The Date

In between classes in an unused classroom.

Aurelius snaps his fingers to set up his defenses to hide himself and quickly calls a house elf.

"Tammy is ready to serve; how may Tammy help the young master?" asked the house elf

"I will call for food outside of the great hall, so be prepared for when we call for what we want while I am with a girl named Silvia, who is from Hufflepuff," he said.

"Yes sir….Is perhaps the young master looking to court the young mistress Silvia?" said the house elf

"We shall see; for now, we are seeing the most immediate compatibility while perhaps revealing more about ourselves," I said.

"Of course, young master," said the excited Tammy.

"You look substantially healthier, Tammy," said Aurelius with a gentle smile.

"Does the young master not like my appearance?" says the worried house elf.

"No, it's good. It seems that you've gotten taller, your proportions are more human-like now, it seems that your skulls and faces have become larger to more appropriately fit your face to the size of your eyes, and you've even started growing hair," said a smiling Aurelius.

"It is due to the young master's orders that the house elves have increased in health, so the young master should be deserving praise," said Tammy.

"Your improving health is all the praise I need," said Aurelius. "You may leave."

The house elf immediately pops out to return to the kitchen.

Upon her return to the kitchen

"Alright, people, we have a code orange; everyone prepares to serve anything to the young master and a young girl while they are on their date. This is not a drill; I repeat, this is not a drill." Said Tammy.

"Yes, boss lady," said the house elves with a salute.

"Um, should we prepare all the deserts and chill them before?" said a timid house elf.

She just glares. And addresses the entire kitchen staff," I said to prepare everything. If it is a frozen dessert, then very well, but if it is an item that takes more time to cook even after the entrée has been consumed, then start turning the item before. Do not reheat the food, or I will personally jinx you. Is that clear?"

"Yes, boss lady," said the house elves in unison, who were working more frantically.

After the classes,

"Hey, Aurelius, I hope you planned out what we're going to do for our date. And it better not be generic. You have to adjust the date to each person's preferences," said Silvia.

"I have and have adjusted as such," he said with a smile. "Do you prefer to do stuff before or after we've eaten?" asked Aurelius

"I'm pretty hungry after all those classes, especially after the boring ones; why do we have a history class that doesn't teach anything useful? I was taught that history was important because there are lessons of what not to do and what might work; however, all that stupid ghost drolls on about is the goblin versus wizard wars in the past," said a venting Silvia.

"I fully agree with that sentiment. The past failures are one of the only few values that the past truly teaches, so it is rather wasteful to have that being told about the great acts of wizards as if it were propaganda," said a chuckle Aurelius.

"I know, right," said Silvia.

"Let's go to the Galegold house. We can order our food while we walk. Give a small proportion of everything that can reasonably fit on three dinner plates when we arrive at the Galegold house," said Aurelius.

She chuckles. "I think that's enough for me as well. Please give me a slice of creamy cheesecake. You said that the house elves work at Hogwarts. Are they the ones who make the meals appear?" said Silvia.

"Quite perceptive of you. Yes, they are the unsung heroes of the prosperity of Hogwarts, at least to those who are not aware of their existence," he said.

"Were you able to get them to take any more magic?" said a worried Silvia.

"Surprisingly, yes, while I did have to be more assertive to the point that it would be considered mean, I was able to have them absorb 20% more than what they had," said a proud Aurelius

"That's great. Can I see one? Or has it been too short of a time for any noticeable changes?" asked an expectant Silvia.

"Less than desired, but the improvements are quite noticeable. And it appears we have already arrived. I, Aurelius Galegold, have acquired a date," he said while handing Silvia five knuts.

"What's this for?" she said, confused at the knuts in her hand.

"The Galegold has an entry fee for non-house members. It doesn't have to be much, but five knuts is the minimum, so to speak. It can be tradeable items or knowledge of comparable or greater value," said Aurelius.

"And what was it you did just now as well?" she asked while they walked inside.

"Well, it is a house rule, so to speak; our entry fee could be considered steeper; we have to have changed somehow while we are outside of the house. It can be rather inconvenient if you forget an item and need to immediately come back," he said with a chuckle.

