Chapter 3 The Elves of Hogwarts

When I woke up the next morning and asked about the kitten, Hannah and Susan both claimed it wasn't theirs. The kitten followed me everywhere I went, hiding in the shadows any time large groups of students passed by. I forced myself to stay late for classes, just to stutter out the question of, "D-do y-you k-know th-this k-kitten?" Finally I got an answer from Professor McGonigall. The little cat was a kneezle who had taken a liking to me. It seemed that one of Hagrid's kneezles had escaped and bonded with me.

"It's a rare thing to happen at Hogwarts Miss Voth," she said, especially on your first night of coming here. He must have sensed your rare talent for creation magic and your shy demeanor."

"I d-don't k-know wh-what y-you m-mean p-professor," I said, trying and failing to quash my stutter. "M-my f-family o-only w-works w-with ch-chocolate."

Professor McGonigall pulled out the match I had been working on that day. It had gone silver but had not turned into a needle like Mandy from Ravenclaws' had. Professor McGonigall showed me the match again and I now noticed the little lines in it, picking it up and feeling the texture of it. I frowned in confusion. What was this?

"What were you thinking about when you tried to turn your match into a needle Miss Voth?" the professor asked.

"I was th-thinking about h-home a-and m-making ch-chocolate," I said honestly.

"Thus you created something that looks like food but cannot be eaten because of a law you will learn a lot earlier than your peers," said Professor McGonigall. "Gamps Law states that we cannot conjure food out of nothing or out of material such as this match. However, if your talent for creation is so strong it needs an outlet… Hmmmm."

Professor McGonigall turned sharply in her seat and flicked her wand. Two boys were yanked roughly into the room by their collars and stood by the teachers desk. I would have bolted had I not known they were Fred and George. Even so, my hands reached into my pockets, one for my good luck charm and one for my wand.

"Oh come on!" George exclaimed. "We were just worried about Violet."

"Yeah," added Fred. "We know how shy she is and how scary you are."

"That's enough Mrs. Weasley." Said Professor McGonigall. "For once I actually believe you. I believe you two know the way down to the kitchens?"

Two frantic nods followed her question. She ordered them to take me down to the kitchens so I could meet the elves. She asked them to go on a little ahead to warn the elves that I was shy, then sent us on our way. Why we were supposed to go down there, I had no idea.

A little way down the hallway I heard a loud pop. I startled and Fred and George put their hands on my arms. Fred explained that we couldn't just go waltzing in without a reason unless we were having a party, and the professor would find out about that. She was most likely giving specific instructions to the head elf, letting him or her know why I was to go down there in the first place. After climbing down a few flights of stairs, we reached a hallway full of portraits of food. I knew we were near the Hufflepuff common room. George tickled the pear and lead us into the kitchens.

The kitchens were enormous and held four long tables placed exactly where the ones in the great hall were. The elves were quiet as they went about their work, only a few coming forward to greet us. Some shooed Fred and George away, who bowed and exited, while others lead me forward to a large work station which looked very familiar to me. The elves did look pretty daunting, but once I saw where they were leading me, I almost forgot their appearance.

"Y-you h-have a st-station f-for m-making ch-chocolate?" I stuttered out.

"Yes," said an old and wrinkly elf. "You is to use it to keep creation magic alive. Chocolate be served as dessert in great hall help renew damaged core. Chocolate be sent to hospital wing too."

I was so happy I relaxed for the first time since I left home. I flexed my fingers and got to work. I only stopped working because one of the elves pulled me away from creating my special chocolate moose. Well of course they were all family recipes but I had tweaked several.

"Missy Violet's core is stable now," said the elf. "Missy violet must be eating and doing homework."

When I got up to the great hall, I had a verry large meal, though I missed the foods from back home in Canada. I sampled some of my chocolate and found it delicious, though I was watching the twins, wondering if they would try any. They did, Fred trying a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows, and George a small dish of chocolate covered caramels. They leaned back on their bench and sighed, looking rejuvenated. This made me feel very happy.