bits and pieces • sebastian sallow

prologue

"Honestly, the nerve of some of these house elves..."

A small crowd of Slytherin third years stumbled out of a painting leading from the castle's kitchen, arms full of food that they had snuck out of without the house elves noticing. I stood against a wall covering the stairway, watching them closely as they inched towards me without realizing that there was another person in their vicinity.

As they turned to reach the corner I was hiding, I quietly took out my wand and casted a whispered "Accio!" before all of the food from their arms had hovered over to me. I smiled gently towards the younger students as I slowly approached them with the levitating food.

"The 'nerve of some house elves?'" I remarked, quoting a third year who's face immediately flushed to a red hue as I spoke to him. "Next time, just ask. They would rather have you ask than have their hard work stolen from them." I spoke, with a few other students nodding silently.

"Please, don't tell Professor Black!" The high pitched voice coming from a fearful female student rang like a bell through my eardrums. I glanced back at her for a moment before scoffing.

"As if he'll do anything about this. Just head back before I find Peeves to take care of you lot." I finished, leaving the rest of the third years scurrying away towards their common room. I took a glance at the food that had now made its way to the stone floor, and sighed before heading back towards the kitchen. The painting swung forward as I stepped in, encountering a house elf who looked delighted at the sight of me returning with the stolen food.

"My goodness! Moopy was just about to chase after those students! Worried that they were going to be too far for Moopy to catch up with them to get the food back..." The elf, who I now knew was named Moopy had started to approach me, and took hold of a few loaves of bread that were in my arms and brought them over to a wooden shelf that had multiple cubby holes, filled with all kinds of freshly baked bread for any type of meal. I followed the small elf, whose robes had dragged along the floor, small specks of dust and flour flying into the air as he continued to walk around, sorting all of the stolen food back to where it belonged.

For me spending only a couple months here at Hogwarts, I don't think I've ever actually been inside the castle's kitchen before. Nestled underneath the Great Hall, the kitchen brought so much life and taste to the many special meals that the hall provided throughout the year. I have yet to experience my first grand meal, but I can certainly tell that they food that was prepared was riddled with passion and love from the many house elves that worked in the warm, stuffy room. Steam coming off the large cooking and baking contraptions left me in awe, wondering just how to work such fascinating machines.

Moopy started to make his way back to me, after taking all the food from my two arms, to which I hadn't noticed until I spaced back into my thoughts. The small elf smiled warmly as he handed me a wooden weaved basket, filled with hearty loaves of bread, apples and oranges, along with small jars of fruit jam and cream cheese to accompany the bread. "Moopy and the rest of the elves here weren't going to allow you to leave empty handed. From us here in the kitchen to you, Moopy brings a basket of thanks for what you did!" He approached me once more, but I backed away in hesitation for a moment.

"O-Oh... Moopy, was your name wasn't it?" I muttered with a slight hint of embarrassment hidden in my voice. "Yes, indeed! No need for hesitation, miss! This is simply our way of giving thanks. We never noticed any other students coming in without the intent on stealing the food we have here inside." Moopy comments with a slight laugh. "Most of the students don't know we hide away when we have unexpected visitors coming in." He added.

"Please, take the basket! If you were ever in need of any sort of refreshment, this basket will do the trick for you. We enchanted it with a replenishment charm that fills up the basket so you'll never run out of food!" Another house elf had approached the two of us, to which Moopy turned to and ushered the other elf to come closer to us.