February 10th, 1888 - Lower Corridors of Hogwarts

It was a few hours before supper when Sisse's stomach had begun to grumble. She had eaten dinner earlier than usual with a group of her dormmates content to settle into the library for the afternoon to attempt to finish a project for magic theory. Of course the afternoon hadn't gone quite as she had planned. She'd abandoned her magical theory project after only an hour when the quiet of the library had begun to grate on her. Her mother had always encouraged her to do her studies there, but the quiet without anyone else there to soften the quiet, simply distracted her even more. She preferred to try to get her work done in the common room with the pleasant buzz of activity around her. Hence the reason she had left the library to return to the common room to work on her sketches for her art course instead.

Of course then she had been distracted by her stomach grumbling and when Sloane had admitted the same the two girls had decided to find a snack. Of course this meant trying to find the kitchens, something Sloane's brothers had mentioned to her. Sisse had mentioned looking for it in the lower corridors of Hogwarts as she felt certain that had been where Mr. Blackwall had been coming from when she ran into him before the Christmas break. She had been looking for Miss Pine to give her her Christmas card and had heard the Slytherin Common Room was in the dungeons when she had stumbled across Mr. Blackwall. So she had suggested starting their search down there.

"I thought it was somewhere near here..." Sisse was saying to Sloane as they rounded yet another corner. She had thought it was familiar and now she wasn't so sure. Had they already been down this hallway?

@'Elsie Beauregard'
Sloane Bixby

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Studying. Sloane was kind of already over it and she was barely halfway through her first year. So many more years of it left... so why do it all in the beginning? She had her potions text next to her as she lay on the floor of the common room, legs up on the nearest armchair as she surveyed the room upside down. She had been studying, but it was much more fun to spy on people from her vantage point on the floor. Sisse wast sketching nearby and Sloane couldn't see what she was working on, but Sisse was pretty talented at it anyway.

Dinner was long over and Sloane was getting munchy. Her stomach rumbled to punctuate the thought and it had her rolling over to see if Sisse was game to find the kitchens. Wallace had mentioned the kitchens being accessible to students, but was particularly mum on how to access them. He did mention they were downstairs somewhere near the Hufflepuff common room, but Sloane didn't know where that was either... maybe she should have asked Calla.

Luckily it wasn't too hard to convince Sisse to see if they could locate the kitchen itself and so downstairs they went! "All Wallace said was downstairs." Not particularly helpful, though Sisse also had some info as to where they should start. "Oh! I wonder if we can find a house elf or something, I bet they know!" They worked in the kitchens too, right?

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Sisse had only heard rumors from Matthew that Hogwarts had house elves. Although she had never seen one here and had begun to believe her brother had been pulling her leg all along. "I thought Matthew was teasing about that." She admitted as she paused in her steps and turned taking in the corridor around them. There were absolutely no hints anywhere about. "Do you think one might give us directions?" It seemed a much safer option than asking a random older student. Although to be honest Sisse had never actually spoken to a house elf. Her family didn't own any and she had so rarely been allowed to accompany her mother on social calls back home that she didn't often see others who might have had one either.

@'Elsie Beauregard'
Sloane Bixby

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

"No, I think they're really in the kitchens at least?" Her father had said something about that, she thought. It would make sense at the very least. Sloane had always found house elves to be rather intriguing, though their state of servitude did make her sad for them. They generally seemed happy though, so there was that at least? Honestly she'd never had a good conversation with one, so she didn't quite know. "They're helpful if you can find them!" That much she was sure of.

Sloane wandered a little further down the hallway a little more, one hand brushing the walls as she went, careful of the paintings on the wall, though there weren't that many. "We should have thought to ask Calla, it's supposed to be somewhere near the Huffplefuff common room." There was a lot of guesswork here!

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Calla was starting to regret the fact that most of her friends were in Gryffindor. When she went seeking someone to talk to, if she couldn't find Tia, she was to trek all the way across the castle just to hope she could find them outside their tower. Their tower. It was a funny thing. It sounded like they were from a muggle fairytale story in which the princess trapped away in an unreachable tower. Only here, they could leave and they were entertained by hours of homework. Still, regardless of the homework, she would take Hogwarts any day. Trapped due to a lack of door or a height? It seemed silly with the assistance of magic.

