Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying

Chapter 19 Zoe and Peeves
The pear squirmed as if it was ticklish, giggling, and turned into a green doorknob. Theo grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open, and everyone entered.

This is a very large room.

The room was the same size and layout as the hall above, with four long tables, but empty. There were many gleaming kitchen utensils along the stone walls, and a brick fireplace at the other end, with a roaring fire and the smell of roasting meat.

There were many strange-looking creatures in the room. They had big bat-like ears and bulging round eyes like frogs, which looked as big as tennis balls. They also had noses as thin as pencils, skinny hands and feet, and they wore tea towels with the Hogwarts emblem on them as robes.

When the little monsters heard the noise, they all turned their heads to look over. They looked at the students with eager, expectant eyes, but they didn't all come over. Wherever Wade and the others looked, the little monsters bowed and knelt toward them, showing great respect.

"Oh my God!" Michael was extremely surprised and said enviously, "So many house-elves."

"Welcome to the Hogwarts kitchens!" Theo said, opening his arms. "This is the best place in Hogwarts!"

"You can tell them whatever you want to eat. The elves are very welcoming." Ryan also said.

"Hello," Weed bent down and looked at the nearest house elf, and asked, "Can you help us get some food?"

"Of course! Of course, sir!" the house-elf said softly, "I would be honored."

The house elves happily brought over various delicacies such as pies, steaks, baked potatoes, egg tarts, plum puddings, orange juice, pumpkin juice, vegetable juice, and even two bottles of butter beer. After the few people had eaten and drunk their fill, the elves brought over many desserts, vowing to make them eat to their heart's content.

"I can't eat any more." Neville took an ice cream, licked it and said with difficulty.

"Almost all Hufflepuff students know where the kitchen is because our common room is nearby. So it's an open secret," Theo told Michael. "There are always all kinds of delicious food in our common room - Hufflepuffs never go hungry!"

"It's wonderful." Michael drank butter beer and sighed, "Why am I not a Hufflepuff?"

"What are you talking about?" Ryan laughed. "When we were sorting, I heard someone say that if he was sorted into Hufflepuff, he would rather drop out of school."

"There's nothing good about Ravenclaw either." Michael sighed, "Ravenclaw Tower is too high - really too high - I feel like dying from climbing the stairs every day - every time I go back to the common room after class, I have to make up my mind..."

He seemed a little drunk and spoke in a very aggrieved manner.

Wade managed to control himself and not overeat, but it was his first time drinking and he obviously couldn't hold his liquor very well. Just two rum-filled chocolates and a glass of butter beer knocked him out. At this moment, Wade's head was dizzy and he saw double when he looked at people.

He propped his chin up, yawned lazily, and was identifying the house-elves one by one -

"Coco, Amy, Becky, Happy, Lola, Phil..."

It seemed to be a great honor for the elves to have their names read out by the wizard. They lined up to tell Wade their names as if they were performing some kind of ceremony.

"Um, Zoe? Are you a girl?" Wade recognized the elf that spoke to him at the beginning.

To be honest, the elves all have wrinkled faces like those of 80-year-olds, and apart from their names, their gender cannot be identified by their appearance or clothing.

"Y-yes, Mr. Gray," said Zoe, twisting her fingers nervously and excitedly.

"Are you the ones who usually help us clean the room and do the laundry?" Wade asked.

"Yes, yes, sir." Zoe nodded vigorously, looking at Wade seriously with her big eyes: "Zoe, Harpy and Phil are in charge of Ravenclaw Tower." Looking closely, there was a very small flower decorated on the tea towel of this house-elf - she was indeed a girl.

"Are you also cleaning other places in the castle?" Wade asked again.

"Yes, sir."

"You were the ones who took our luggage off the train?"

"Yes, sir."

"It's been hard work." Wade sighed. "It's really a lot of work."

“No, no—how could that be?” Zoe said quickly, “We like to work! Work doesn’t make us feel tired. It would be terrible if we didn’t have a job!”

The house elves all said how dedicated they were to their work and never slacked off. They tried their best to make dinner that satisfied everyone, polished every silverware to a sparkling shine, washed the students' muddy shoes, and always appeared and disappeared quietly, never disturbing others. They were very excellent house elves.

Wade looked at them silently and didn't speak for a long time.

……

After dinner, it was almost curfew time. The elves enthusiastically stuffed the few people with a lot of cream cakes and fried jam donuts, and then they each returned to the college lounge.

Wade and Michael walked up the movable stairs. When they were tired and panting, the armor on the wall shook suddenly, and then a white guy suddenly jumped out, roaring like a beast.

"Ah!" Michael was startled and his legs went weak and he sat down on the ground.

"Hahaha……"

The white guy held his belly and laughed out loud. He floated in the air and kicked his legs.

Michael was angry and amused: "Peeves! You're hiding here and scaring people again!"

Peeves is a special ghost in Hogwarts. He can float around, have a physical body, touch objects, and likes to create chaos. Just like his name, he is a very naughty guy.

"Look! There are two little wizards here! They are wandering outside at night instead of sleeping!" In the corridor, Peeves circled around Wade and his friend, saying maliciously, "Wait, I'm going to call Filch over! Catch you little rascals!"

Peeves loved to scare students who were out at night like this, and then chase them all the way, watching them run back to the dormitory in a panic, and sometimes he would pull their robes and hair to tease them. But this time he miscalculated, because Wade waved his wand, and a row of golden letters appeared in front of him, writing the current time.

"Ha!" Michael laughed breathlessly. "Seven minutes till curfew! You can't fool us, Peeves!"

Peeves rolled his round eyes and said slyly, "Seven minutes - not enough for you to return to Ravenclaw Tower."

"Yeah. But by the time you get Filch here, we'll have already gone back," Wade said calmly.

Peeves curled his lips and muttered, "Hmph, boring Ravenclaw!" He turned and floated away to play pranks on other students.

(End of this chapter)