She chuckles at his joke.

They enter, seeing a large assortment of hot food.

"Sammy, can you come here?" said Aurelius

"Sammy is here." Said the excited house elf.

"This is Silvia. She wanted to see how you've changed after the improvement in your magical diet," said Aurelius.

"Hello, young mistress, it is an honor to serve you," said Sammy.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, Sammy. This is the house elf from the train station, right?" she asked.

"That he is; as you can see, he looks closer to that of a human child with elven features than the malnourished house elf you saw before the summer began," he said with pride.

"You weren't kidding; you look wonderful, like a whole new house elf," she said with a smile.

"The young mistress is too kind, but may I ask that the young master and mistress begin their meal? The food may get cold too soon," said the house-elf, slightly nervous about what Tammy do to him if he ruined their date.

"Certainly, Silvia, let's eat; please give my regards to the chefs, Sammy," said Aurelius.

"Bye, Sammy," said Silvia with a smile.

The elf pops out.

They eat and talk.

"Silvia, you said your father was in the military when he was younger. How did that affect you?" asked Aurelius, learning more about her.

"Well, I had to move a lot. I grew up going to a lot of different countries, and I learned a little bit of German and Greek, but I would say the biggest thing I learned would be how to make friends quickly. At first, it was hard since there was a language barrier, or I was the new kid, and I was much more shy than I am now," said Silvia.

"Fair. I take it you desired to be like someone, so you tried to emulate their behavior?" asked Aurelius

"Yeah, my dad was my role model. He was able to make friends with just about anyone. And he even taught me not to care about people that didn't want to be friends with me. As long as I was confident that I was a good person, what they said was irrelevant. Not gonna lie, it stung every time for a while, especially since most of the kids were rather mean," said Silvia.

"Wise lessons indeed. I can see that those skills have served you well, but it makes me curious: how has being at a boarding school changed your perspective?" he asked.

"No, no, you haven't let me ask any questions," she said.

"All right, well shoot," he said with a shrug.

"All right, well, first off, you said you were raised in the muggle world and even graduated from secondary school, so why are you so knowledgeable about the wizarding world?" asked the lightly tanned girl.

"Well, chronologically, I am over a thousand years old but am mentally and physically the age of 12. So really, you could just consider time travel; the only difference is that I had information distilled into my brain over that span of time that pertained specifically to my family," he says with a chuckle.

"Wait so you're like a super old grandpa technically, but you're a kid?" said Silvia trying to wrap her head around it.

"So, am I dating a super old grandpa or a kid?" she said.

"I'd say the most accurate interpretation is a kid who read the history and knowledge of his family in-depth," he says with a shrug.

"Makes sense since you said you're basically a time traveler," said Silvia.

"All right, I believe it's my turn, so can you please continue to answer my previous question about how your perspective changed going to a boarding school for what could be considered long term?" asked Aurelius.

"Sure. Well, to be honest, I was kind of scared because it's a lot harder to ignore the annoying and mean people since we'll be seeing them for seven years if we remain at Hogwarts," said Silvia.

"True. Unfortunately for Potter and Hermione, they've got Draco Malfoy and Ronald Weasley to antagonize them," Aurelius said with a chuckle.

"Too true. Should we perhaps have them fear Potter and Hermione?" she asked in all seriousness.

"It's a viable plan. Avoidance is preferable to obsessive behavior," said Aurelius.

"For our date, do you want to make a plan?" she asked.

"While I'd love to make a plan for the two and get to see your more devious side, I'd still like to get to know you better," said Aurelius.

"We can do that over time," she said with a shrug and smirk.

He chuckles. "Very well. Do you want to get Hermione and Harry involved, or do you want to make multiple plans and show them?"

"Let's surprise them, it will give them an idea to what they can do even if they don't accept our plans, but if the do they might just pick the least evil ones since they're such tolerant people," said Silvia.

"So I take it we will make a few decoys?" he said with an amused look.

"Naturally," she says with a grin.