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Post by lachlanparker on Jan 1, 2012 5:43:40 GMT
 should i write myself
out of the history books?[/color][/right] One of the greatest things about having your common room right next door to the kitchens of Hogwarts was the fact that it was very hard to get caught sneaking out past curfew. Argus Filch was probably up patrolling the sixth floor stairwell for all Lachlan knew, but either way it didn't matter. Not three steps from the barrels guarding the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room was the painting that led to the kitchens.
Lachlan crawled out from underneath one of the barrels and brushed himself off. Even though hundreds of kids went in and out of the entry-way to the Hufflepuff Common Room, it was still as dusty as his grandmother's mantle-piece. Which was to say, a lot.
"You there, Trent?" Lachlan hissed out as he squinted into the darkness of the tunnel in which he had just come from. Trent was only a few paces behind - or, so Lachlan thought...
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Post by lukejordan on Jan 1, 2012 6:09:38 GMT
Trent stumbled around blindly in the dark for a moment, reaching out for a wall to orient himself. It was late at night and the tunnel leading into the Hufflepuff commonroom was almost entirely devoid of light. Add to that the fact that Trent's night-vision was hardly spectacular, and he was feeling a little disoriented as he groped ahead of him to find the right way.
A quick lumos would certainly have made things easier, but there was no guarantee that Filch or Mrs Norris wouldn't be prowling around outside the barrels at the exit. However, provided that he and Lachlan didn't make too much noise and didn't conjure up a light, they could check out the lay of the land and determine if it was safe to continue to the Kitchens or if they had to wait for Filch to move on.
It was a strategy that had saved them from many a detention in the past, and despite the inconvience of the darkness, it was one that Trent had no intention of changing. His fingers brushed wood in the darkness, and he emerged from underneath another barrel just in time to hear Lachlan's question.
"Right here." Trent murmured, searching for his friend as his eyes adjusted to the low light of the corridor. "Got a little bit lost in the dark again. And no, Lachie, it's not funny."
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Post by lachlanparker on Jan 1, 2012 7:51:53 GMT
should i write myself
out of the history books? [/size][/color][/right] Lachlan had to restrain himself from chuckling. Dear old Trent, getting lost in the dark. Again. Lachlan just shook his head, and, in friendship, held out his hand for Trent to grab onto so Lachlan could pull him up off the dusty floor.
"Well, we made it." The corners of Lachlan's lips turned downwards. "It was a long, hard, and gruelling trek to get here, but -" He folded his arms and sighed. "We made it."
It had been so long since Lachlan had been into the kitchens. In Trent and Lachie's third year, the two of them would come down into the kitchens every second night to grab a snack or ten. Lachlan reasoned it to 'two growing boys who needed food all the time', but, in all honesty, Lachlan was just a bit of a dessert pig. He stepped forward into the dim torch light and tickled the pear in the fruit bowl. The pear, after giggling it's leaves off, turned into the green doorknob that Lachlan knew so well.
After pulling the door open with some effort, Lachlan stepped inside the kitchen. The smell of home-made apple pie was overwhelming and Lachlan could only guess what Trent was thinking. "The smell's coming from this way." Lachlan closed his eyes and followed the smell of caramelised apples, over to a bench on the other side of the room.
Weird thing was - where were all the House Elves?
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Post by lukejordan on Jan 1, 2012 9:28:28 GMT
Trent gratefully took Lachlan's hand and let his taller and lankier friend haul him to his feet. He chuckled softly at Lachie's slightly over-dramatized description of their journey, but appreciated the sentiment his friend was trying to convey. It had been ages since they'd made a late night snack run together, and there was something more satisfying about sneaking out of bed, avoiding the spiteful janitor and enjoying delicious House Elf food when it was shared with your best friend.
Following Lachlan through the secret door, Trent shut it carefully behind him before pausing to take a deep breath of the kitchen air; redolent with delicious smells it evoked strong memories of good times gone past in the company of his best friend...
...who had disappeared from his side, making a beeline to a corner where the elves had laid there pies out to cool. Trent shook his head in fond exasperation, all too familiar with how strong Lachlan's sweet tooth could be, and how loud his gangly friend sometimes found the siren song of dessert.
As he stepped away from the door to begin an examination of what was on offer, Trent suddenly noticed something odd; a complete lack of the usual boisterous greeting he remembered getting from the kitchen elves no matter how late at night he and Lachlan showed up.
"Uh, Lachie?" Trent called out, "Do you notice anything odd about the place? Like, you know - a lack of house elves?"
Continuing to scan the room for signs of movement, Trent waited for a reply.
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Post by lachlanparker on Jan 1, 2012 9:58:36 GMT
should i write myself
out of the history books? [/color][/right] Lachlan could barely hear Trent's voice over how many pieces of pie he'd tried to stuff into his mouth at once. At least, that was what Lachlan was choosing to think.
