#7 - Meat For Change

A wide-eyed house-elf hurried over when he heard Sebastian's voice, almost tripping over himself in haste. The elf came to a stop in front of him, noticing the lack of care of the boy's clothes. He had to resist cleaning them, as laundry was another of their tasks. Not Dippy's though - no, his job was to help students who came looking for things in the kitchen.

'I is eager to assist you, Sir,' Dippy said, with a squeaky voice that proved his words. 'I is Dippy. What is you needing?'

Harris's post-lunch afternoon plans were pretty light. No doubt he had some studying he could be doing, but it was Halloween and there were no classes, so the likelihood of that happening hovered around absolute zero. He'd spent the morning flipping around outside by the Black Lake, but now that the clouds had rolled in he was sticking a bit closer to the castle.

He briefly considered heading back to his dorm to get a quick nap in, but he'd already overslept this morning and knew he needed to do at least one productive thing today. It was something his parents had tried to drill into his lazy brain: accomplish at least one thing daily and then you could enjoy some lazy time guilt-free... not that guilt was an emotion that plagued Harris too often.

In the end he decided he'd try to help out Professor Fairburn and the Beast Reserve. He really liked the Professor and found Care of Magical Creatures to be his favorite class, so he felt motivated to help. He knew that the Professor needed students' help in collecting some raw meat, and Harris knew that students could sometimes get supplies out of the house elves in the kitchens.

As he made his way through the basements towards the kitchens, he heard a voice and managed to catch the end bit of the conversation: "....donate some in aid of the Braxorn." As he made his way in he saw another 5th year, Sebastian the Slytherin, talking to a house elf about the very thing he himself had come to discuss.

"What's up, Seb?" he called cheerfully to the other boy, using his familiar nick name even though Harris had never really talked to him before. "Here to help out the Beast Reserve? I had the same idea." He then looked at the house elf and, with a toothy grin, said, "Whatever he ordered? Make it a double. Please."

Well, it looked like Sebastian had his answer. It was evident the creature hadn't ever been engaged in such a polite way, and for a moment, Seb's heart was warm with happiness—until it wasn't. What was wrong with Dippy? The house-elf was still frozen, his arm extended as if shaking a hand. Sebastian looked down at his own fingers, wondering if his soiled hands from the greenhouse had caused some sort of unforeseen reaction. That couldn't have been it.

"H-hey, Harris," Seb stuttered in greeting toward the Hufflepuff, his eyes darting from his hands over toward the boy. His mind had already been racing with what could've potentially been wrong with the poor house-elf, but now, Seb was also surprised by someone he hadn't anticipated seeing. He didn't know Harris Teague on a personal level, but he had definitely seen the boy in their Care of Magical Creatures lessons. Did he have a soft spot for animals too?

He let a smile take his lips, happy to hear that someone else was helping Professor Fairburn with the Braxorn's habitat restoration efforts. Sebastian wished more students from his own house had cared to assist in the cause, but when he fussed about it in the past, they all stared at him like he had two heads. He wasn't going to do that again. Sebastian would save himself the uneasy reception this time around. He couldn't force people to help if they didn't want to.

"I appreciate you, Fanrey," Sebastian managed to say in response, surprised that he had remembered her name after being so distracted by everything else. He smiled at the house-elf, despite her obvious efforts to avoid his eyes, and offered Fanrey a small nod of gratitude.

"Thanks for helping with the Braxorn," he added, turning to idly converse with Harris. Sebastian tucked the packaged meat into his robes, but not before making sure it was wrapped tight to avoid leaks. "I'll see you in class then?" Sebastian casually questioned, the smile reappearing on his face. He didn't expect an answer, as it was more rhetorical than anything else, and backed out of the Kitchens, giving the group a wave of departure—Dippy included.