The Ancient Wizards of Hogwarts

Filch didn't lie. The kitchen was indeed next to the Hufflepuff common room. To be precise, the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room should be in the right-hand corner of the kitchen corridor.

Ash walked along the spiral staircase to the basement. There were a large number of large wooden barrels stacked on dark stone troughs on both sides of the corridor. One of these barrels was Hufflepuff's common room. But Ash's purpose was not to find the rest room, so instead of looking for the barrel where the Hufflepuff rest room was, he came to a picture in the corridor.

The picture shows a huge silver bowl filled with fruits.

And Ash stood in front of the painting, reaching out and gently scratching the big green pear.

"Cackle, cluck, cluck~"

The pear on the plate squirmed when it was tickled, giggling, and finally turned into a doorknob with a burst of green light.

And the painting turned into a door, automatically opening inwards.

When Ash walked through the hallway, the first thing he saw was a cauldron being cooked, with a burning flame underneath, and a circle of small rotating bodies next to it, leading from the ground to the top of the cauldron.

There are four long tables placed in the kitchen, which are exactly the same as the tables in the auditorium in terms of length, width and placement.

In the kitchen, there are more than a dozen strange creatures. They are two to three feet tall, with slender arms and legs, a large head and large eyes. They have large pointed ears like bats, and their voices are also very high-pitched.

They wore thin vests made of tea towels. They looked a little old, but they were not dirty, but rather neat and clean.

This is a requirement set by the school a hundred years ago. They must be kept clean and tidy at all times to ensure that wizards can eat clean and hygienic food. The house elves had no objections to this, but were quite happy about it. They were happy to accept any order that would satisfy their master.

Since it is not normal working hours now, there are not many house elves in the kitchen.

Some of them knelt on the ground and wiped the ground carefully with rags and sponges. Some used magic to control kitchen knives to float in the air. They threw the ingredients into the air and let the kitchen knives handle them by themselves. Some were washing dishes by the sink...

The house elves seemed very busy, yet orderly.

Until they found Ash coming in from the entrance, they all stopped what they were doing and looked at Ash with fear in their eyes.

They are not afraid of Ash, but they are afraid of being discovered by Ash——

For a qualified house elf, being seen by the master is a dereliction of duty!

Before the group of house elves could apparate away, Ash hurriedly shouted:

"Don't leave yet, I need your help!"

The house elves looked at each other and did not disapparate away, but no one stepped forward.

Finally, a young house elf was pushed in front of Ash, and he asked nervously:

"Mr. Black, what can we do for you?"

They knew Blake, or they knew everyone in this school.

Ash looked at the elf in front of him and asked:

"May I have your name?"

"Cohen, sir," he said carefully.

"Is such that."

Ash thought about it and said, "I hope you can provide food for my friends regularly, preferably three times a day."

Cohen's eyes became a little frightened, and he said uneasily:

"This is exactly what we are doing, is our food not to your friend's liking? No, no, I'm sorry! Please forgive us!"

"No, that's not the case."

Ash was a little helpless and comforted:

"Your food is delicious and I am very satisfied with it, so I hope you can provide food for my friends."

"It's just that these friends of mine are not students in the school. They live in the Forbidden Forest. Of course, this does not require you to go deep into the Forbidden Forest. I will communicate with them. You only need to send food to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They I’ll pick it up myself, okay?”

When Cohen heard that Ash was not dissatisfied with their food, but instead expressed approval and even introduced it to his friends, Cohen was so moved that he almost shed tears.

"Of course, Mr. Black!"

Cohen wiped the tears from his eyes and said excitedly:

"Sorry, I'm just so happy and grateful that you enjoyed the food we prepared."

The house elves behind him gradually gathered around, their faces all filled with emotion and surprise.

This is a house elf.

House elves have no wages or holidays. They are proud of their labor and ashamed of roaming freely. Any house-elf who attempts to demand wages and holidays will be scorned by the house elves, and any chance of receiving praise from their master will keep them happy for days.

At Hogwarts, students like Ash are their masters.

"Thanks."

Ash thanked him sincerely, and then said:

"My friends are waiting for me at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Cohen, can you accompany me to meet them?"

"I just agreed on a time to deliver the food in the future. It won't take too long."

"Of course! Of course!"

Cohen said excitedly:

"Mr. Black, I am willing to accompany you!"

In his opinion, this was a reflection of Ash's trust in him, which was the highest honor any house elf could aspire to!

Ash smiled and expressed his thanks, then asked:

"Cohen, can you take me there by apparating? It's in the Forbidden Forest near Hogsmeade."

The so-called apparation is disappearing from one place and reappearing in another place in the blink of an eye.

Hogwarts is protected by the Anti-Apparition Curse. No wizard can use Disapparation in Hogwarts. Even Dumbledore himself must leave the school before he can Disapparate.

But the only exception is elves, who can ignore the restrictions of Hogwarts to perform apparation. It was precisely because of this special ability that Dicko was able to escape with the magical animals in the Room of Requirement.

Cohen wanted to agree to Ash's request, but he was a little embarrassed:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Black."

"I have never been to the place you mentioned, so I may not be able to take you there with Apparition..."

Ash realized that Apparition must first imagine the destination in his mind before he can successfully cast it.

Any slight mistake will lead to accidents. For example, occasionally a wizard only teleports half of his body to the destination, while the other half remains where he is.

Ash changed his words:

"I was negligent, Cohen. Do you know the one at Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest?"

Cohen nodded and asked:

"Cohen has been there, do you want me to take you there?"

"Yes."

Ash nodded slightly and grabbed Cohen's hand.

With a slight popping sound, the two disappeared from the kitchen in an instant.