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Chapter 4
"The current password is Salazar Slytherin." Dumbledore told her as they arrived at a door in the dungeons. "It can be changed anytime you like from the inside. I recommend switching passwords every few weeks, just in case." He gave her a smile. She nodded once and looked at the bare wood door.
In a firm and clear voice Claudia told the door "Salazar Slytherin." It gave a small click.
"Well, I'll leave you to settle in and get some rest. Someone will be sent to collect you in the morning. Goodnight" And with that he turned on his heel and walked off back down the corridor.
Claudia gave a small sigh and turned to doorknob, not entirely sure what she was expecting to find on the other side. As soon as she stepped in Claudia was bombarded with the beauty of the room. Dumbledore had definitely taken into account her newly found Slytherin pride, as the ornate double four-post bed was draped with silver curtains, and donned in luxurious green silk sheets.
An antique wardrobe stood in the far corner of the room with the bed, and the front half consisted of a small fireplace, a green leather sofa and wing backed armchair. A large bookcase took about a third of one wall, and along the back wall of the room stood a beautiful dark wooden desk. Across from the bed was another door, which she assumed lead to the bathroom.
The bed looked so incredibly inviting, her eyes were starting to get heavy, and Claudia was just thinking about collapsing into it and letting herself fall into the wonderful world of dreams. CRACK!
She jumped and whipped around at the sudden noise. Standing there, in the middle of the room, was the strangest looking creature that she had ever seen. It was quite short and very skinny, with bat-like ears and huge round eyes. It was wearing what looked like a sort of lopsided dress made from what she thought was probably an old tartan curtain, and it was smiling nervously up at her. Claudia of course knew exactly what this creature must be. She had just met her first house-elf.
"Hello Miss Claudia, my name is Blinky. Professor Dumbledore sent me to help Miss Claudia. He says that while you're here, I've to work for you from now on. Blinky will help you find anything you need Miss, and then Blinky will come back again in the morning to take Miss Claudia to breakfast in the Great Hall."
Claudia smiled awkwardly at the little creature. "Um, hello Blinky. You don't have to call me Miss, just Claudia's fine."
"Oh thank you Miss Claudia, er... Claudia. Blinky would be honoured to call Miss Claudia by her first name only." Blinky grinned widely at her. "Would Mi... Would Claudia like Blinky to help with anything?"
"Um, could you help me to find something to sleep in please?" She was still a little uncomfortable with the whole servant thing.
"Of course Miss Claudia! Blinky would love to help you find something to wear!" She seemed overly enthusiastic at the prospect of the simple task.
"Thank you Blinky, and really, just call me Claudia." She gave the elf a small smile. However, Blinky's face filled with horror and Claudia, anticipating what was about to happen, managed to catch her as she lunged head first into the bookcase. "Blinky, I, uh, I forbid you to hurt yourself." She looked uncertainly at the elf.
"Thank you Mi... Claudia! You are a kind, kind person!"
"Er... yeah, thanks. Anyway, let's find me something to wear to bed." Hopefully she could steer Blinky away from potentially painful subjects.
"Professor Dumbledore said that there were some spare robes in the wardrobe that you could use tonight, and that you will be going to get shoppings tomorrow. Blinky will wash your cloths tonight so Claudia can wear them again tomorrow!" Claudia was amazed at how much the elf seemed to be enjoying all this.
The robes from the wardrobe completely drowned her, but they were very comfortable. Blinky came back in when she was done getting changed and hurriedly gathered up all of Claudia's discarded clothes. "Can Blinky do anything else to help Claudia?" It was like she was hoping that there was more work to do!
"No Blinky, thanks. You did a really good job tonight, I don't know how I would have managed without you." She gave Blinky a grateful smile. Blinky looked at her as if this was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her. Claudia started to worry that she had maybe overdone it with the compliment. The little elf came up to her and hugged her around the middle.
Blinky beamed at her. "Blinky will return in the morning to take Claudia to breakfast."
"Yeah, um, goodnight Blinky." Once her new friend had left, Claudia decided that she wanted to explore one last thing before going to bed; the bathroom.
It was absolutely amazing! It was like a smaller version of how she had always imagined to prefects bathroom to look. A large silver tub the size of a Jacuzzi sat in the middle of the room. Several taps lined the outer ring, and from the ceiling hung three large shower-heads. If this was how Hogwarts treated it's guests, it was a wonder that anyone ever wanted to leave!
The last thing Claudia remembered of the night was sinking into the most comfortable bed she had ever been in, and letting her eyes close to happy thoughts of what was to come in the morning.