Everyone had enjoyed Halloween except Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had been dragged to the Deathday Party. By the time they left, they were cold and hungry.
"Why don't we go to the Kitchens and get something to eat? I'm starving," Ron suggested with a shiver. The ghosts hadn't even lit a fire in the Underground Classroom where they'd held their party.
Harry and Hermione agreed. But as soon as they entered the Kitchens, they saw a familiar white-bearded old man eating an enormous pumpkin cake.
"Professor Dumbledore?"
"Harry, I'd like to talk to you about Dobby."
At the start of term, Will had knocked Dobby out and handed him over to Harry. Later, on the train, Will had worried he might wake up and hit him with several more Stunning Spells. As soon as they reached school, Harry had given the still-unconscious Dobby to Professor McGonagall.
Harry had thought that was the end of it, so Professor Dumbledore's sudden approach surprised him.
"Dobby still has a Master, and he refuses to tell me exactly what happened. But from what he's said, I've gathered a few things..."
Time flew by. Some time later, two girls sat by a window in the Hogwarts Library, working on their assignments.
"Finally finished—" Sylvia stretched. A stack of Parchment lay in front of her.
"How did you finish so fast?" Hermione glanced over. "Your Potions essay is so short."
"It's not short. I've written the full seven inches. You're the one who wrote too much." Sylvia tossed down her Quill. "Nearly every assignment you do is twice as long as the teachers ask for."
"That's how you improve." To Hermione, the tireless overachiever, it was obvious. "Even so, I still can't catch up with Will."
"Give it a little time and you'll be