"Young man, it is nine o'clock. The Hogwarts Library is officially closed. Pack your things and leave immediately."
Madam Pince's stern voice cut through the silence, snapping Richie back to reality[cite: 1, 4]. He blinked, looking up from his notes, and finally noticed how much the room had changed.
Most of the floating candles had already been snuffed out. The other students were long gone. It was just him and Madam Pince left in the massive, dimly lit library.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Richie muttered, hurriedly standing up to gather his parchment and books.
Right on cue, his stomach let out a massive, echoing growl.
He had been buried in his studies for five straight hours, taking meticulous reading notes since four that afternoon. In the process, he had completely missed dinner.
In the dead silence of the empty library, the rumble of his empty stomach was embarrassingly loud.
Richie's face flushed red. Madam Pince paused, a faint, almost imperceptible hint of amusement flashing in her strict eyes.
Even the infamous "old vulture" of the library couldn't help but soften slightly. After all, standing in front of her was a polite, incredibly studious young wizard who clearly respected her books and didn't cause trouble.
Looking away from his meticulously kept notebook, Madam Pince casually dusted the table with her feather duster.
"Knowledge feeds the mind, Mr. Harland, but it does absolutely nothing for an empty stomach"[cite: 1, 4].
"I recall the house-elves usually keep a few snacks prepared late into the evening for students who missed their meals."
"If you head down to the Hogwarts kitchens right now, you might just catch them."
With that, she smoothly slid a small parchment card across the table.
Richie picked it up. It detailed the exact location of the kitchens and instructions on how to get inside.
His eyes lit up. He'd been quietly dreading going to bed starving, so this was a massive save.
Clutching his books to his chest, Richie gave Madam Pince a deep, respectful bow. "Thank you, ma'am."
Without wasting another second, his little legs carried him out of the library at a dead sprint. Curfew was in exactly thirty minutes. He had to move fast.
The library was on the second floor, and the kitchens were located down in the basement level, right next to the Hufflepuff common room entrance. Richie took the stairs two at a time, practically flying down to the ground floor.
Following the instructions on the card, he quickly located a concealed passageway tucked behind a stone statue on the first floor and slipped inside without hesitation.
He hurried down a winding, narrow stone staircase until he hit the basement level.
Unlike the cold, damp dungeons where Snape taught Potions, this corridor felt entirely different[cite: 9]. The walls were made of sturdy, packed earth and brick. The air smelled warmly of fresh soil and sweet grass—an incredibly cozy and grounding scent.
The lingering brain fog from his marathon study session instantly cleared. Looking to his left, he spotted exactly what he was looking for: a massive still-life painting of a fruit bowl.
Richie stepped up to the canvas. Following Madam Pince's notes, he reached out and gently tickled the painted green pear.
A second later, the pear began to squirm. It let out a soft, giggling chuckle and suddenly transformed into a large brass door handle.
Grinning with anticipation, Richie grabbed the handle and gave it a turn.
The heavy painting swung inward like a door, revealing a brightly lit, cavernous space behind it.
Richie peeked inside cautiously. The massive kitchen was packed with towering piles of brass pots, copper pans, and every cooking utensil imaginable. Dozens of small, bat-eared creatures dressed in matching tea towels were bustling around under the warm glow of the fires, scrubbing down the workstations.
The moment the heavy door creaked open, every single house-elf froze. Dozens of massive, tennis-ball-sized eyes snapped toward the entrance, locking onto the young wizard.
Richie jumped, momentarily startled by the intense, unblinking stares. He quickly gathered himself and gave an awkward little wave.
"Um... excuse me. Do you guys happen to have any snacks left?"
"Oh! A student needs food!"
"A young wizard wants snacks!"
Before Richie even finished his sentence, the kitchen erupted into absolute chaos. The house-elves dropped whatever they were holding and started sprinting around the room, making noises that sounded remarkably like honking car horns.
Richie stood in the doorway, totally overwhelmed by the sudden flurry of activity.
A moment later, a house-elf wearing a tiny chef's hat materialized in front of him, balancing a massive stack of silver platters that was literally taller than he was.
"Young sir! We have prepared these late-night refreshments just for you!"
"We have fresh pumpkin pasties, hot apple tart, honey-glazed steak, and roasted turkey with gravy..."
"Whoa, thank you!" Richie said, his mouth practically watering as the elf rattled off the menu. "Could I just get a few things that are easy to carry? I need to take it back to my dorm."
He honestly wanted to devour it all right there, but the clock was ticking down to curfew. He had to make some hard choices.
"Hey, Treya! I'm back!"
"That new cake you experimented with yesterday was incredible! I need a few more slices!"
A cheerful voice suddenly echoed from behind him. Richie turned around to see an older student jogging up to the doorway.
"Wait a second... aren't you Richie?" the boy asked, his eyes lighting up with surprise as he recognized him.
Richie blinked, looking at the unfamiliar Hufflepuff with messy brown hair.
"Do I know you?"
"You didn't before, but you do now!" The boy flashed a massive, easygoing grin.
"I'm Windis Baratheon, second year. My little brother is Cavendish Baratheon—he's a first-year. He told me all about you!"
Cavendish...
Richie nodded in realization. This was the older brother of the kid who had nervously asked him for Potions advice after their disastrous class[cite: 8].
"Looks like you've been grinding away pretty late," Windis observed, nodding at the heavy stack of books in Richie's arms.
"You're in for a rough time, man. It's a long trek from here back up to Ravenclaw Tower. If you bump into Filch or his miserable cat, you're going to get completely crucified."
"Filch... the caretaker?" Richie asked, looking confused by the older boy's serious tone. "Doesn't curfew start in like, twenty minutes?"
"Nope, nope, nope." Windis wagged his finger seriously.
"In Filch's mind, curfew has already started. That miserable old bat always starts his patrols a solid half-hour early just to ambush students trying to beat the clock."
"You have to remember, Filch is a Squib! He's the only person in this entire castle who can't use magic. Because of that, he is insanely jealous of us, and he absolutely hates our guts!"
"If he catches you, he'll definitely use it as an excuse to take his anger out on you."
"The lightest punishment he hands out is three days in solitary confinement!"
Richie frowned deeply at that. If Windis was telling the truth, his midnight snack run was about to turn into a tactical stealth mission.
Seeing Richie's stressed expression, Windis slung a friendly arm around his shoulders, grinning widely.
"Hey, don't sweat it. You helped out my little brother, so I've got your back."
"I know a trick to lure his cat away before Filch even spots you. Once the cat is distracted, Filch will go chasing after it. And boom—you've got a clear path back to your dorm."
Windis leaned in close and whispered his master plan into Richie's ear.
Richie raised an eyebrow skeptically. "That sounds great, but I definitely don't have that kind of item on me."
"No worries. Treya does."
Following Windis's pointed finger, Richie looked over at the house-elf in the chef's hat.
"It is Treya's absolute honor to serve the young wizards!" the elf squeaked, bobbing his head excitedly.