Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 599 The School Kitchens

Hufflepuff not only changed the magical world but also greatly elevated Hogwarts' status.

Wizarding families eventually had to make a compromise. They reached an agreement with Helga Hufflepuff, embraced Hogwarts' educational model, allowed young wizards born to Muggles to attend the school, and established a Board of Governors to oversee the management of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As for Hogwarts' independence from the Board of Governors and its autonomous teaching activities, that would later be the responsibility of the headmaster.

It must be said that Hufflepuff's success and the Hogwarts model were a significant event, large enough to completely transform the magical world over the course of the last millennium. Magic schools like Hogwarts had sprung up all over the world.

More and more wizards born to Muggles had been admitted to the school. The traditional learning within a single family and the secret inheritance of magic had been completely altered. Universal magical education became the standard for magical education.

Helga Hufflepuff herself served as the headmistress of Hogwarts until her death. She did not leave this place in her lifetime and was even buried at Hogwarts upon her passing. She only left her favorite golden cup as a relic to her descendants.

Like Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, the location of Hufflepuff's tomb had always been a mystery.

Because she was ultimately buried by a house-elf, no one knew for certain where Hufflepuff's tomb was.

For a thousand years, countless stragglers had attempted to find her burial site at the school, but no one had succeeded.

Evan had carefully analyzed all available historical facts and believed that the key breakthrough lay in the hands of the house-elves.

As the greatest witch and educator in magical history, Hufflepuff was also the finest cook, and the house-elves were her assistants.

Evan did not believe that the key to Hufflepuff's secret treasure lay in her coffin, but his closest friend for the rest of his life was undoubtedly a house-elf. Everything was under his watch, and even his own final burial was the responsibility of the house-elf.

In that era, Helga Hufflepuff welcomed all house-elves who had lost their places of residence due to the war.

She made them part of Hogwarts, and the common friends in her councils were to be the elves.

Since Hufflepuff's time, Hogwarts had been home to the largest number of house-elves in the magical world.

For a thousand years, they had lived in the kitchens beneath the castle, where they built their own vast underground realm.

Unsurprisingly, both the key to the treasure and the secret of Hufflepuff's tomb were in the hands of the house-elves.

Last semester, Evan had inquired too much of Dobby and other house-elves on this matter, but they all claimed ignorance.

He speculated that the secrets held by the ancestors of the house-elves might have been lost, and no one had passed them down.

It was not surprising, as house-elves had been enslaved for so long.

They had lost their own cultural heritage and had become entirely appendages of the wizards.

If they had truly retained such significant clues, they might have divulged them to the headmaster instead of concealing them.

Although no one knew for certain, there must be some clues in the kitchens.

Recently, Evan found a blueprint of the early castle construction in the library area.

It had been mixed in with a very unpopular magic book that had not been borrowed in hundreds of years.

The basement on the map was much larger than it was now, and the large area that disappeared later was near the kitchen.

That drawing confirmed Evan's long speculation. In combination with the information he had gathered earlier, he deemed it necessary to take a look.

Evan led Hermione into the basement, which was the only route to the Slytherin and Hufflepuff Common Room.

The two followed a narrow passage to the left and descended a stone staircase. Instead of ending in a gloomy underground passage like the one leading to Snape's dungeon, they found themselves in a broad stone hallway, illuminated with torches and adorned with cheerful paintings, mostly of food.

They approached the painting depicting a huge silver fruit bowl, and Evan extended his index finger and gently stroked the enormous green pear.

He began to twist, laughing, and suddenly turned into a large green door knob.

"This is the entrance to the school's kitchens!" said Evan. He opened the door to reveal a low, dark, and deep vestibule.

"Let's go in. Be ready!" said Evan.

He remembered the last time he came; he was surrounded by countless elves, rushing around with twisted smiles.

"Ready for what?!" Hermione asked, nervously looking down the hallway.

"You'll know soon enough!" Evan took Hermione's small hand and they entered together.

In the next instant, they crossed the threshold. Inside, they found a huge room with high ceilings, as large as the Great Hall above, with piles of gleaming copper pots and pans stacked around the stone walls, and a large brick fireplace at the other end.

They felt something and, before they could see more clearly, a great many green things were heading towards them from the center of the room.

Hermione couldn't help but step back, then saw that they were all house-elves.

There were more than a hundred, which was incredible.

"Sir, miss, what can we do for you?" the elves asked loudly, crowding around them.

Each of them had a smile on their face, waiting for Evan and Hermione's orders.

Before they could speak, another house-elf came running up, squealing.

He hit Evan hard in the stomach, hugging him tightly.

It was Dobby!

Although they had only met a little over a month ago, he was very excited for Evan's visit to the kitchen to see him.

He hugged Evan tightly, and the latter hurriedly lowered him.

Hermione looked surprised at both of them and the house-elves surrounding them. It took her a while to adapt.

In fact, she hadn't seen Dobby in a long time. Dobby's huge tennis ball-like green eyes were brimming with tears of happiness. He looked almost exactly as Hermione remembered him; the sharp nose, bat-like ears, long fingers and feet... everything except the clothing, which was very different.

When Dobby worked for the Malfoys, he always wore the same old dirty pillowcase...

Now, he wore a strange assortment of clothing. He did an even worse job of dressing himself than the wizards at the World Cup.

He wore a teapot hat as a cap, on which he had pinned several shiny badges; a tie with horseshoes imprinted on the exposed chest, a pair of what looked like children's football shorts, and mismatched socks. One of them was the black one that Harry had taken off his foot and tricked Mr. Malfoy into giving to Dobby, thus freeing him. The other was covered in pink and orange stripes...

This was a style Evan had never seen before. All the money he gave Dobby was used to buy socks, which he renewed almost every week.

In a way, Dobby was probably the most fashionable house-elf!