This was her fourth year at Hogwarts and she had never ventured down to the kitchens but for some reason she was feeling bit hungry. Actually she had been feeling hungry a lot lately. Perhaps it was this growth spurt that her mother had told her about. It did kind of make sense since had grown a good four inches in the past few months.

Trixie leaned down a little to look at the picture of the fruit bowl in front of her. Now how didthis thing work again?

Beginning of term and Natalia found herself headed to the kitchen already. She wasn't sure if it was just the transition from summer to school. A new class schedule to figure out plus her badge duties, but she was feeling hungry in between her classes. So during one of her free moments she ventured towards the kitchen to see if one of the elves needed help with any cooking and possibly get a snack from them while she was there.

She spent plenty of time down here so the paintings, ghost, and even elves were natural to her, but what wasn't was someone standing looking at the picture. Was the girl just hungry and wanting to figure out what she wanted? Was she in a trance because of the fruit? Or possibly did she not know how to get in the kitchen?

She didn't look like a first year, but some of them always looked a bit older so instead of assuming Nat just walked up near her and looked at the painting. "Looks real, doesn't it?"

Nimma was making her way back to the kitchens.. She wasn't much paying attention as she bounced happily along, glad to have so much to do and so many to please and care for.. so distracted was she that she nearly bumped into a couple of students that were looking at the picture of the fruit bowl.." Ohhh!Nimma's sorry, Mistresses.. Nimma didn't see studentsies standing there..", she said in a squeaky voice.." Maybe a snack for you? " , she offered...

Trixie was still trying to figure out to get into the kitchen, she was sure that she had heard from some of the students that to get into the room had something to do with the fruit bowl. She cursed herself for not listening properly because now when it really counted, she had no idea what she was supposed to do. She was just reaching out a finger when a voice beside her spoke.

The fourth year let out a yelp of fright and jumped back from the painting as though she had been burned. She whirled around to give the person who had just scared the crap out of her a piece of her mind when she spotted the badge upon the girl's robes and she quickly bit back her tirade.

"Oh...um...yeah it does." For some reason she was at a loss for words as she stood there looking at the Head Girl. Thankfully she was saved from saying something stupid or not saying anything at all when the sound of a small squeaky voice came from somewhere.

Trixie looked around and spotted the little house elf and she couldn't stop the grin from forming. "A snack would be great. If it's not too much trouble that is." And this time she would make sure to learn how to open the door to kitchen.

FOOOOOD.

Etta had woken up feeling quite hungry that morning, for some odd reason. She could have waited for breakfast.. but oh well. It was never too early for food. Wondering if she could grab something to eat at the kitchens, she quietly slipped out of the common room and made her to the food destination.

Running fingers through her disheveled hair, she finally found herself standing in a corridor, staring at the picture of a fruit bowl.

..... Now, what?!

Had she scared the girl? She didn't mean to, but it was kind of funny that she did. As she turned Natalia saw her eyes go to the badge, damn she liked this thing. It was really going to her head, she wouldn't lie about that. "Are you trying to get in? The pear right there is what you tickle. Even though it's in the painting it will move and a door knob will appear."

It was kind of fun to watch and she lifted her hand but placed it back down when she saw Nimma appear. "Hi Nimma, what are you up to?" Nat had gotten to know many of the elves since she liked to spend time in the kitchen cooking. "If you aren't to busy I was coming for a snack or to help cook if you guys wanted some." They never did, but she always wanted to ask.

Her eyes shifted seeing another student, "Hello" Was there a party going to happen in the kitchen soon?

Nimma looked at the two girls and then a third oh goody more kiddies to please.. What fun... she danced about excited" Yes yes... Just tell Nimma what you'd like her to make and ... Nimma loves to make snacks... ", and she was a great snack maker no matter what type of snack it was that was wanted... every house elf at the castle was a great cook..


" Oh no thank you, Nimma and the others will cook meals.. No help needed for that ,nope.. she added as she waited for someone to tickle the pear and open the door to the kitchen.." Just finished in the tower... someone spilled paint down the corridor.. What a mess Nimma had to clean", she smiled.


