A.J RYAN IN THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

Chapter 13 - House Elves

It was a gloomy, rainy day. She was patrolling the first-floor corridor with Simon during break, due to the large number of students inside.

Peeves was in one of the classrooms throwing ink pellets at students. He hit Katie Bell on the ear. She jumped up and started throwing things back at him. A.J waved her wand as Peeves swooped down over Katie, tipping a full ink bottle over her. Katie tensed waiting for it to hit, but when she looked up, she saw the ink had hit an invisible barrier. Some of it had bounced back and landed all over Peeves.

"Peeves!" A.J yelled.

He blew a raspberry at her and floated through the ceiling up to the floor above.

Katie gave her a grateful smile.

Umbridge had handed Simon and A.J a new list of approved groups. Among it today were the three other House Quidditch teams.

The weather only got worse as the day went on, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was out practicing in it.

A.J was standing in the Entrance Hall talking to Simon and some Ravenclaw's, when the team re-entered, minus Harry and Ron.

"I'll see you later." A.J said to them. She ran after Fred and George. "Why are you walking like that?"

They were bandy-legged and looked to be in pain. "Never mind." They shot in unison.

She shrugged unfazed. "Where's Harry and Ron?"

"Why?" Fred asked.

"Forget it." She rolled her eyes.

Harry and Ron came through the Entrance Hall ten minutes later and took the marble stairs. A.J gave them a head start. When she reached the common room, they were already sitting doing their homework. Ron was shooting him sideways glances, something must have happened, because Harry looked too caught up in thoughts to be getting anywhere with his work.

A.J followed shortly after Ron had left. Leaving Harry almost on his own – she would know if he left the common room.

"Harry?" A.J called his attention at breakfast. "How's Hedwig?"

"Oh, she's all well now, thanks. I got her back last night." He replied.

A.J smiled and turned back to her letter she had received this morning from her parents.

At lunch time she heard the news of the first Defence meeting. To take place on the seventh floor, opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls, in his attempt to train them for the ballet. A.J hadn't known there was anything around that tapestry.

So she waited beside it from shortly after seven. Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived just after seven-thirty with a folded piece of old parchment, unable to see her.

"Okay. Dobby said to walk past this bit of wall three times, concentrating hard on what we need." Harry said quietly.

She suddenly understood. This was the Room of Requirement, or the Come and Go Room. She knew Hogwarts had one, and now she knew where it was. Bad news, she wouldn't be able to watch what happened in that room tonight.

Then she remembered Harry had mentioned Dobby the house-elf. She bolted away down the corridor and used multiple secret passageways, until she reached the basements. She tickled the pear in the portrait of an ordinary bowl of fruit, while it laughed, squirmed and turned into a door-knob.

The kitchen was a huge high-ceilinged room with four long house tables and one Teacher's table, matching the size and layout of the Great Hall above.

There were brass pots and pans around the perimeter of the room currently being stacked back on their wooden shelves by some of the house-elves. Other elves were at the large sinks or wiping down the long tables. There was a large brick opening where a fireplace sat in the wall on the far end of the room.