The Required Rooms

"Quinn! What a nice surprise. I thought you'd be busy settling in with your mother today. What can I do for you, my boy?" Quinn smiled at his headmaster whose eyes were ever so twinkly. "I'd like a room. A room where I can practise what Master Wolfe is going to teach me. A place to study and to work with the equipment I got."

The old man stood up far quicker than a man his age should be able to and started leading the way. "Excellent idea! I understand you wish to practise your wandwork and some physical exercises as well?" Quinn barely had time to nod his head before Albus spoke again "I have the perfect place. Plenty of room, you can set up anything and won't be disturbed. It's a bit below ground so don't worry about soundproofing. Seven chambers, though I particularly recommend making the last one the area where you train your wand or create wands."

As soon as they reached the third floor Quinn realized what he was talking about and couldn't agree more. Now with the stone destroyed, the seven trap rooms were perfect. Perhaps a bit too large but he would try to use as much as possible of it. It was a very magical place and would serve him well! "That's a great idea Albus! Any house-elves looking for something to do?"

As soon as he said it, ten of them appeared behind them and followed them along. Quinn could only chuckle at how eager they were. Albus looked at him with a glint in his eye. "I have a feeling we should have one on personal duty later as well. You should pick one of them after today. You'll need a lot if you want to do what I expect you do." Quinn nodded as they jumped down the hatch previously guarded by Fluffy, closely followed by the house-elves who were even more ecstatic at the prospect of becoming a personal elf, even if unbound.

They landed with a thud. The fall felt longer now that there weren't any plants breaking the fall. As soon as they got out, Quinn turned around, pulled out his wand and conjured a simple trampoline. "That's one thing sorted. Now, let's figure out where to put all my stuff!"

After he looked through the rooms again he made up his mind. "Elves, clean this place up. I want it spotless and dustless. One of you should bring the trunk I got from America and then once you're all done we can start talking about putting furniture here!"

He looked over to Albus. "Tomorrow night Albus. The two of us should have a talk about those soul pieces of Riddle's, but not today. I want a plan before I let your plan influence mine. Now I am grateful for this, but please leave for now so I can focus" he gave Albus a sincere smile which he returned. "Of course. I'll even prepare your favourite tea for the occasion. Still the Yunnan right?" Quinn nodded as he walked over to the trunk brought by an elf. "Indeed headmaster. Take care now."

Before the headmaster even left he started inspecting the first room. "Excellent! You ten are pride of your race. Now let's finish the rest of the rooms as quickly shall we?" They all yelled 'Yes Master!' As one as they got to the next room and were now even more eager after they were praised for their work.

A short while later and they all gathered in front of him with smiles on their faces. "Thank you all! The first step is done, and it would have taken an age if it weren't for you! Now the hard part arrives and also the part where you'll be able to make your personal mark which helps me choose one of you to keep around." All twenty ears rose up towards the ceiling as they listened carefully. Absolute determination was on all faces except three. It was the three youngest elves which weren't as excited, still quite a bit just not as much.

One of the three was noticed by two of the older ones and got a gentle slap on his bum. Quinn took a second to look closer and noticed that these three must be family. The two older elves were clearly parents of the younger one, the shared traits were clear to see when you had this many around them for reference. With an amused grin he smiled at the slightly embarrassed young elf.

"You will each go to the room of lost things and pick out something I will need down here. I will need a lot of items so you'll have to go several times. I will judge you based on what you bring, but I want it quick. Have to finish this before nightfall." In unison they nodded and popped off.

Soon they returned with different items. Some brought training dummies, others brought books containing spells but a few stood out. The young elf had brought a long painting with a lot of people in it, people anticipating entertainment. Apparently the painting used to be hung in the duelling room but since the club was shut down, the room was unused and the painting was eventually forgotten. Quinn was intrigued. The elf's father brought muggle weightlifting equipment and the elf's mother brought rugs for the floors.

This kept up and sure, the majority just gave him the obvious things a wizard in training would need but the elf family continued to intrigue him. He liked that their concern wasn't just practicality but beauty and aesthetic. He was going to spend many hours down here so he appreciated their work in making it look nice.

Two hours later and he had dismissed all but the family of three. The rooms were finished for now and he was very pleased. He just had to choose an elf and then he was going to go to bed. Quinn inspected the work that had been done.

The first room was still just an entrance, though now with a staircase. The second room was just for entertaining a guest. The third room looked a bit like a classroom with benches and loads of books. The fourth room was a cozy study with a fireplace and a bed in the corner in case it was ever needed. The fifth room held all of the physical workout equipment and also all of the training dummies etc for the magical training. The sixth room was laid out for potion making and extracting ingredients. The seventh and final room was the wand making room where all of that equipment was placed.

The rooms had a recurring theme of shades of purple and greyish brown. He spiced it up with yellow on occasion and a bit of blue and green here and there. Carpets were put down in the suitable rooms and there were paintings in all of them. Apparently there were a lot of paintings donated to Hogwarts and they couldn't put them all up. Quinn decided to put up some around the place both for simple company and because it looked nice. He might have been rather vain in his choosing of the paintings as there were a lot more young women than any other category but he thought they added the most to the room anyway. He put up some large scenic paintings inte duelling area so that all of them could go watch when the action happened. Who knows, maybe they could critique him or something.

But now he looked at the three elves and he had to make a decision. He now knew their names. The younger boy was called Loopsy, his father was called Lookey and his mother was called Flopsy. Quinn sighed "And now I have to choose one of you. I'm sorry to split you up like this, maybe if I get a big house one day I can have all three but for now I can only use one of you."

Flopsy smiled widely and her eyes sparkled as she looked at him "Young master Quinnie thinks too much of us. We are happy to serve no matter what. But please pick Loopsy mister Quinnie sir. He needs this more than we sir." She was kneeling on the floor in front of him begging, and Quinn saw that the father did the same while Loopsy tried to get him to stand again.

Quinn smiled and nodded "If that is what he wishes as well then I'd be glad to ask him to serve me. What do you say Loopsy?" The boy looked flabbergasted at his parents who nodded fervently. Eventually he cleared his throat and spoke in a light unsure voice "I'd be honoured master Quinnie sir."

Quinn didn't quite understand that it was such a big deal, but seeing the proud smile on the mother and father made sure he'd do his best to make sure the boy could be proud to be his personal elf for this time. "Well this has been lovely. Flopsy, Lookey..I'll see you two around. Maybe in the kitchens or if you feel like visiting me. That's fine." He smiled at them and Flopsy ran up to hug his legs.

"Loopsy, we'll talk tomorrow. That's when my training begins for real. Right now, I need some sleep. Enjoy the rest of your day!" And he bowed a little towards them before going up the stairs to his bedroom.