When Wade opened his eyes again, he felt as though the bone-deep exhaustion throughout his body had been swept away.
The dark blue velvet curtains had not been fully drawn shut. Through the gap, he could see that the night outside was still thick and dark.
A bright morning star hung in the black sky, showing that sunrise was still two or three hours away.
Wade rubbed his eyes.
His mind was still a little foggy from sleep. It took him a while to realize that he had slept from yesterday morning until the early hours of today.
At this moment, he was neither in a shabby hotel in the United States nor on a droning airplane.
He lay in his own dormitory. The bed was still soft, and the air was as quiet as before. The room was warm, with bronze-and-blue drapes hanging loosely overhead. The bookshelves were crammed with books, arranged almost exactly as they had been when he last left.
Wardrobe Space stood silently in the shadows at the foot of the bed like a mute guard. Wade found that he could not even remember unfolding it before going to sleep.
The entire room was unbelievably neat. The House-elves had clearly cleaned it with great care. Not long after he woke up, a tray appeared on the small bedside cabinet—
A large steaming glass of milk, golden crisp toast, fried bacon and eggs, and a bowl of oatmeal sprinkled with cinnamon.
These were not things that appeared on Hogwarts' menu every day, but they were indeed Wade's favorites.
Wade smiled and said softly, "Thank you... Was it Zoe, Phil, or Hobby?"
The moment he finished speaking, a series of soft pops sounded in the air.
The three House-elves appeared almost at once, their huge eyes brimming with