" And what of you, Mistress?..Would you like a snack too.. Nimma can make you one..", She asked the third girl who had just shone up..

Etta turned to look at the older person who had greeted her, a small smile on her face. "Hi." The girl looked vaguely familiar.. although Etta hadn't properly met her before. Her brown eyes shifted towards the other girl, giving her a smile as well.

..... OH! A house elf! And her name was Nimma, apparently. Maybe the elf could help her with the food situation, yes? The girl waited patiently until Nimma turned towards her asking if she wanted a snack. Oh, YES. Finally. Etta grinned happily and nodded, hoping the relief wasn't showing on her face. That would be a little embarrassing.

"That would be lovely, Nimma. Thank you!" YEP. Still grinning. "I'm Etta."

Oh the Head Girl was just enjoying her discomfort way too much and normally this would annoy Trixe to no end but for some reason she actually didn't mind at all. It also helped that the older girl seemed really nice especially since she had just told her how to get into the kitchen. "Oh that's how you do it? I knew it had something to do with the fruit bowl." She turned and looked at the door and grinned a little. "Tickle the pear. That's so cool."

She was juat about introduce herself to the Slytherin but there was suddenly another student standing there and she looked to be about her own age. The girl gave her a smile and introduced herself as Etta. The gryffindor smiled in return and looked between the Slytherin and the Hufflepuff. "My name is Trixie." Yeah don't hold that against her.

So it looked as though a party was about to start especially with Nimma offering to make them snacks. She gave the elf a smile and said, "Well I don't know about these two but I would really love a cauldron cake."

Or two.

Or three.

A party was starting now wasn't it? Three girls and a house elf. Cool story for future students to come Nat was sure. Her eyes fell on Nimma again and she couldn't help but roll them. Yeah, yeah they cook. She'd cook eventually, she always did. They said they didn't want the help, but they weren't going to just tell her no either. So yeah, she'd be in to cook at some point.

Attention moving back to the other two girls she gave a small smile, though tickling the pear would have been nice, but introductions were happening. "Natalia" Though they might already know that being she had played with her band a few times the last few terms at school and she was head girl now. "Cauldron Cakes sound good to me. " She was thinking ice cream sounded good, but now that someone mentioned it Cauldron Cakes sounded good too.


"Well should we go into the kitchen?" Reaching up she tickled the painting right on the pear.

Going to the kitchens was second-nature for Henry, but he was a Hufflepuff and their common room was so close to the kitchens. All the badgers knew how to get there and how to get in. But he supposed that wasn't the case for everyone. And so he was waiting in the corridor near near the kitchens for his new friend, Olivia.

He had promised to show her where the kitchens were as they had talked of having a party and needing some food for it. The fifth year knew that the house elves were always good for that too, but it was helpful to know where the kitchens were. So hopefully the directions he gave her to get to the corridor were good, and he waited around, looking for her to show up.

Olivia managed to navigate her way down all the flights of stairs to the location that Henry had said to meet him at. His directions proved very useful and she had somehow managed to make it there without falling down (which was impressive for her!). She mentioned that he would show her how to get into the Kitchens since apparently the Badgers had a superior positioning in common rooms. She was excited to see her new friend again and had enjoyed their previous conversations.

She found him. Yes! She was in the right location. SCORE! He was walking around the corridor. Was she running late? "Hey Henry! How's it going?" she called out to him and made her way over to him. She was psyched to figure out how to get into the Kitchens. She had managed to make her way down this far in the castle without getting lost too, too badly. Now how do they find the kitchens?

It wasn’t as if Olivia was running late or Henry had been waiting long, but the fifteen year old was easily distracted so he wasn’t usually found standing still to just wait. So while he waited for her, he struck up a conversation with one of the portraits in the corridor. They had really interesting stories sometimes and were a decent way to pass the time when waiting to meet someone.