To say she was surprised to hear the ringing voices of her friends was a slight surprise when she poked her head out from the barrels. It wasn't Tia's voice, the one friend she expected to here, lurking down here. Rather Sloane and Sissie, two Gryffindors. It was funny how her main three friends, only one of them ended up being one of her friends she had made back home. The other two lived in Hogsmeade, she had just never run into them before.

"Sloane? Sissie?" the badger perked, closing the door behind her as she moved in the direction of the voices. Closer. Closer. Wait. Were they talking about the house elves? Being close to the kitchen, she ran into them occasionally. They were all quite nice and sometime they would slip her cookies after practice. Somehow the house elves always seemed to be in tuned to their moods and always knew when they needed a pick-me-up. "What are you both doing down here?" Calla asked as she stumbled across the two, a bit further down the hallway.

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

“Finding them might be the real adventure.” Sisse added, she’d never seen one around and was quite at a loss at that particular moment.

Sloane was right though, they should have thought to ask the Hufflepuff before they began this venture. Before she could even finish the thought a familiar voice called down the hall at them as if summoned by the mere mention of her name. Sisse couldn’t help the chuckle that crossed her lips. “Calla!” Sisse waved in reply. “We were just on an adventure for afternoon snacks.” She explained with a smile, “Although I’m afraid we’ve gotten ourselves rather lost.”

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Not one to get flustered on an adventure, Sloane was not about to give up yet. It was funny though that as soon as she had thought about her friend, Calla practically appeared out of nowhere! "Oh Merlin, I was just saying how we should have asked you! We're trying to find the kitchens, do you have any idea where they are?" All Sloane knew, thanks to her brothers, was that they were somewhere near the Hufflepuff dorms, but after that she was in the dark.

They had to be here somewhere! Now with a third person, they might have better luck! Even if Calla didn't know (if she did and hadn't shared that would be rather upsetting!) but they would at least have another pair of eyes on the lookout. Sloane's stomach rumbled as if the punctuate her thoughts and she laughed at how loud it was.

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"Hello to you both, then. Wait why should you get me? Snacks? Are you looking for the kitchens then?" she questioned with a smile, leaning against the stone wall behind her as they weren't moving yet. Her question was confirmed quite quickly by Sloane and she smiled at her longtime friend. She was honestly surprised that Sloane hadn't come looking for the kitchens earlier than this, or maybe she had, just with no luck yet/ "You were head in the right direction, actually. It is quite close to the common room actually."

"I can show you where they are if you'd like but you can't go telling people. The house elves aren't too pleased when large groups come in. They do have their work to do and it is kind of hidden. One of the upper years on the team showed me one time when we were coming back late from practice and really hungry."

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

“Yes, Matthew and Wallace mentioned the kitchens, so we thought we’d try to find them.” Although it was typical of older brothers to put an idea to them and neglect to give them any additional information, Sisse thought with some deal of annoyance.

At Calla’s encouragement that they really weren’t far from the kitchens a smile slid over Sisse’s lips, they weren’t completely lost after all. “We’d love that!” Sisse exclaimed with a grateful smile, adding, “Of course not.” To address Calla’s concerns.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Secrets! Sloane was not the best at keeping them, but she rather thought she could keep this one well enough as her two best friends were right here with her! Who else would she go and tell? She could hold it over Wallace's head that she knew! He may not even know, he may have just been trying to get her to leave him alone, sometimes she never knew, but now she most certainly did!

"Wonderful! I've always wanted to meet a house elf!"  Of all the things growing up she thought she'd have met by now, a house elf was not among the creatures she had the pleasure of meeting! "Lead the way! How fortunate that Calla knew exactly where to go!

