Su Er woke up hungry. He had missed both breakfast and lunch, and after a night of fear and anxiety in the Forbidden Forest, he was utterly exhausted, mentally and physically.
The urgent demands for food from both his body and his brain forced him out of bed to scrounge up something in the Kitchen. The Hogwarts Kitchens had to be the most competitive workplace in the business: staff were on duty twenty-four hours a day, and whoever came by, whenever they came, could get fresh, piping-hot food.
Of course, apart from Dumbledore, who could get food with a snap of his fingers, the young Hufflepuff wizards were best placed to enjoy this perk. They were only a corridor away, with no need to sneak all the way over from a tower.
Only those who lived in the Hufflepuff Common Room knew how good it was.
With his hunger and thirst satisfied, Su Er happily sucked at his teeth as he ambled back to his dormitory. Being young was wonderful. Despite how exhausted he had been last night, once he had eaten his fill, satisfaction replaced the aches and pains.
The young wizards in the dormitory were still discussing the Hogsmeade week scheduled for the end of the month. It was easy to imagine that, from now until then, this would be the hottest topic in all of Hogwarts after Quidditch.
Su Er found Justin and Morn tucked away in a corner. At some point, the pair had set up a Wizard's Chess set and were now locked in a heated match.
Thinking back, practically every time he found these two roommates, they were either playing chess or on their way to play chess.
Was this what happened when two terrible chess players met-birds of a feather, each appreciating the