Kitchen

Chapter: 47

Kitchen

The impromptu gathering completely surprised both Mia and Alex. Richard and Kyle brought out many kinds of sweets and also salty foods. The classroom was easily lit up with candles that were found on the floor and after a couple of spells, they were floating around the room and created a cozy atmosphere.

After eating a couple of snacks, this whole thing somehow turned into a learning session. Mia and Alex were quite envious of their magical abilities, and they asked them for their advice.

"Can you teach us how you just did all of this?" Alex asked in a curious voice as she pointed around at the entire room where lit candles were floating through this clean room. The tables and chairs were repaired, and the room had lost its unused look a couple of minutes ago.

Mia was sitting right next to her dear friend and was also looking at her companions, but she could only nod at the words of her friend as her mouth was full of some muggle sweets that were out on the table.

"Ah, you already know the levitation charm. The one that I used for the candles is just an improved version of it. The rest of the charms are a few household and everyday charms. I can show them to you if you want."

Richard answered when he saw the curiosity in the girls' eyes and knew that both of them had much more than only interest in this area. He knew this look of excitement and wonder at the sight of this new world. They sure would make excellent students, and he waved both of them to his side of the table.

All of them were now positioned next to each other and everyone from the trio showed the girls a different household charm and explained everything about it.

Time was completely forgotten at this point and it was just flowing by. All 5 of them went into their study modus and completely lost the track of time. Kyle was the first one to notice something as he looked through the windows at some point and saw the sun gradually dimming. After looking at his watch, he then chuckled a little and spoke.

"Guys, I think we should put down an alarm for our next time. Dinner times are already over and it's shortly after 8 pm."

Richard and Sniffy were as nonchalant about this as Kyle, and only Mia and Alex had a frown on their two little faces. "Damn, what do we do now?" Mia looked around and asked, but as she was not seeing any of them worrying a bit, she too calmed down.

"It's already this late, guys. I think we should head out to our common rooms and get ready for bed." Said Alex while looking around, but she clearly was thinking something different as she was touching her stomach.

"Grmmmmmlll"

A rumbling sound was heard in the entire room, and both girls looked at the floor in an embarrassed manner. Richard looked at the group and got hyped up for some reason. "Yosh, let's go get something to eat. We know where the kitchens are. I hope something is left from dinner."

Everyone weirdly looked at him as he said "Yosh" but he could not care less. It was one of his favorite yesses, and he would only use it more often after now. Knowing that they had a little less than an hour left till curfew, and it was quite bad to feel hungry before going to bed, the girls needed no convincing.

The trip to the kitchen did not last them long since they were on the first floor and needed to just walk down by the entrance hall. A couple of corridors later, they were in front of the kitchen entrance. Kyle and Richard had found it yesterday while mapping the area. Its entrance was as funny as it was described in the book, and Richard rubbed the pear of the giant food picture, who then opened up a door to the kitchens.

Stepping through the door, it was the first time for Alex and Mia and they were completely overwhelmed by the scene that they saw in front of them.

The room was very extensive, and it was even bigger than the great hall above. Empty tables stood there, and they mirrored their counterparts up there and were positioned exactly the same way. House-elfs were shuffling around while dealing with the aftermath of dinner.

Plates, glasses, and food were flying through the air in a strange path. Everything was on collision course till the last possible moment, and then they turned away the moment they were about to collide. It was a strange piece of magic, truly.

The newcomers stood there and looked at the bustling scene for a few moments before a loud squeak was heard. "Ah, masters are here. What can Huffy do for you? Do young master want something to eat?"

One of the house-elfs had seen them standing at the entrance and came running to them. She was wearing a maid outfit, albeit an old one, and an apron over it. With shining eyes, she stood in front of them and waited for an answer, while being in quite an excited state.

"Hello there, is some food leftover from dinner? When yes, then can you show us the way? We can get it ourselves, by the way. I am Sniffy and these are my friends, Richard, Kyle, Alex, and Mia."

Sniffy introduced them and asked the little elf for directions. She was overjoyed when she heard her, but quickly denied her. "Sorry, but Huffy will get you some food. There's plenty leftover from dinner. Just sit down here and wait for a second."

Huffy said with authority in her voice that would not compromise and pointed at the table next to them. There were no chairs there, but the grumbling stomach of the group did not care about any of that.