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As the two girls declared her the new leader of their little parade, Calla couldn't help but slip and excited giggle before spinning back in the direction of the kitchen, pleased with the way her skirts spun out. "This way," she stated, shoes clicking on the ground. After a second she stopped before a painting, frowning for a second. This was the one, wasn't it? Yes. She was sure it was. "The pear, you have to tickle the pear and then it opens up! You feel a little funny tickling a painted pear the first few times but you get used to it after the first few times!" The light brown haired girl gestured to the painting. She kinda wanted to she one of the two girls try it. She was sure she looked funny the first time.

"Wait, meet a house elf? How have you never met a house elf, Sloane?"

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Following behind Calla their shoes made a happy chattering on the stones of the dungeon. Almost as happy as the chatter between the girls as they followed the short distance until Calla stopped in front of a painting.

"Tickle the pear?" Sisse echoed an equal mix of skepticism and amusement. She certainly did feel funny about that but she stepped up to the painting curiously and eyed the pear.

"I haven't met one either." Sisse put in off-handly before she reached over and tickled the paint of the pear. It was weird, trying to tickle a paining instead of flesh - it didn't give and she was almost worried that her finger would go through the delicate canvas of the painting. That was until the portrait began to swing open like the fat lady who stood guard of the Gryffindor common room.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Sloane followed her friends, taking in the lower corridor for what it was when they stopped at a painting of pears? Sloane roared with laughter when Calla said you had to tickle the pears to get in. Really? Magic was so funny sometimes!

Watching Sisse tickle a painting had her laughing louder, tears of mirth springing into the corners of her eyes. "But no I haven't!" She managed after a moment, watching the portrait spring open, not entirely unlike the Fat Lady at the entrance of Gryffindor tower. "We have a housekeeper and a small staff, but no house elves, oh I'm so excited!!"

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Rather than confirm the questions that had sprung from her directions, she waited for them to be followed, figuring the repetitions were out of disbelief and shock rather than their assumptions that they had not heard her correctly. As Sisse moved to open the painting, she noted that she had been right in her assumption it would be funny to see someone tickle a painted pear. Not even seconds after Sloane started to laugh, Calla followed in suit, though she soon stopped, a little worried that her laughter might have offended her friend. Maybe she should have just opened the door. "I'm sorry Sisse. I'm not laughing at you. I just find the situation funny. I'm sure why they chose this to be the action need to get in the kitchen."

"Oh. We didn't have a house elf ether but sometimes one would come in with their masters to the store and I saw them around Hogsmeade sometimes. That and I see them all the time down here. I figured you would have seen them too. They are the ones that keep the common rooms clean and light the fires after all. They are normally quite nice little creatures," the brunette informed, stepping first through the portrait hole. She hadn't planned on going to the kitchens today, she wasn't even hungry when she stumbled across her two friends but now that she could smell the residuals of supper she could feel the hunger start to gnaw.

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Sloane Bixby Sisse Thompsett

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Calla’s laugh, while it made Sisse a bit self conscious as if her friend were playing a practical joke like Matthew might, was infectious and Sisse found herself giggling at the situation. “Perhaps to make people laugh?” She suggested.

“Oh. I wonder why we haven’t seen any before then.” Matthew had told her of this, but she hadn’t seen any and so it had slipped from her mind.

Inside the warmth of the kitchen hugged them and Sisse suddenly found herself thinking of afternoons at home in their own kitchen. Cook always had something sweet for Sisse when she passed through, although Sisse was always on strict orders not to tell mother of it. The difference was that this kitchen was huge and there were house elves everywhere. Forgetting her manners Sisse stopped a step into the kitchens her eyes wide with surprise - entirely speechless.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Having to tickle a painting to gain entry was pretty amusing, but at least there was no-ever-changing password she need to remember, this was quite easy! Watching in awe as it swung open and they stepped inside, Sloan was for the first time in a long time, speechless. She'd never seen a kitchen so big, or so busy!

Apparently making supper for the entire school was a real affair! House elves moved through it efficiently and there were also pots and pans doing their own thing, without help from anyone and it was just a sight to see. "My goodness!" She cheered, clapping her hands together in amazement. The nearest elf stopped to look at them, almost surprised, but not quite; Sloane had no idea what to say but offered an apology for interrupting quickly thereafter.

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