This particular portrait had some crazy gossip, though Henry wasn't quite sure who the portrait was talking about and whether or not it was current. But before he could ask, he heard his name and turned to see the girl he was meeting. "Hey, Olivia!" he grinned. "Going good... you? Ready to venture into the kitchens of Hogwarts?" Maybe it wasn't that exciting, but it would help now that they had a party to plan.

“Great, thanks! Still trying to figure my way around here.” Hogwarts was amazing. It had so many different rooms, secret passageways, and nooks and crannies that were all too easy to get lost or turned around in. She loved it. At the mention of the kitchens, she nodded her head and beamed. “Yes, I am! Thanks again for showing me this.” She had been looking forward to seeing the Kitchens. She was certain that it probably wasn’t too hard to find a way into the kitchens but this enabled her to get to spend more time with her new friend and also ensure that she didn’t get lost.

Before they were about to start walking, Olivia pursed her lips. “There’s no secret ritual or handshake or poltergeist that I have to run into, right?” she asked a little nervous about having a run in with Peeves again. “I had a quite an interesting run in with Peeves.” Dungbombs had been thrown and she had been covered entirely in glitter.

"Yeah, it takes a little time," Henry nodded, agreeing. "Hogwarts is a big place, but you'll get it soon enough." He had a few years on her at this school, but he thought he new it pretty well, even if he was still discovering new things all the time. "Oh, sure! No problem." He had no issues helping out a friend and going to the kitchens might mean a snack while they were there, so win-win.

"It's just this way.." He started down the corridor, looking back at Olivia as she spoke. "Oh.. well, there is a trick to it, but nothing too terrible." He wrinkled his nose a bit, thinking about the poltergeists. They were usually harmless, but they could get pretty annoying, especially now that there were THREE of them. "Yeah, he can be a pain... So what happened?" Henry couldn't help but be a little curious about wheat the poltergeist got up to this time.

Olivia hoped that she'd find her way around here soon enough. Having Henry offer a little encouragement that she'd get the hang of it, certainly made her feel better about it all. Phew. Smiling, she followed him down the corridor. He was the leader. The fearless leader that would lead them safely! Of course, he would. He knew the way. When he looked back at her, she smiled again. "Alright. I'm glad there's no secret handshake or passcode." Another passcode to memorize would be a little annoying but she could certainly do it!

At the mention of the poltergeists, Olivia sighed. It had been a rather unfortunate run in. "Well.. I had been exploring the castle and had run into a first year... Not actually run in to one. Happened to approach and introduce myself cause he looked lost. We began talking and then Peeves appeared out of nowhere. He through dungbombs at us. Then Miffy, his wife, appeared. It became like a soap opera with how much they fought." Family Feud anyone? You could get it all right here at Hogwarts. Step right up! Don't be shy. She shuddered. "A Ravenclaw Prefect came over to see if we were okay but we were all ignored until Peeves stormed off. More dungbombs were thrown as Peeves left. Then Miffy dropped live leeches on me." And she fell and broke her arm. It had been an eventful time. "Then Professor Greyvson showed up to see if we were okay. It was very eventful."

Leading her a little further down the hall, Henry glanced at Olivia. "Well, no... but there is something you need to know to get in. I'll show you though." He gave her a little smile before slowing near a group of paintings. It wasn't anything too complex but one did need to know the poorly kept secret to get in.

Oh, she had a story about the poltergeists and Henry paused to listen. They could be a pain for sure and he wondered what they were up to, somewhat thankful to have not gotten on the nasty end of any of their pranks so far this term. "Didn't I tell you they were crazy?" he said with a chuckle. He seemed to remember telling her as much when he met her in the bookstore over summer. "Oh, man, live leeches?" That sounded kind of creepy to be honest. "One of our Charms professors taught us a spell that sometimes works too make them go away. Remind me to teach you sometime." Too bad it didn't always work though.

"Okay, ready to learn the trick?" He pointed at the painting of the bowl of fruit, then reached to tickle the pear. He continued until it began to squirm and laugh, then it turned into a green doorknob. "Cool, yeah?" He grinned then gestured for her to turn the doorknob.