Hogwarts in the shadows

"In fact, when you take those two books, I will send you away."

The Hufflepuff hesitated, then continued.

"But when I saw that you still had two copies of the 'Book of the World', I was stunned. When I came to my senses, you had already taken the things away, so I didn't send you away for the time being."

Hefeth felt even more embarrassed after hearing this.

He was originally afraid that the things left behind by Hufflepuff might have other uses, so he collected them.

I didn't expect that this was the reason why he didn't leave.

"The 'Book of the World' you just mentioned, are these three books?" Hephes took out the three books.

"How exactly are they supposed to be used? I find that I don't understand it at all."

Hufflepuff shook his head, "I don't know how to use these books either."

Hearing this, Hephis asked curiously, "Then why do you keep it?"

"This book belongs to the four of us...You are a student of Hogwarts, right?" Hufflepuff suddenly asked.

"Yes." Hephis nodded.

"From which house?" Hufflepuff's eyes flashed with curiosity.

"Uh... if you're not a Hufflepuff, then you can't know?" Hephis shrugged.

"That's not the case. The fact that you can come in here means that you have been recognized by Helga Hufflepuff, so it doesn't matter which house you are from. It's just that I prefer you to be from Hufflepuff."

Hufflepuff smiled gently, "These books were found by the four of us in the Heart of the World when we were traveling around the world. There were only these four books there, and even though none of us could read them, we still collected one each."

"That means there should be four copies of this book." Hephaestus suddenly became interested. "By the way, what is the Heart of the World? Where is it?"

There was some sadness in Hufflepuff's voice, "The Heart of the World, it has fallen into a deep sleep."

"Sleeping? Is it alive?" Hephes asked.

"So to speak," the Hufflepuff sighed.

"Every time the Heart of the World awakens, it indicates that something big is about to happen. You still hope that it doesn't awaken."

Hephis frowned, "Then can you tell me where it is?"

"You won't find it." Hufflepuff shook his head.

"The heart of the world has no fixed place. It will only appear on its own initiative when it wants to see you."

Hephaestus no longer worried about the Heart of the World.

"Okay! So it gave you these books but didn't tell you how to use them?"

A flash of memory flashed across the Hufflepuff's eyes.

"It only said that when the time was right, these books would change. However, the four of us never felt any change in these books until the end of our lives."

"The Heart of the World is also a riddle man. Why can't he just tell me directly?" Hephes complained helplessly.

"Whose are those two books in your hand?"

"I don't know either. I got it from someone."

Hufflepuff looked carefully at the other two books.

"There are scents of Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw on it. It should belong to both of them."

"That means I'm still missing the book by Godric Gryffindor!" Hephis shrugged.

"Yes. I hope you can unlock the secrets of these books." Hufflepuff looked at Hephes kindly.

"Well, you greedy little fellow, I should send you away."

Hephis looked at the enclosed space and said, "What about you? Are you still here?"

"Maybe after today, my mission will be over and I can leave."

There was a hint of relief in the Hufflepuff's tone.

"Then bless you." Hephis smiled.

The Hufflepuff smiled and nodded as well, "Thank you, kid."

Hephis felt the pulling force from his belly button again, and the next moment he disappeared from the spot.

"Ah! Looks like fate is showing up again." Hufflepuff sighed softly.

She looked towards where Hephis had disappeared. "Bless you, child."

Hephis opened his eyes again and returned to the familiar kitchen.

An An was staring with wide eyes, unblinking, at the place where Hephis had disappeared before.

Seeing him come back, An An immediately jumped up and bowed respectfully.

"Master, you are finally back!"

Hefeis looked at Anan with a smile, "Anan, let's go eat hot pot."

Originally, he was still worried about An An's ownership.

Now, somehow, all the house-elves at Hogwarts belonged to him.

If Dumbledore dared to trick him again, he would order the house-elves to go on strike.

Hephis did not choose to Apparate, but walked slowly to the kitchen door, ready to see what the entrance to the kitchen was.

Just as he was about to step out of the door, all the house-elves stopped what they were doing, bowed and saw him off.

Off the kitchen is a wide and bright corridor.

There is a painting full of fruits on the kitchen door.

An An pointed to the pear in the painting and said, "Master, just scratch that pear and it will turn into a door handle."

Hefeth looked at the painting on the wall, "An An, you mean, I have the authority over the entire kitchen, right?"

"Yes, master." An An's voice was full of pride, as if this was some kind of honor.

Hephis curled his lips, drew out his magic wand and pointed it at the painting, and a ripple spread out on the portrait.

"An An, please go and call Hermione. We are going to have hot pot in the 'Cool and Cozy Hut' in the Room of Requirement tonight."

"Yes, Master."

An An straightened his chest and Apparated away, as if he was about to accomplish some important mission.

In the evening, Hephis and Hermione enjoyed a sumptuous hot pot meal in the Room of Requirement.

The soup base was brought by Vida from Sichuan Province, and the sesame sauce is from Tianjin.

Of course, Hefes’s dipping sauce is only sesame oil and minced garlic.

Hermione thought it was too oily, but she liked the taste of sesame sauce, so sesame sauce was specially prepared for her.

Although Hephis thinks that the shabu-shabu hotpot is disrespectful to hotpot.

But Hermione really couldn't eat spicy food, so he compromised.

So there are spicy beef, chopped pepper chicken, and spicy braised brain.

In addition, the tripe and yellow throat that she didn't eat all went into Hephes's stomach.

Hephis enjoyed the meal, but it was hard for the little badger and the twins who wanted to go to the kitchen to find food.

The twins' Quidditch training ended when it was completely dark, and they were cold and hungry.

So they sneaked into the kitchen as usual to get something to eat and drink.

But as soon as they reached the kitchen door, they saw a group of little badgers studying the portraits in the kitchen.

The door that used to open with just a slight scratch on the pear was useless today.

The little badgers tried various methods, even scratching the other fruits in the picture, but to no avail.

The Geminis are worthy of being Geminis, the masters of puzzle solving at Hogwarts.

They directly suggested that the badgers go find Professor Sprout.

But it was almost curfew, so it definitely wouldn't work tonight.

In the end, everyone had to leave hungry and dejected.