I can't control it

[Napoleon Hawke]

Napoleon was restless as he lay in his four poster bed staring at the ceiling, telling himself countless times to go to sleep. He tried everything from counting nargles to closing his eyes and refusing to open them until the morning whilst trying to ignore the sporadic snores of his roommate, but all his attempts were futile. It wasn’t the snoring which was keeping him up, it was the raw excitement running through his body. Shortly before he went to bed Napoleon had overheard a group of older students talking. He overheard them discussing the way to the kitchens and exactly how to get through the secret entrance which the first year couldn’t wait to investigate further.

He told himself over and over again to wait until the morning to go on this adventure to see if whether it was all true, whether really all you had to do was tickle the pear on a portrait to gain access to all the food you could ever dream of. He simply couldn’t wait until morning and there was absolutely no chance of him getting any sleep now so Napoleon got out of bed.

Ensuring he was quiet as not to wake anyone up, he slipped on a pair of shoes, threw a maroon dressing gown over his striped pyjamas and left the boys dormitory in silence. To his surprise once he reached the bottom of the spiral staircase another student was already awake, her name was Hariah, a fellow Gryffindor first year who Napoleon took all his classes with. “Oh hey Hariah.” Napoleon whispered as to not be heard by anyone else, “What are you doing up so late? Do you want to come on an adventure?” It wouldn’t hurt to bring one person to find the legend that is the kitchen.

 

[Hariah Meadow]

Hariah couldn't sleep. She didn't know why, maybe it was because she was a bit homesick or she was concerned about her classes. Either way it was keeping her up and she didn't like it. All her other room mates were fast asleep, and were without a care in the world. She sighed and jumped out of bed and put on her slippers and dressing gown. Careful not to wake anyone she tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs into the common room. The fire had gone out now, there was just little embers dying out. There was an odd chill in the air. Hariah wrapped her dressing gown round her tighter.

She whispered "Lumos" and the tip of her wand lit up and illuminated the common room. Hariah thought she heard faint footsteps coming down the stairs but she thought nothing of it and sat down in a comfy armchair and tucked in her legs behind her. Hariah stared at the embers in the fireplace and wondered what she would do now. She was still wide awake, even more so now, so trying to sleep was out of the question.

"Oh hey Hariah."

Turning her head round she saw Napoleon walk into the common room. "Hi, I thought I was the only one up. I thought I heard you coming down the stairs." she answered him. "I couldn't sleep. Why are you up?" she asked him. Hariah grinned "What do you have in mind?" she whispered excitedly.

 

[Napoleon Hawke]

Napoleon’s smile widened to resemble something of a wolfs grin, he immediately knew by Hariah’s reaction that she was interested in the offer of a midnight adventure. “Well,” Napoleon had forgotten to keep his voice low and was bordering at shouting with excitement, “I know the way to the kitchens where there’s unlimited food, whatever you want and they’ll get it for you.” He had no idea who they were but would undoubtedly soon find out.

There was a moment of silence which was broken by the rumble of Napoleon’s stomach, he gripped it tightly and scoffed. “Well I think that’s my queue to leave, are you coming?” He moved towards the exit which opened at his presence, immediately greeting the first year with nothing but darkness. “I think we might need that light on the end of your wand.” The castle was scarier at night than Napoleon had expected it to be but it didn’t deter him. Even in the impossible event of the duo turning back, he still wouldn’t be able to get to sleep.

Napoleon led Hariah all the way to the basement where he had overheard the entrance was hidden. “Okay we’re looking for fruit.” He should be more specific than that, “A portrait of fruit, can you see anything?”

 

[Hariah Meadow]

Hariah's eyes opened wide "You know the route to the kitchens?!" she exclaimed "and there's unlimited food?!" Hariah thought about going, it seemed fun and it would be a great story to tell her dad when she next saw him. She made a move and followed Napoleon "Of course I am!" she replied smiling. Hariah raised her wand so it would illuminate the dark corridor and they could see what was ahead of them. She couldn't wait to get there and she skipped with excitement down the corridors. She wasn't exactly hungry, but she wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.

