Inside the Headmaster's Office on the Castle's Seventh Floor.
Holding a tray steady, Kleis appeared on the carpet with a pop and set a steaming bowl of thick tomato and beef soup on one of the only two small round tables in the Headmaster's Office.
The table was already laden with all sorts of food, packed full, and the enthusiastic house-elf replenished it as soon as Su Er took a bite.
More dishes kept arriving.
"Uh, that's enough, Kleis. Thank you." Su Er had to speak up to stop it.
"The young master thanked Kleis!" Kleis froze with the tray still in hand, tears rapidly filling those large yellow eyes. "Kind young master, Kleis doesn't need thanks. This is what Kleis should do!"
"All right, Kleis." Seeing Su Er's bewildered expression, Dumbledore smiled and said,
"Go back to the Kitchen for now. I think our Mr. Bones is still rather confused about what happened during the half month and more he spent asleep."
"Yes, Headmaster!" Kleis gave Su Er a lingering look, then vanished with the tray.
Su Er's hand, which had just picked up a Yorkshire pudding, froze in midair.
"Mmph, mmph..." He put the pudding back on his plate, chewed faster, and quickly swallowed the food in his mouth. He thumped his chest with his other hand before finally stammering,
"Professor Dumbledore, if I heard you correctly, did you just say I... slept for over half a month???"
"Ah, yes." Dumbledore happily picked up a little jam biscuit. "It's already October twenty-third today. Mmm... quite delicious."
Su Er silently worked it out. From the night he had run into the Forbidden Forest until today, he really had slept for the better part of a month...
No wonder he had been so hungry as soon as he arrived at