lessons to a student.
Every piece of information Kyle had revealed challenged sixty years of her understanding of the world, testing the limits of her sanity.
Professor McGonagall needed to hear another person's perspective. Dumbledore was the ideal choice—perhaps he already knew something.
Unfortunately, the Headmaster's office was empty.
Dumbledore was still away, engaged in his battle against Voldemort.
McGonagall instinctively reached for parchment, intending to write him a letter. But after a moment of hesitation, she put it away.
She understood all too well the dangers of dealing with Voldemort.
There was no point in troubling Dumbledore over something that had yet to be confirmed.
It was just until dinner. She could wait.
After leaving the Headmaster's office, McGonagall did not return to her own.
She was in no state of mind to grade essays.
She needed somewhere else to pass the time.
After a brief moment of thought, she turned and headed straight for the greenhouse on the school grounds.
…
And just like that, the afternoon quickly drew to a close.
Around three o'clock, a door suddenly appeared in one of the corridors on the eighth floor of the castle.
This strange occurrence startled a certain third-year Gryffindor who happened to be passing by. Without thinking, he turned and ran.
Ten minutes later, he returned with a group of classmates, eager to investigate what had happened.
But the door had magically vanished.
"I knew you were lying, Dennis," one of them scoffed. "I've walked this corridor countless times. Do you think I wouldn't notice if there was a hidden door?"
"No, I'm not," Dennis Creevey said anxiously, reaching out and gesturing at the wall.
"It was right here. I saw it with my own eyes. There was even a handle on the door."
"Give it up," another student said. "You're just trying to get Harry Potter's attention again...
"But congratulations, you've succeeded—Potter's here."
As he spoke, Harry came running toward them, breathless.
But it was no use.
No matter what he tried, he still couldn't open the door to the Room of Requirement.
…
Meanwhile, in the field by the Black Lake, Kanna returned the raven-shaped door knocker to Kyle.
"Why did you come out so quickly?" Kyle asked.
"I don't understand," Kanna sighed, speaking honestly. "It feels like I'm taking an advanced Ancient Runes class. I understand every word the professors say, but when they're put together, it just doesn't make sense."
"By the way, Cho didn't get it either. She said her head felt like it was about to burst and went back to the common room."
"Okay," Kyle said, casually taking back the raven door knocker.
That was why he had said he didn't have a key.
Before going to see Professor McGonagall to request a leave of absence, Kyle had given the key to Kanna and told her to go to the Room of Requirement. Kanna had then suggested inviting Cho along.
Kyle hadn't gone with them since he had to handle his leave request, but he had deliberately repeated Ravenclaw's previous words to Kanna, warning her not to listen too intently in case it conflicted with what she had already learned.
And now, this was the result.
Kanna hadn't studied runes in depth. Though she could just about follow the lessons, she found them incredibly difficult. Cho had fared even worse—Kyle recalled that the last time she'd looked so lost was when she first took Ancient Runes.
It only confirmed that those lessons weren't for everyone. After all, Cho was one of the top students in Ravenclaw.
"And you?" Kanna asked. "Did Professor McGonagall approve your leave request?"
"Of course," Kyle replied, pulling out the application with McGonagall's signature. "Starting next week, I can skip classes until the end of the school year."
As they chatted, they spotted Professor McGonagall emerging from the greenhouse with Professor Sprout. The two professors hurried toward the castle, seemingly in a rush.
It was only natural—since Dumbledore had washed his hands of school affairs, Professor McGonagall had taken on all the responsibilities.
Kyle hesitated, lowering the hand he had just raised to stop them.
He had been considering taking McGonagall to the Room of Requirement, since Kanna had left earlier than expected. But seeing that she was busy, he decided to wait until the evening.
Kyle sat back down beside Kanna, enjoying the cool breeze from the Black Lake as she recounted her experiences in the Room of Requirement.
"I saw Helga Hufflepuff," she said. "She looked exactly like her portrait."
"And there were so few people there—not even as many as a single year group nowadays."
…
For some reason, dinner was about half an hour earlier than usual today. By the time Kyle received the message and hurried over from the field, dinner was already halfway through.
He and Kanna quickly returned to the table and managed to eat a few bites before the meal ended.
After the professors had finished eating, they left the Great Hall one by one.
When Kyle stepped outside, he immediately noticed a row of professors standing by the door.
Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout were all present—except for Snape, who had disappeared since yesterday. All three Heads of Houses were there.
Standing among them was also Bathsheda Babbling, the professor of Ancient Runes.
As soon as Kyle emerged, they all turned to look at him in unison.
Kyle pursed his lips and asked, "Professor McGonagall, what is this..."