"Looking for fruit?" Hariah said confused more to herself then to Napoleon. She raised her wand and moved it along the walls looking for the portrait of fruit. "Any type of fruit in particular?" she asked Napoleon, almost jokingly. Then something caught her eye, she waved Napoleon over and pointed at the portrait in front of her. "Is this what we are looking for?" she asked.

 

[Napoleon Hawke]

“Yeah a pear” Napoleon answered, examining the portraits to see if he could see one. The corridor was long and searching could potentially take a long time, or even worse, Napoleon could have the wrong fruit and they may never find this entrance. He didn’t hesitate in front of Hariah, he had promised an adventure and he would not fail her. He continued to search until Hariah spoke out. Napoleon instantly walked over to the portrait of a fruit bowl, inside which a pear sat. “Yes well done, I think this is it.”

He tickled the pear as instructed and the portrait swung open just like the Gryffindor one whenever the password is spoken. “Wow” Napoleon looked in awe as they looked into a large, brightly lit kitchen where house elves were beginning to prepare breakfast for the entire school. “House elves make our food!” Napoleon stated, “It makes sense, they like serving humans.” Napoleon’s mother had always said she wanted a house elf but their house simply wasn’t grand enough to attract any of their service. If the opportunity arose Napoleon would consider taking one of the many house elves which occupy Hogwarts back to her, it would make a nice Christmas gift.

“Come on Haz, you don't mind me calling you Haz do you? Let’s go in!”

 

[Hariah Meadow]

Hariah watched sceptically as Napoleon appeared to tickle the pear in the portrait. Are you sure you-" she stopped as the portrait swung open and a bright light radiated out from the kitchen and lit up the corridor. Etched on every feature of Hariah's face was excitement and awe. It was so big and was filled with crockery and cooking utensils and ovens among other kitchen necessities complete with house elves running about.

"Real house elves!" she said out loud. She wondered how all the food was made for the school, and now her question was answered. "Wow" she said grinning at Napoleon "This is so cool." Hariah watched as Napoleon stepped forward about to go into the kitchen, she looked around to check for people, and nobody was there. "Okay" she muttered more to herself then to Napoleon. "Yeah ok, that's fine. I'm coming" No one had ever called her 'Haz' not even her family. I'm getting a nickname! she thought to herself happily, a sign that Napoleon and herself were getting closer.

 

[Napoleon Hawke]

Hariah didn’t protest against her new nickname so Napoleon decided that it was okay to refer to her as Haz. “Good, you need a nickname for me next.” Napoleon was a long name which was just asking to be shortened but for no particular reason, he never had.

“This is totally cool.” Napoleon walked further into the kitchen, careful to avoid tripping over any house elves. He saw hundreds of pieces of bacon being fried and a humongous pot filled to the top with scrambled egg. Until now did Napoleon really appreciate how much effort it takes to feed an entire school. “I’m definitely coming here again.. and again... and again! This is brilliant!”

Napoleon wondered whether the house elves would get him any food. “Er, I’d really like some cookies please.” Before long an elf was at his feet with a fresh batch of cookies without a lecture about cookies being bad for you. “Thanks” Napoleon took the plate and offered a cookie to Hariah, “Okay you’re not allowed to tell anyone about this place, this is our secret kitchen. Deal?”

 

[Hariah Meadow]

"You want a nickname?" Hariah said smiling at him. "Okay... hmm let's think. Napo, Nap..Lee.. Leon?" she said to him. Wondering what he thought of that. "Leon/Lee sound okay? Napoleon is a bit of a mouthful sometimes" she explained.

Hariah nodded "It is, it's amazing!" she exclaimed. She looked around and all she could see was food being made, she could smell bacon and sausage cooking and her belly rumbled. It was wonderful. "They must work terribly hard" she whispered to Napoleon. I would love a house elf she thought to herself. "I'm coming with you when you next come back!" Hariah said to him.

