The Grey Lady

"Why in the world are you chasing me throughout the castle? How are you finding me? Can't I simply rest in death?" the Grey Lady almost screamed his head off.

"Nice to meet you too Ms. Grey Lady. I am Magnus Webb. I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience I caused you. It was a spell gone awry," Magnus gave her as much of an innocent smile as he could manage. He hoped to calm her down. No need to anger the house ghost when he's got a few more years to spend here. One Peeves was annoying enough. Besides, she has a good reputation.

"What kind of wretched spell is that to chase after young maidens?" the Grey Lady asked part annoyed but part intrigued. Magnus sighed in his heart as she seemed to calm down.

"It's a divination spell you see…" he explained to her briefly. Magnus observed she looked very intrigued by the workings of the spell. Her prideful yet angry look were replaced by a curious look.

"Fascinating. Although it is rough around the edges. I could see some areas where improvements could be made-" she was about to continue when she realized she lost her composure.

"Please go ahead," Magnus encouraged her. He was always up for improving his spells. If there was free advice to be had, why not take it? That seemed to please her as she spoke to him about some of her speculations. She stopped again after a few minutes. Magnus didn't want to stop her though so he threw her a bait, "Aren't you curious why the spell tagged you as important?"

"Of course, I'm important. At least that's something that your spell got correct. Make sure to not annoy me in the future though. Off you go now, it's late," the Grey Lady said haughtily with a tone of finality. It was clear that she wasn't willing to talk anymore. It's been a while since she has spoken to a student for this long. She always liked intelligent conversations. She didn't want to recall the last time that it had happened. To her, such things were better left forgotten.

"Alright Ms. Grey Lady. I'll see you around," Magnus gave her a nod and exited the room. Despite the running around, the day did turn out to be fruitful. The Grey Lady seemed to match Ravenclaw perfectly- intelligent and curious yet prideful. He had spoken to other ghosts before yet she's a cut above the other ghosts when it came to intelligence. 'I'll pick your brain another day,' he decided.

Days passed by as usual for Magnus. He kept impressing his professors and earning points. All except for Binns and Snape as usual. He wondered if Binns even knew his name and Snape was… eh Snape. It's hard to say with Snape as he never gives points or scolds him. Snape only assigns him more homework than the others and usually on topics not yet covered in class. Roger was pretty sure that it was Snape's way of harassing Magnus but Magnus didn't care. While he didn't gain any house points, he did occasionally get some impact points and they were more important to him. He found the tasks enjoyable as despite him already knowing most of the topics covered, Snape always had something to say that wasn't listed anywhere in the books. He just has to tune out the tone of Snape and it's all good information after that. The handy charm that he found in Flitwick's book enabled him to automate his quill to write in his handwriting, so excess homework is no burden on his hands. Madam Pomfrey too seemed to be satisfied with him for reducing her work load. It always made him wonder how the students of Hogwarts could get hurt in so many ways. 'Giving free reign on magic to kids and teenagers does that I guess,' he chuckled. He wasn't any better.

Magnus finished his afternoon Transfiguration class where they turned mice to snuffboxes. It was a satisfying lesson and he was feeling a bit peckish when two hands suddenly pulled him into a secret passage.

"How's it going Magnus?" the Weasley twins greeted in their usual funny tone.

"Really funny guys," Magnus retorted as he quickly pocketed his wand. He almost hexed them, a courtesy of Tonks' training. Fred and George kept popping up all around the castle unexpectedly ever since they got the map. It drove Filch crazy from what he heard.

"Feeling a bit peckish, are we?"

"We got something just for you?" they said sounding like bad salesmen. They steered him through the winding passageway and somehow, they ended up in the basement. Hogwarts was like that. One moment you would be on the seventh floor and after taking a secret passageway, you would end up on the first floor. They walked past what they pointed out as the Hufflepuff common room and through a corridor decorated with food paintings. They stopped in front of one such a painting of a bowl of fruits.

George reached out to tickle the pear in the painting which in turn giggled and turned into a green doorknob. He then twisted the knob and entered while beckoning them to follow. The room they entered had a high ceiling that you wouldn't expect to fit in a basement and had four long tables that looked suspiciously like that of the Great Hall. There were lots of pots and pans hanging on the stone walls, plenty of stoves and a large fireplace that filled the room.

The room seemed empty for a moment but all of a sudden loud popping sounds filled the air accompanied by dozens of peculiar looking creatures. 'House-elves!' Magnus recognized from the books. They were dressed in togas made of tea-towels bearing the symbol of Hogwarts. Their skin looked leathery and their ears droopy. A long nose and wide round eyes that put puppies to shame adorned their faces.

"Welcome to Hogwarts Kitchens mate."

[Impact Point+10]

"Our pointy-eared friends here are the house-elves that make all the food in Hogwarts," the twins introduced to him.

"Thank you for your hard work," Magnus thanked them sincerely.

"Oh, Masters Wheezies and Wheezies's friend, you speak too kindly. We only do our jobs as good house-elves do," they all said at the same time with blushing faces and excited eyes.

"We found this place two days ago-"

"-great place to find snacks at odd times, if you know what I mean," the twins said with exaggerated winking.

"What would you like masters?" an old house-elf came forward to them as the rest of them pulled the trio to sit. He spoke more clearly than the rest of his compatriots.

"Some cake and drink I reckon my good old-elf," Fred requested. Right away two elves came to them with plates filled with cakes and different types of fruit juice. Magnus and the twins ate as they conversed. The house-elves refused to eat along with them and were only very eager to please. Magnus found their obedience unnerving. He thought of saying something but held back as he looked at their adoring faces. He decided to read up on them later. Maybe there would be something that would explain their behavior.

"Uh-oh, Filch is closing in on one of our stashes. Damn, Peeves must have tipped him off-"

"-sorry Magnus got to go. You finish up here," the Weasley twins spoke in succession as they looked at the map and ran away quickly while taking a few pieces of cake.

"Well it's only you and me I guess," Magnus shrugged at the old elf as they rest of the elves got busy cooking, no doubt for the evening meal.

"So, What's your name?" Magnus asked the old elf. It was getting awkward not knowing how to address him.

"I am called Wosky master," the elf replied.

"Well Wosky, I'm called Magnus. None of that master business now," Magnus replied.

"Alright Master Magnus," Wosky looked at him stubbornly. Magnus just shook his head. These elves were stubborn to a fault.

"So Wosky, what else do you lot do here?" he decided to change the topic.

"We cook, clean the castle, do laundry and help move luggage," Wosky explained seriously.

"How come I never saw you?" Magnus asked curiously. Not just him, none of the other students seem to have seen any house-elves around Hogwarts. They read about them in the books and know that house-elves exist in Hogwarts, but have never seen them.

"Of course, you won't. A good house-elf never gets caught while working. That's a sign of a good house-elf. We are good elves," Wosky patted his chest proudly. It was mirrored by the rest of the elves around him.

'Weird, but ok. It's a house-elf thing I guess,' Magnus let it pass. Ordinary logic doesn't seem to apply to house-elves.

"Well, since you move all around the castle, you must know many secrets about the place yes? Anything worth mentioning?" Magnus asked curiously.

"We can't tell you much Master Magnus. Hogwarts rules. But there is one very secret place. It's the Come and Go room," Wosky said with a silly smile.