"Everyone is curious," Professor McGonagall admitted, looking somewhat embarrassed.
She had only intended to ask someone about the Diadem, but in the process, she had inadvertently revealed much more than she had planned. By the time she realized it, nearly all the professors had learned the reason Kyle had requested a leave of absence.
Who wouldn't be curious about Rowena Ravenclaw's extra lessons? So now, here they were.
"Of course, this is also for your safety," Professor Sprout added.
Kyle didn't mind. "It's okay, just follow me."
The professors present were all trustworthy—there were no traitors among them. There was no harm in bringing them along.
So, with four professors in tow, Kyle led the way toward the eighth floor.
Along the way, they attracted quite a bit of attention, and speculation spread quickly about what they were up to.
A few students even attempted to follow them discreetly, eager to gather first-hand information.
But the moment Professor McGonagall cast a stern glance over her shoulder, her expression utterly unreadable, they quickly abandoned the idea.
Upon reaching the eighth floor, Kyle navigated a few familiar turns before stopping at the middle of a corridor. Without hesitation, he placed the raven-shaped door knocker against the wall.
Before the astonished gazes of the professors, a door materialized out of thin air.
"Is there such a place at Hogwarts?" Professor Flitwick couldn't help but ask.
He had been teaching at the school for decades, yet he had never known of such a location.
But no one answered.
Kyle had already pulled open the door and stepped inside. Professor McGonagall followed immediately, with Professor Babbling close behind.
The moment they stepped through, their expressions shifted to shock once more.
Before them was what looked like the entrance hall of Hogwarts. The Great Hall stood to the left, and the familiar staircases stretched ahead. Aside from some minor differences in the decorations, everything was nearly identical—even down to the students moving about.
There was another Hogwarts inside Hogwarts?
The idea was difficult to grasp, even for the most learned minds.
But professors were still professors—people who had seen and studied the extraordinary. They quickly regained their composure and began analyzing their surroundings.
It didn't take long for them to recognize the distinctions between this place and their own school.
Everything here was pristine, untouched by time. It wasn't just a replica—it was Hogwarts from another era.
"It's amazing," Professor Babbling murmured, placing a hand against the wall and narrowing her eyes.
"It's as if this place was constructed with runes... and oh, it's sustained by the magic of the castle itself… This is truly an enormous project. Incredible!"
She was right.
Every day, as students cast spells, practice magic, or simply go about their lives at Hogwarts, a certain amount of excess magical energy is produced.
This residual magic is absorbed and redistributed throughout the castle, powering its enchanted elements—the moving staircases, the talking armor, the animated portraits.
And, of course, the Room of Requirement.
In other words, if there were no students left at Hogwarts, the Room of Requirement would eventually cease to exist.
"That's just the basics. The real magic is on the second floor."
With that, Kyle walked up the stairs, leading the professors to the classroom where he had previously attended a lesson.
It was only then that the professors truly realized what this so-called make-up class entailed.
Inside the classroom, a professor they had never seen before was giving a serious lecture. His posture was upright, his expression strict, and he spoke with the kind of authority expected from a Hogwarts professor.
Then, noticing the group standing outside the door, he abruptly turned to them and reprimanded them in a sharp, impatient tone:
"What are you still standing outside for? Don't you know that class has already started?"
The professors, who had spent decades teaching at Hogwarts, never imagined they would one day be scolded like errant students. The situation was almost surreal—like they were first-years caught sneaking into the wrong class.
And yet, the most awkward part was that they couldn't even refute him.
Professor Flitwick, in particular, found himself instinctively stepping into the room, drawn by an inexplicable familiarity. It didn't take him long to recognize that this was a Charms class.
Professor McGonagall, watching the scene unfold, turned to Kyle and asked, "Did Rowena Ravenclaw create all of this?"
"Yes," Kyle nodded. "This is the school from her memories—Hogwarts as it was a thousand years ago. I can study here for a while."
That explanation was enough to convince McGonagall.
To construct an entire world from memories—one that felt real and functional—was an astonishing feat. Even Dumbledore, for all his power, had never accomplished anything like it. Perhaps only the Founders could.
As she considered this, the three remaining professors exchanged brief glances.
Then, without a word, they silently dispersed, moving off in different directions and stepping into various classrooms, clearly beginning to search for something.
Kyle, left behind, curled his lips slightly, watching their disappearing figures.
"What about my safety?" he muttered under his breath, though he wasn't particularly surprised by their actions.
Shrugging, he walked into a classroom at random.
What amazed him most was that, despite the delay outside with the professors, the moment he stepped in, the lesson had just begun—nothing had been missed.