Daily Life at Hogwarts - Chapter 24

Close to the main hall on the first floor of the castle, there was a door leading to the Hufflepuff common room and the kitchen.

Albert took a bit of time exploring around the main hall. Near the marble staircase, he discovered two doors and Filch’s office. Mrs. Norris, Filch’s cat, was glaring at him intently.

“What’s her name?” Albert inquired.

Filch didn’t respond but scooped up his cat and entered his office.

“he must be jealous!” Albert murmured. From what he recalled, Filch was a Squib. He felt that Filch should have abandoned the magical world and integrated into the Muggle realm. Why stay and invite unhappiness?

Now, which door should he pick?

“Where would the kitchen be?” Pondering, Albert pulled out a coin from his pocket and flipped it. It landed heads up, so he chose the door on the left of the staircase.

Behind the door were stone steps leading downwards. As Albert walked, torches on the walls automatically ignited, illuminating his path. The walls were decorated with various paintings of food.

“Lucky guess,” Albert remarked, coming across a large portrait. The portrait depicted a massive silver bowl filled with fruits. Rumor had it that the entrance to the kitchen was right behind this painting.

The secret to entering the kitchen lay in the pear.

Gently, Albert tickled a large green pear in the portrait. To his surprise, it giggled, squirmed, and transformed into a large green door handle.

“I knew it! My luck’s really on my side today,” Albert gleamed, recalling how he had also recently discovered the Room of Requirement.

Upon opening the door, he found himself in a kitchen as vast as the Great Hall above. Tables identical to the ones in the Great Hall were already laid out with food, likely breakfast for the students. House-elves would use magic to transfer the food to the corresponding tables above when it was time.

“May I help you, sir?” A small house-elf noticed Albert and approached him.

“I figured I’d check out the kitchen before the dining hall started serving,” Albert replied with a polite smile.

“Please follow me, sir,” the house-elf replied, tugging on Albert’s hand and leading him to sit. Soon, a group of house-elves rushed over, bringing with them a tray laden with food: a pot of milk, ham, fried eggs, toast, salad, and pumpkin porridge.

“Thank you, little ones,” Albert said, pouring himself some milk. Thanks to this dietary habit he adopted over the years, he had become significantly stronger than before.

“It’s our pleasure, sir,” the house-elves responded, their faces lighting up with joy.

Albert consumed his delicious meal. Observing them, he noticed they wore – or rather, draped themselves in – tea towels stamped with the Hogwarts crest.

“I should be going now. Thank you for the meal,” Albert noted that his exploration progress had reached 7.3%.

“It’s our duty, sir,” the house-elf chirped. As Albert prepared to leave, numerous house-elves gathered, offering him various snacks to take with him.

“That’s enough, see you, little ones.” Albert stuffed four pies into a parchment bag, which he tucked into his robes, intending to share them with George and the others.

The house-elves crowded at the entrance, watching him leave. They cherished his simple “thank you”, feeling acknowledged and respected.

Following the route he took earlier, Albert returned to the common room within a few minutes. However, it was empty, and the resident ghost lady had already left.

When Albert entered the bedroom, the Weasley twins were still asleep, but Lee Jordan was awake, looking surprised at Albert’s return, “Where did you go?”

“Just for a walk and had breakfast,” Albert grinned, “Brought back some treats for you guys.”

“What treats?” Fred, or was it George, mumbled as he stirred from his bed, hair disheveled, looking very much like he had just woken up.

“I thought you guys were still asleep,” Lee Jordan said, stretching lazily as he descended from his bed. “What’s the treat?”

“Pies,” Albert pulled out a paper bag from his pocket, took a bite from one of the pies, and handed the bag to Lee. “One for each.”

“Where’d you get these?” Fred asked with curiosity.

“The kitchen.”

“Wow, you actually found the kitchen?”

“Speaking of which, you snuck out without us?” Fred said, finally waking up. If not for their bed positions, Albert would never have been able to tell the twins apart.

“Didn’t even brush your teeth.”

“Oh, almost forgot about that,” George put down his pie, then curiously asked, “How did you find the kitchen?”

“Just wandering around,” Albert shared about his encounter with Filch. “His cat is very smart and always informs him. But, I think Filch might be out to give me trouble.”

“I bet he’s feeling pretty annoyed!” Fred chuckled, getting up with the idea of exploring the interesting corners of Hogwarts.

After dressing up and freshening up, the trio came to the Gryffindor common room, which was still empty. Albert lit the fireplace and sat on the nearby couch, noticing the rain outside had stopped.

“Bill and Charlie mentioned that the castle has many secret passages,” Fred shared, munching on his pie.

“But they never told us where,” George grumbled about their older brothers.

“Maybe they wanted you to discover the castle’s secrets on your own. Makes it more fun,” Albert, recalling Nearly Headless Nick’s words, said to comfort the twins.

“I think so too,” Lee Jordan chimed in.

“Oh, almost forgot about this,” Albert approached the entrance. With the common room currently empty, he took a few pictures, even getting one of the Fat Lady.

“Taking pictures again?”

“I plan to send a letter home. For Muggles, everything about the wizarding world is fascinating,” Albert inspected the photos, realizing he had acquired a knack related to photography.

“I heard from Charlie that Filch enjoys troubling students,” George continued after finishing his pie. “He’s always hoping to string up students who make mistakes and whip them. He also knows many of the school’s secret passages and often pops up unexpectedly.”

“Most students roaming at night get caught by Filch,” Fred added. “Then they’re severely penalized with point deductions and detentions.”