Alex and Mia were wholly dumbfounded when they got into this kitchen and did not know about house-elfs, at all. Sniffy was explaining all about them while they waited and were standing in front of the table. She told them how most old wizard families mistreated them and they were just misunderstood beings looking to absorb some magic to live.

How they had lived through a long time of slavery and abuse and it was to where many of them believed that to be slaves was their honor.

Both girls were in tears at this point and had forgotten all about eating. It was at this moment that Huffy came back alongside many floating dishes. With a finger snip, some plates and cutlery along an empty glass appeared before them on the table and chairs appeared behind them.

Setting the dishes down, the elf then bowed to the kids and said. "I hope you will like it. Huffy has selected the best of today's meals. Is something wrong, missus?"

She asked when she saw the state in which Alex and Mia were currently in. It took all the group to calm down the two girls and it would also take a long time to change such views of many old pureblood families. "No, everything is fine. Thank you, Huffy. Thanks for your help."

Alex said to the excited house-elf, who was concerned for her. After Huffy went back to work, Sniffy said. "It's alright, they are treated nicely at Hogwarts. That was one thing I checked first after I got here."

A fire was seen burning in her eyes. They were full of conviction. "But now, let's eat something. We don´t want to let Huffys efforts go to waste." She added, and then the group began to eat. At first, a lot slower because of their mental state, but the food gradually brought out the best of them with their delicious taste and it turned into a more ravenous meal.

The whole meal took them about half an hour to finish and after that, they thanked all house-elfs around for their delicious meal and they even tried to clean the dishes but were utterly rebuffed by the stressed-out house-elfs as it was their job to do.

After another session of thanks, all of them said goodbye and left the kitchen. On the way to the Ravenclaw house in semi-darkness, which was easily righted with a quick Lumos, they chatted more about the house-elfs work at Hogwarts. That they were basically the staff that was responsible for cleaning and keeping the entire castle clean and fresh, but also washing the clothes of the students and so on.

Having thought until now that all of this would happen with magic, they had never thought more deeply about this whole subject. Alex and Mia made a mental note to keep their mind more open about such things in the future and they arrived at the common room a few minutes after the curfew.

"Here we are, ladies. I wish you a pleasant night's sleep and we will see each other tomorrow." Richard said with an elegant bow and a completely straight face, which let the girls giggle.

"Ah, before I forget, I have something for you two." Richard handed both of them a book which appeared out of thin air. "Household charms for all occasions," read Alex, and both girls were overjoyed with this present.

"Thank you." they both issued at the same time. "It's nothing. We already know all about it and you wanted to learn them, so here we are."

"Ok, enough with this dramatic goodbye. We will see each other in a couple of hours. Night girls."

Sniffy said in mock annoyance and the trio waited for a bit before the girls got safely into their common room.

Kyle nodded at them and said a short. "Night"

It looked like Mia had a knack for these riddles at the entryway and she could come up with the answer almost instantly.

The light of Lumos went out as no one needed it anymore and the trio went on to their own common room. "I am really looking forward to the next few days. There is no dull moment in here." Kyle calmly said to his companions as they were walking on.

"Yeah, it truly is, and there is so much more to see in this enormous castle. We are just scratching at the bottom of all of it. That I am sure of." Richard answered with excitement brimming in his words.

Nodding at their words, Sniffy then said. "This place sure feels like home. The surrounding magic is welcoming every one of us in its warm embrace."

Never having thought about it in this way, Richard and Kyle close their eyes and concentrated on their surroundings. They surely found what Sniffy was speaking about. It was as if the magical energy was enveloping them and welcoming them inside its ground.

After marveling at the happenings for a few moments, they came out of this state and chatted about what this could mean. "Did this happen the moment we got here, Sniffy?" Richard asked in a curious voice and he looked at her.

Turning her head to him, she thought for a bit and answered. "Not exactly. I did not feel like this in the beginning. It changed slowly over the past free days and this results from it."

"That's curious, did this also happen to other people apart from us?" Asked Kyle with interest showing clearly in his voice.

The vampire gradually got used to this new school life and embraced every moment. He never had the chance to go to a school in his life and was only ever homeschooled by his dad. Feeling sad for a short time after he thought about his father, he then got out of his mind and thanked the gods for this chance.

It was the life he had desired when he saw all the other children run around the city playing with each other. He had only lived through this for a short amount of time before he found out that he was only used by his so-called "friends".

Now, looking at his friends that had gone through life and death with him, he was enjoying every moment with them. Having found another thing to examine, he got more and more psyched up about this entire school.