She was astounded when a little house elf ran up to them with a plate of cookies. "So you just ask them what you want and they bring it to you?!" She said excitedly. "Erm.. A drink would be nice?" she said. Soon enough a house elf appeared with a jug and two glasses. "Thankyou!" Hariah said to the little elf. She took a cookie from Napoleon and grinned. "Okay, our secret."

 

[Napoleon Hawke]

“Leon or Lee it is then” Some people didn’t like being given nicknames but Napoleon was not one of them. For him nicknames were a sign of affection (unless they were mean and then it’s bullying). He took a bite of his cookie which was delicious, it was not too crunchy or too sweet and he would surely be visiting the kitchens again for another batch. “It seems that way” Napoleon spoke with his mouthful as another house elf returned with a drink. “Missing meals or being peckish is no longer a problem.

He pulled up a seat for himself and Haz so they could enjoy their treats in comfort. “I want to find all these places at Hogwarts, the plan is to go around tickling all the portraits to see what they are hiding.” Napoleon had seven years to fulfil this mission of his, that was all the time in the world. “I wonder what else there is” He exclaimed, “I bet there’s a music room or a games room... OR an antigravity room! Yeah that’d be so cool.”

 

[Hariah Meadow]

Hariah laughed and took a bite of a cookie. It was fantastic, it tasted even better knowing that they shouldn't be down here. It was fun, and the guilt about being down here ebbed away with every bite of the cookie. She grinned at Napoleon "We need to do this more often!" she agreed with him, missing meals would indeed be no longer a problem. "Do you reckon we could take some of this stuff back up to Gryffindor Tower?" she asked Leon.

She sat down on the seat that Leon pulled out for her. "Thanks" she said to him. She nodded "YES! Oh my gosh, can you imagine? All the secret rooms that might be around here!" Hariah laughed at him "An anti-gravity room? I suppose that could be possible. This IS Hogwarts!"

 

[Napoleon Hawke]

"I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem" Napoleon took the remaining cookies, offered half to Haz and stuffed the rest into his pockets. "They aren't going to know even if we-“ He stopped mid sentence, “Hey I swear the plate was empty." Napoleon pointed at the now full plate of fresh cookies. "It must be some sort of enchantment" Napoleon can't wait to learn more magic so he could do stuff like that, "I wonder if we could take the plate instead, then we can have unlimited fresh cookies whenever we want." It was heaven, Hogwarts was heaven and the more he saw of it the more he could believe that there was an anti-gravity room hidden somewhere in the castle, all he had to do was find it. “I bet you three galleons there’s an anti-gravity room somewhere, there’s seven years to find it, we can do it.”

He picked another cookie up from the plate and looked at it, "Hogwarts is going to make me fat!" He shrugged, taking a huge bite of it as he poured himself a second glass of pumpkin juice, "Do you want another drink?" He asked Hazza, offering the jug.

 

[Hariah Meadow]

"Oh cheers" she said to Leon and started mindlessly eating one whilst thinking about what other amazing rooms there might be hidden in Hogwarts. Hariah felt she had to find more, either on her own or it might be more fun to find them with someone else, like Leon. Since they found this one together, she felt it would be a god idea to look for more together, and they may even find the anti gravity room that Leon was talking about.

Hariah looked down at the plate and nodded "Yeah it was empty..." she replied looking confused. "So it refills itself continuously? That's amazing!" she said grinning at Leon. "Do you think so? Worth a try isn't?" she suggested. Having a continuous supply of cookies would be brilliant. "Okay your on! 3 galleons!"

She laughed and agreed with him, it probably would, especially if she ate this many cookies every day. "Oh thankyou" she said to him and took the jug, which also refilled by itself. This was fantastic. "So do you reckon there will be hidden rooms everywhere?" she asked Leon.

