The Kitchen and the Room of Requirement (Part 1)

At six o'clock the next morning, Jon Hart woke from his sleep.

He got up and looked around. He was now in the Hufflepuff boys' dormitory.

The Hufflepuff dormitories consisted of single rooms, with each person having their own compartment... Though every compartment looked cramped from the outside, the space within was surprisingly spacious.

His trunk had already been brought in, and the glass cages containing the two South African Red Spiders had been placed on the windowsill.

Jon walked over, took a few dead mealworms from the small box beside the cages, and tossed them into the glass enclosure... He was not particularly concerned about the health of these two spider "pets." As long as they held on until around Halloween, that was enough!

After washing up and putting on Hogwarts' Black Robe, he arrived in the Hufflepuff common room.

It was completely empty at the moment, since it was only around quarter past six in the morning. Warm sunlight shone through the windows onto the plant specimens arranged around the common room, all of which had been placed there by Professor Sprout, Hufflepuff's Head of House!

Jon had no intention of lingering in the common room. He passed through the round underground tunnel, crawled out of the barrel, and returned to the corridor on Hogwarts' first underground level.

Hogwarts' school rules prohibited students from wandering around the school at night... Jon did not have powerful tools like an Invisibility Cloak or the Marauder's Map that would let him explore the school at night without a care.

But that did not stop him from getting up after six in the morning to wander through the equally quiet castle. It did not violate school rules, and the lighting was a little better too.

Jon's first stop was the... Kitchen, next to the Hufflepuff common room.

He wanted breakfast first, but at this hour, the Great Hall certainly would not be serving food yet.

"Gabriel said yesterday that the Kitchen was along this corridor..."

Jon muttered to himself as he observed his surroundings.

Before long, he found it: a painting of a silver bowl overflowing with fruit.

Jon reached out a finger and gently tickled the large emerald-green pear. The pear wriggled and giggled, then suddenly turned into a large green door handle.

Beyond the door was a room nearly as large as the Great Hall. Many gleaming copper pots and basins were piled along the stone walls, while a huge brick fireplace stood at the far end of the room.

"Sir... hello... sir..." A small creature darted toward him at top speed. "What can I do for you!"

It was an ugly little "monster," a House-elf... It had two bat-like ears and a pair of protruding green eyes as large as tennis balls. Even though he had prepared himself mentally, Jon was nearly startled.

"Hello!" Jon steadied himself slightly, then held out a hand to the House-elf. "I'm Jon Hart, a Hufflepuff student. May I ask you for breakfast here?"

"Hufflepuff!" the House-elf suddenly shrieked. "Welcome... most welcome... it is my honor..."

As it shrieked, it anxiously clasped two of Jon's fingers in both hands.

At once, six House-elves hurried over from behind him, carrying an enormous silver tray together. On it sat a large jug of milk, a cup, and a huge plate of biscuits.

"Thank you, thank you so much... Actually, I don't need this much!" Jon said seriously. "By the way, I don't know your name yet."

"My name is Klyne, sir..." the House-elf said as it wiped away tears. "It is our honor to serve a Hufflepuff student!"

More and more House-elves gathered around him, stuffing bread, cream cakes, and pies into Jon's hands.

"That's enough, that's enough, I can't eat this much!" Jon said as he turned his gaze back to Klyne. "Wait, why do you keep emphasizing Hufflepuff?"

"A thousand years ago, we House-elves lived miserable lives... Lady Helga Hufflepuff brought our ancestors to work in the Hogwarts kitchens, ensuring that we had work and would not be abused, allowing us to live better lives than House-elves anywhere else..." Klyne said through sobs.

"Protecting Hufflepuff is the duty of every Hogwarts House-elf..."

Ten minutes later, under the watchful eyes of more than a hundred House-elves, Jon left the Kitchen with his robe pockets stuffed full of food.

It seemed he had made the right choice in picking Hufflepuff. At the very least, he would be able to eat and drink his fill at school from now on!

He also seemed to understand why the Hufflepuff common room had no magic to repel intruders, and why neither the Hufflepuff common room nor its dormitories had been entered by strangers for nearly a thousand years... Because the House-elves had always been watching the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. Any illegal intruders would be driven away by them!

He did not return to the Hufflepuff common room, nor was he in a hurry to attend class. It was only half past six... He headed up through the castle.

Hogwarts' staircases were complicated, but fortunately, he could ask the portraits for directions, and most of them were happy to guide him... Following the staircases, Jon climbed all the way to the Eighth Floor of the castle.

After spending over ten minutes searching, he found the wall on the Eighth Floor of Hogwarts Castle, opposite the tapestry of the troll who was beaten silly by Barnaby.

He walked back and forth along the wall three times, and a gleamingly polished door appeared in it!

The door to the Room of Requirement stood before Jon... He reached out, turned the brass handle, and pushed the door open.

A dining table appeared inside, with a complete set of tableware laid out upon it.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Jon took all the biscuits, cakes, bread, and other food stuffed inside his robe and placed them on a plate. Then he picked up the utensils and began enjoying his breakfast.

Perhaps I should test what the Room of Requirement can provide at most? Jon thought to himself.

Start with the broadest possible range, then narrow it down bit by bit...

Jon stood up.

I need a strategic missile silo, along with an intercontinental strategic missile carrying a nuclear warhead! he silently recited. It doesn't need to be too powerful. Something like a DF-5, Topol-M, or Minuteman III will do!