Kitchenhand

[Katherine Alicastell]

Dinner had just come to an end, and from the Great Hall above, the shuffling sound of hundreds of students echoed across the ceiling as they all headed back to their dorms for the night. All bar one particular girl, who'd been called to the kitchens as soon as she'd finished eating to commence her duties as the house elves latest helper. They'd been nice enough to share their responsibilities, such as washing the up all of the dishes after each meal. The various sinks around the kitchens were piled high with cups, plates, pots, pans and cutlery. A dish for each student who had eaten, and a separate dish for each who stayed back for dessert. It all towered above even Katherine, multiple stacks almost touching the ceiling in their height, and swaying somewhat precariously on the spot, held in place by magic.

There was a knock at the kitchen door, and Katherine waved it open with her wand, smiling pleasantly. "Well then, if it isn't our newest house elf. Are you ready to start tonight's chores?" The troublesome youth would be washing each dish by hand, her wand revoked outside of classroom learning. A job that would have taken the team of house elves a bare few minutes would take a muggle hours to complete. Of course, she'd be assisted by some of the house elves and wouldn't be taking the task solo, but they were all assigned their own dish piles. The girl was in for a long, long night.
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[Nora Seville-Maxwell]

Nora didn't like how her housemates alone consumed a lot of food that evening. She had to slap someone's hand to stop having their third dessert using another plate. It wasn't a buffet but her schoolmates think of it that way. She, herself, used only one plate that night because she knows what might unfold. And that didn't surprised her when the Slytherin stood outside the kitchen door. Nora knocked and the door magically opened to reveal the woman who will see to it that her job was done correctly. Stepping inside, she sarcastically smiled at the Headmistress on her comment. "This is torture and my parents will hear about this." She said. Although, her parents would gladly agree with the punishment the Headmistress was making her do. Nora's gaze set upon the tower of dishes and gulped loudly. Who in god's mind does something like this? the girl thought and glared at the Headmistress. "I'm not doing that. No way!" She shook her head and was backing up to the entrance door.
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[Katherine Alicastell]

Katherine couldn't help but softly chuckle at the Slytherin's comment, the unoriginal "my parents will hear about this" routine. The woman had heard the same empty threat time and time again in her past teaching career, and it was no different now. Attempting to hide behind the authority of their parents was a last resort to try get what they wanted. Unfortunately for them, Katherine was the authority here, not the parents. If they wanted to attend the school, they'd had better learn the fact quickly. "Of course they will. I'm more than happy to invite them to my office for a discussion on your behaviour this past year." There were many parents the Headmistress was interested in meeting in person, if only to see what kind of people were behind raising the disrespectful and violent youth that wandered the halls of her school.

Nora's refusal to participate in her chores was not at all unexpected, though the Headmistress would have preferred if the child would simply accept her punishment and get it over with. She brought it on herself, and compared to some of the other students in the school, she'd gotten off easy. "If you step a single foot outside of this kitchen before these dishes are spotless, then you can keep walking until you're outside of my school. I assure you I'll have your belongings waiting for you at the gate and an owl sent to your parents before you've managed to cross the courtyard. Is that understood?" Katherine asked, her wand already waving through the air to summon a washcloth from the sink, toward the direction of the student. She was not getting out of this, no matter how much she complained. "The other elves have been tasked with their own piles, so you won't be doing them all on your own. However, the piles you will be doing will be done the muggle way - without magic. Oh, and one more thing." With another tap of her wand, a large cloth apron emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest was conjured out of thin air. "The house-elves made you this, since you're one of them now. Put it on over your uniform. You wouldn't want to get them dirty, would you? After all, I'm sure you don't want to add laundry to your list of chores."
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