 

[Napoleon Hawke]

“Deal!” Napoleon offered a handshake, “If by the time we graduate I haven’t found an anti-gravity room I will give you three galleons, and if I have, well then you’re going to have to cough up.” That gives Napoleon seven years to complete his quest, that’s plenty of time! “As a matter of fact I’m going to write this down to make sure you pay up.” He reached for a napkin on the table and looked for a quill, “Shoot I didn’t bring anything to write with, I need a quill.” Without intending it, a house elf was already at his feet, quill and ink in hand. “Oh wow, thanks.” He started to write when an idea came into his head. “I really need to have all my homework completed.” He spoke a little louder and glanced at the house elf who returned with an expression as if to say ‘nice try.’ “Ah it was worth a try, anyway where was I?”

He proceeded to begin writing this deal on the napkin as proof, “I Napoleon Hawke will give Hariah, what’s your surname?” He left that bit blank to fill out later, “Three galleons if I do not find the anti-gravity room. If I am successful Hariah will pay three galleons.” He dated and signed it then handed it to his fellow Gryffindor. “I need your signature right there please.”

“Yeah I reckon there are hidden rooms all over Hogwarts, we just have to make sure we find them!” He said to answer her question, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

 

[Hariah Meadow]

Hariah shook his hand in agreement "Okay, that sounds fair. If you find it you'll have to tell me though, I'd love to see that room!" she said grinning. She laughed "making it official yeah? How are you so sure you'll find it? I want record of this to make sure YOU pay up!" Hariah was amazed that one of the elves brought a quill and ink she thought they just supplied food. She giggled "Yeah that was a nice try. It would have been great if it had worked though" she said, she would come down here most nights and ask the house elves to either help her or do the homework. It would save her so much time. "It's Meadow" she answered and wrote her signature on the napkin and handed it back to Leon. She nodded "We'll have to go out for another one of these night time wanderings and find some more hidden rooms" she said to him smiling.

 

[Napoleon Hawke]

“Definitely, we should start some sort of club for the adventures’, Hogwarts is big enough.” Napoleon answered, folding the napkin in half and handing it to Hazza. “Keep that safe, it’s a valuable document.” He gave the quill and ink back to the house elf, still regretful that it’s services didn’t stretch as far as to completing Napoleon’s homework for him. Napoleon yawned and looked at the time, “Oh cauldron bum, it’s 4am, we need to wake up in a few hours!” Napoleon had an idea, “Unless... we just stay up ALL night eating sweets.” The two first years had personal house elves waiting on their every need after all.

 

[Hariah Meadow]

Hariah grinned and nodded in agreement " Oh wow that would be so cool! I can just imagine it, trying to find more adventures!." Laughing Hariah took the folded napkin and put it in her pocket "I'll be sure to keep it safe. I will guard it with my life!" she replied jokingly. Hariah's eyes widened "4am already?" Where had the time gone? "That's a hard decision... I vote staying up and eating sweets?" It would be like a sleepover. Something Hariah had never experienced. Being homeschooled she never really had the chance to meet people and become good friends with them. She felt she had now became good friends with Napoleon even though it had only been a few hours since they met properly. She poured herself another glass of pumpkin juice and grinned at Leon "This is the life!"

 

[Napoleon Hawke]

Napoleon regularly ignored that little voice in his head telling him not to act on his impulses and today was no exception. All nighters always feel like a brilliant idea at four in the morning but once the middle of the day hits and you feel although your brain is going to explode, the decision is usually regretted. That wasn’t going to happen tonight because of two reasons. Firstly, Napoleon had his new friend Hazza to keep him from falling asleep and secondly, they had sweets with high sugar content to keep their energy levels high.

“Good choice, I was hoping you’d say that.” He helped himself to more food. This definitely was the life, they were in a magical castle with as much food as they liked and no parents telling them what to do. “I love this school!” Napoleon said, finishing his mouth full, “Did you grow up around Hogwarts or is this all new to you?”