Get comfortable, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🔥 ✦ Just then, a young witch burst into the office and interrupted what Elias had been about to say.
Hermione braced herself against the doorframe, breathing hard.
Her face was red from running, and the hair at her forehead clung to her skin with sweat.
“Sorry…
Professor Vale…
I overslept.” She had barely steadied herself before rushing to explain.
Under Penelope’s and Elias’s surprised looks, Hermione felt deeply ashamed.
By nature, she was meticulous and disciplined.
She could hardly accept something as absurd as being late on the very first day she had become Professor Vale’s assistant.
Seeing how mortified she looked, Elias gently asked Hermione and Penelope to sit in the chairs before his desk.
The moment Hermione sat down, she began apologizing for being late again.
Only after Elias repeatedly assured her that he had already forgiven the mistake did her emotions finally settle.
“It is not breakfast time in the Great Hall yet.
You must both be hungry.
Would you like some sweets?” Elias warmly pushed the plate of Cockroach Clusters toward the two witches.
Hermione and Penelope stared warily at the still-wriggling sweets.
Penelope used the excuse that she had already eaten breakfast in her common room and declined Elias’s offer.
Hermione, however, felt too embarrassed after arriving late to refuse Professor Vale’s hospitality.
Reluctantly, she picked up a Cockroach Cluster.
Suppressing the discomfort of feeling it squirm in her hand, and not daring to look too closely, she shut her eyes and tossed it into her mouth.
A rich sweetness of coffee wrapped in chocolate sauce filled Hermione’s mouth at once.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
She had not expected such grotesque-looking sweets to taste so good.
Seeing Hermione relax visibly, Elias returned to arranging the assistant work.
As she watched Penelope write and sketch in her notebook, Hermione awkwardly realized that she had rushed here so quickly she had forgotten to bring one of her own.
In the end, Elias provided her with a blank notebook, saving her from further embarrassment.
After arranging the specific duties and working hours for the two assistants, Elias handed each of them several books related to the research and asked them to study.
That brought the day’s arrangements to an end.
Penelope held two thick books, politely said goodbye, and left Elias’s office.
Around the corner of the corridor, a tall red-haired boy was waiting for her, peeking about with obvious nerves.
Hermione, however, did not leave in a hurry.
Her face was full of hesitation, as though she wanted to say something to Elias.
“Do you have another question, Miss Granger?” Elias asked first.
“Professor Vale, a few days ago, I read about something rather rare in a book…” Hermione began hesitantly.
The familiar opening startled Elias.
For one terrible moment, he feared Hermione was about to ask him about the method for creating a Horcrux.
“Some young witches or wizards may hear strange whispers for no apparent reason, while no one around them hears anything at all.
I do not understand why that would happen.” Hermione looked at Elias expectantly, hoping he could provide a reasonable answer.
Elias let out a long breath of relief.
He knew Hermione was asking about the Basilisk on Harry’s behalf.
“There are many possible explanations,” Elias said seriously.
“The first is that the young wizard has reached adolescence and is suffering hallucinations caused by hormonal and endocrine imbalance.” Hermione looked startled.
She had not expected Professor Vale to give such a thoroughly Muggle answer.
She did not believe Harry’s behavior had anything to do with endocrine imbalance.
“Or,” Elias continued, “it may be an inherited gift.
Some young witches and wizards are born able to communicate with animals.
Perhaps the child happened to hear two mice talking underground.” Elias decided to give Hermione a hint about Parseltongue.
Hermione finally received an answer that sounded more magical.
She thanked Elias and left his office.
When Hermione told Harry and Ron what she had learned, Harry immediately rejected the possibility of endocrine imbalance.
He even thumped his chest, making a hollow sound, to prove that he was perfectly healthy.
When he heard the second possibility, however, Harry fell into thought.
He soon remembered his trip to the zoo with Dudley and the conversation he had had with a snake.
He immediately told Hermione and Ron about it.
“Harry, you are a Parselmouth!” Hermione whispered in shock.
Ron reacted just as quickly.
“Parseltongue is an extremely rare gift.
Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of the school, was a Parselmouth.
Harry, you might have Slytherin blood!” Ron excitedly punched Harry on the arm.
“If you are a Parselmouth, then the voice you heard back then might have been a snake crawling somewhere near you,” Hermione reminded him.
At that moment, however, the three children did not take the matter too seriously.
In a thousand-year-old castle, having a snake somewhere inside hardly seemed strange.
“But you should still keep it secret, Harry,” Hermione said.
“Many people do not like Parselmouths.
They say You-Know-Who was one.” Her words startled Harry and Ron.
They decided at once that this matter could not spread.
Anything connected to You-Know-Who could easily draw suspicion and criticism.
Elias’s days at Hogwarts settled into a dull routine.
Every day, he researched and decoded spell models with his two assistants, studied potions with Professor Snape, taught classes, and organized the first issue of the journal he planned to publish.
The only interesting recent news, according to the students, was that Ron had hit Malfoy with a Slug-vomiting Charm over the use of the Quidditch pitch.
Malfoy had spent more than half a day vomiting slugs, though Gryffindor had lost twenty points from Snape for it.
Time soon reached Halloween.
As usual, Hogwarts held a grand Halloween feast.
The entire castle was filled with festive atmosphere.
Hagrid hauled over the enormous pumpkins he had grown in his fields after using Engorgement Charms on them, and the house-elves worked through the night carving them into grinning faces.
The largest pumpkin had even been carved into the shape of a carriage.
Several first-years had crawled inside and were playing there, laughing loudly.
The Great Hall had also been decorated perfectly for Halloween.
The candles that usually floated near the ceiling had been replaced by pumpkin lanterns.
Bats often swooped through the enchanted sky, making students shriek.
In certain stretches of corridor, a large spider would suddenly drop from the ceiling and startle passing children.
Elias sat at the staff table, happily watching the noisy students before him.
He did not see Hermione, Harry, or Ron.
After thinking about it, he guessed they had probably gone to Nearly Headless Nick’s deathday party.
A band of skeletons in Mexican-style dress entered the Great Hall.
With great enthusiasm, they played a lively, comic tune full of Mexican flavor on their guitars, driving the feast’s atmosphere to its peak.
When the music ended, all the students applauded warmly.
Elias also clapped with genuine enthusiasm.
The skeleton musicians bowed to the students around them, then dissolved into black smoke and vanished.
At last, the feast began.
When Dumbledore clapped his hands, the tables immediately filled with abundant food.
The students’ faces shone with satisfaction and excitement as they happily tasted their favorite dishes.
Elias noticed that Dumbledore seemed to be looking at him.
When he turned, Dumbledore smiled and raised his goblet to him from a distance.
Elias immediately lifted his own goblet in return.
✦ ✦ ✦ Ready for more?
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS EmberHollow Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.