Chapter 65: The House of Surprising Requests
Chapter 65: The House of Surprising Requests
In the early morning, the bedroom was still pitch-dark, and as Ved lay half-asleep, he suddenly felt a pair of eyes on him.
In the solitary dormitory, that gaze, which didn't belong to him, felt especially pronounced.
Ved groggily opened his eyes, and in the darkness, he suddenly saw a row of large, shiny eyes floating in the air like little lanterns.
Thump!
Ved's heart lurched, and he bolted upright, instinctively grabbing his wand and pointing it into the darkness. "Who's there!" he demanded.
"Mr. Grey is awake," came the squeaky voice of a house-elf. "Zoe knew Mr. Grey would return to the castle today, and she has been waiting."
Long, slender fingers snapped in the air, and the oil lamps in the dormitory immediately lit up.
Three house-elves stood side by side on the floor in the center of the room, oblivious to how frightening their sudden appearance might be. They beamed at Ved with enthusiastic smiles.
Ved's heart, which had been pounding wildly, now felt like it was bruising his ribs. He took a deep breath, his icy fingers slowly warming, but his scalp still tingled as if he'd been zapped with electricity.
"Zoe, Happy, and Phil," Ved said, trying to keep his voice calm. "It's been a while. Why did you suddenly appear in the middle of the night?"
The little creatures bowed deeply, their large ears flopping as they spoke happily, "It's like this—for Christmas, Phil received a gift from Ved Grey again—"
"But Ved Grey must have noticed—he didn't receive a gift from Happy—"
"It's not that there wasn't a gift, but Zoe prepared something even better—"
"Phil wanted to give Ved Grey the gift he truly desired. But what did Ved Grey want? Phil thought and thought—”
“While cleaning Ravenclaw Tower, Happy overheard the first-years talking, and that's when Happy finally knew—”
The three house-elves beamed with delight and said in unison, "Ved Grey must want a broomstick!"
"I do want one," Ved admitted as he sat up in bed, looking at them. "But first-year students aren't allowed to bring brooms to school, according to school rules."
Otherwise, he could have bought a new one during the Christmas holiday.
"There is indeed such a rule," Zoe said, spreading her arms, "but Ved Grey won't break the rules. Because the broomstick is already at school; Ved Grey will just be using it."
First-year students who performed well in Flying class were allowed to borrow brooms from older students after class to practice flying for a while. When the Quidditch teams from the different houses trained, there would often be a group of young wizards waiting around the field, hoping to borrow a broomstick for a quick ride once the team finished training.
However, a house-elf couldn't steal a student's broomstick, nor could they give him a school-owned broom as a gift.
"You... found a broomstick that someone threw away?" Ved asked the elves in surprise.
"Not just one," Happy replied cheerfully, her ears flapping, "There are several! Broomsticks without owners—"
"Come with Zoe, Ved Grey." The little elf tugged on his finger. "Zoe wants to take Ved Grey to get his gift."
"Oh, okay—wait, let me get dressed." Ved threw off his covers and sat up, then looked at the elves again. "Er—could you give me a moment of privacy?"
...
On a January morning, the sky was particularly gloomy, and the cold wind howled against the windows, frost forming on the window sill. Ved followed the three house-elves down the empty corridors of the castle, his footsteps echoing clearly.
It was nearly dawn, and even Filch wouldn't be patrolling, looking to catch students out after curfew. The entire castle seemed deserted, as if Ved were walking through an ancient painting.
Ved gazed at the house-elves, who were still wearing only thin tea towels, and couldn't help but ask, "Don't you feel cold dressed so lightly?"
Phil shook his head. "I'm not cold. I can adapt to different environments, be it summer or winter, hot or cold."
—What peculiar creatures.
Ved stared at them intently.
What peculiar and powerful creatures they were, unlike wizards who relied on wands. They could cast wandless magic innately and possessed unique and extraordinary magic, along with formidable power. They could also perform the Disillusionment Charm without limitation.
If it weren't for the ideas of "absolute obedience" and "house-elves must be enslaved by wizards" that wizards had implanted in their genes or souls, they might be even more dangerous than fire-breathing dragons.
Throughout history, fairies had rebelled numerous times, always fighting for the rights of their race. But house-elves wouldn't resist even if they were abused and slaughtered by wizards; they wouldn't even disobey their masters' orders.
That was why almost every wizard longed to have a house-elf, but very few of those who did have one treated them well. These house-elves at Hogwarts were relatively well-treated compared to their peers; at least the students didn't take pleasure in mistreating them.
Ved lowered his gaze and followed the elves down the corridor for quite some distance, sometimes going down two flights of stairs and sometimes climbing up several floors, until they reached an area near the Gryffindor Tower.
The empty corridor had a blank white wall on one side and a huge tapestry of a bearded wizard teaching a group of trolls to dance ballet on the other. The trolls turned their heads to look at them.
Ved suddenly thought of a place, and his heart was filled with great anticipation. He asked softly, "Where are we?"
"The Room of Requirement, Mr. Grey," Zoe said. "We also call it the 'Room of Surprising Requests.' It only appears when someone truly needs it."
"You have to walk past this wall three times, concentrating on what you need," Happy said, walking up to the wall. He muttered softly, "Happy needs a place to hide things... a place to hide things... a place to hide things..."
As he walked back and forth, a smooth door with a lustrous bronze handle suddenly appeared on the wall when he passed by the third time.
Phil stood on tiptoe and tugged at the handle, slowly opening the large door.
Ved held his breath.
Before him lay what seemed like a city of tall walls, filled with countless discarded items that formed "streets" and "alleys"—broken furniture, rusty weapons, statues that had been severed by Dark magic, Muggle cannons, tens of thousands of books, various prohibited dangerous little toys, and glass bottles containing unknown potions.
His heart was pounding rapidly.
The three house-elves beamed with pride and joy as they presented him with a broom that had been polished and adorned with a red old satin ribbon.
"This is a Christmas gift for Mr. Grey!" they exclaimed. "It's the best one here!"
"It's a bit old, but it can still fly very well," Phil added in a soft voice.
—No.
Ved thought.
—This Room of Surprising Requests, which I've been searching for in vain, is the real gift!
He grasped the broom, a delighted smile spreading across his face, as if illuminating the entire room. His smile was so infectious that the three little elves also broke into foolish, satisfied grins.
(End of Chapter)
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