"Ffwat?" Lachlan turned around to talk to Trent, but only ended up spitting out a bit of chewed up, caramelised apple onto Trent's robes. He gulped the rest down before hastily leaning over to brush the bit of pie off Trent's shoulders without apologising. The only thing he was sorry about was the fact that he couldn't eat that last crumb of what the devoured sweetie goodness. "What did you say?"
Lachlan brushed the icing sugar off his hands onto his clean black pants. His brow furrowed as Lachlan sank into deep thought. Come to think of it, there weren't any elves. He looked back up at Trent with a troubled face. "D'you suppose they're on holiday?" he shrugged. Maybe they all had beds to go to during the night; but, seeing as they were all hanging around the kitchens at night time, back in their third year when Trent and Lachie used to come wandering in, it did seem quite weird. "I dunno, mate." Lachie shrugged.
The kitchen was rather large. Lachlan stared over behind the row of enchanted ice-boxes. There were doors on the other side of the room - perhaps the Elves weren't working, and instead, just resting. "You don't suppose they're just behind those doors or something?" Lachlan pointed to what he'd been staring at.
But, as for now, his attention was turned back to the blueberry and cream pie sitting on the bench where the apple pie had been thirty seconds ago.
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Post by lukejordan on Jan 6, 2012 6:12:42 GMT
As Lachlan spilled food all over the front of both their shirts, Trent sighed. This was hardly an uncommon occurence; the combination of Lachlan's insane appetite and his occasional absent-mindedness had ensured that Trent applied Impervious charms to his clothing before meals and late-night Kitchen runs. It had been long enough between secret snacks, however, that he'd gotten out of the habit.
Lachlan's typically cursory attempt to clean off Trent's robes had left the apple pie more crushed into them, and so Trent pulled out his wand and performed in quick succession a cleaning charm to remove the half-chewed dessert and then an impervious charm to avoid further accidents.
Trent shook his head at Lachlan's suggestion, regretting the fact he'd asked his best friend for intelligent thought when there was pie on offer. "Yes Lachie. They're on holiday, and their cousins the Dessert Elves replaced them and made those pies."
Looking where Lachlan pointed, Trent realized that behind the ice-boxes there in fact were shapes somewhat resembling House Elf sized doors. "I take it all back, my friend. Every time I ever wondered if you were in fact a transfigured baboon. I take it back. You are a genius. A veritable Crouching Moron, Hidden Genius."
Too late to grab any of the blueberry pie that Lachlan was now inhaling, Trent kept a sharp eye on the bench for the appearance of any further treats. His patience was rewarded with a citrus tart that he snatched before Lachlan could react. Conjuring a spoon and beginning to eat, he looked over at his somewhat crestfallen friend with a raised eyebrow.
"So Mr Holmes. Having solved the Mystery of the Missing House Elves, what are your plans for the weekend? I hear that down in Hosmeade there is an unsolved conundrum as to how Honeyduke's produces such fine chocolate."
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Post by lachlanparker on Jan 6, 2012 7:07:04 GMT
should i write myself
out of the history books? [/color][/right] Lachlan made a face at Trent as another lot of crumbs fell out of his packed-to-the-maximum mouth. Dessert Elves. It was like Trent was making fun of him or something. "Ha, ha. But seriously."
With Trent's speech how he was a hoosy-watsit genius who crouched on occasion, Lachlan paused to look back at the door on the other side of the room, hoping that that was indeed where the House Elves were. "Trent," Lachlan said, slapping his hand rather hard on Trent's shoulder. "I still don't get your obscure references to kung-fu films, but I shall take it as a compliment anyway." He pressed his lips together and patted Trent on the back a few times. What an indie kid.
Lachlan's mother had always told him not to eat his food too quickly. But, when there was dessert in the room, it was hard to stop him from piling it into his mouth. His younger sister had once said that if there was dessert in the room with Lachlan, he could simply absorb it by osmosis. It was a wonder that Lachlan wasn't bigger than he was, with the amount of food he consumed per day. He was probably the single reason that the house-elves had to work as hard as they did; well, that was what Lachlan liked to think of himself, anyway.
Lachie's ears pricked up as Trent said the word 'chocolate'. "Elementary, my dear Watson." Lachlan said in his most poncey English accent. "It seems like another adventure." He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and looked back at Trent, deciding to drop the accent. "Yeah, I'm up for it if you are. Hey! Maybe I could sweet talk old Marjorie into giving us free Cockroach Clusters like she did last time." Mm, cockroach clusters. He thought back to the last time him and Trent were in Hogsmeade, and the owner of Honeydukes - Marjorie - decided both Trent and Lachlan were too skinny and ended up giving them a decent-sized jar of Cockroach Cluster each. Ah, those were the days.
"So after we somehow eat this line of pies on the bench, what should we do? I suppose it's a good thing that the Common Room is so close. We could just roll home."
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