Sniffy, again in thoughts for some time, answered. "I am not sure. It could be, but it could also be something different. Only time will tell. It's quite easy to feel the surrounding energy by myself, but to see if other people are also "embraced" by it will be much more difficult. I had only a vague feeling about you two, but I am not sure about anything else."

Richard and Kyle both were stunned by this answer but had nothing to refute her. They both were much worse at feeling the surroundings, as she was much more in sync with nature itself.

They could only hope that time would be able to answer this question for them. The trio could only shelve this though for another time and they arrived at the common room shortly after, talking to each other.

Getting in there, they were greeted by an almost empty room and only a few older students were talking to each other or researching something on the tables. A few curious heads turned in their direction. It was rarely seen that first years ignored curfew at the beginning of the school year.

It was good that no one was noisy and wanted to ask them why they were late. That's their own business and it would do no one any good to be busy about such things.

Saying goodnight to Sniffy, they then split up and went to their separate rooms. Getting up to their room, Richard and Kyle were surprised that no one was up anymore and it looked like the Weasleys and Lee had already retired to their own rooms.

"A wonder that these troublemakers are already in bed. " Richard said and then only heard. "Night Richard." Kyle wanted to get to his room early too, as he had to think about some things. The memories of his dad, which he recalled, had dampened his mood somewhat, and he tended to work such things out alone.

Richard heard this and his unasked question about staying up for longer was answered with this. "Night" Knowing that Kyle was of few words if he wanted to retire, he said only that.

Heading for his own room, he only stopped shortly before it. Looking down for a split second, a dark grin appeared on his face and he looked in Kyle's direction. Seeing that he was also looking at him in the same way. Both wore smiling faces, which would look demonic in other people's eyes.

The Investigation took them only a few moments, and they got away to a safe distance. Both nodded to each other and used magic to spring both traps simultaneously.

"Bang"

A loud sound echoed from their doors, and the doors were now glad in paint in a shining in a bright yellow color. Playing their part, they wailed out a "Whaaaaaat" and waited calmly.

One door opened with so much force that it almost fell out of its hinges. Three people sprung out of it and looked with smug faces at their roommates. Ready to laugh at them at any moment.

Looking at the two yellow doors, but not finding anyone in front of it, they then searched the room. Their eyes fell onto the two subjects of their prank and, seeing their smiling faces, let goosebumps rise all over their bodies.

"Kyle, it looks like they wanted to prank us." Richard said to his friend. "Yes, Richard, it does. I think they need some lecturing." Kyle spoke in a frightening tone.

Lee was the first one to jump out from beside the other two and said in a stuttering manner. "T..Th..That was n..n. not my idea. I have nothing to do with that."

"That almost sounds like he thinks he is not guilty?" Richard said in a smug tone. "But what did he do then with them in their room?"

"Oh, that's an excellent question, Mr. Kyle." Fear crept up all over them and Fred and George could only shout out loudly after overcoming the fear in their hearts.

"That was meant to be our revenge for the boats." "Damn, how could you have seen through that?" Fred and George shouted out after one another.

"Dear boys, a lot to learn you two have." Richard answered them and asked Kyle with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, I have something nice in mind, but revenge is much sweeter given some time to reflect. Let them enjoy this moment to its fullest." Kye told him and both boys went into their rooms with the dark smile still on their faces.

Their doors fell shut and the yellow painting on them changed form. It went from a yellow splotch to the simple words of. "You started this war." And "Hope you will enjoy the days to come." On either door.

All three boys had somehow the feeling that they had awakened a sleeping beast out of its slumber. A feeling of dread hung over their shoulders and they could only blame themselves that they had started this. If their pranks were successful, then that would have been much better, but it looked like Richard and Kyle were ahead by much.

"Sigh, come in, boys. We have planning to do. It cannot be that we will not have our revenge." Said Fred in a determined voice. "Your right Fred, we have been through much worse." Said George and both of them could only think back to how they had needed to flee from their own mother.

Alone, the memory of it lets cold sweat appear on their backs. Misses Weasley could be quite the demoness if she wanted.

Lee Jordan did not know how he got himself into this, but he could only resign himself to his fate and accept that he was now on this side of the war.

On this night started the legacy of the pranksters who would leave the Marauders far behind.

Richard went back to his bed and got ready for some meditation with a smirk on his face. Who knew that Hogwarts could be so interesting?

Now, having some "rivals" made this entire thing much more amusing. A few plans were already forming in his mind.