The damp, echoing corridors of the Slytherin dungeons were usually a place of grim silence or hushed whispers. But on this particular evening, an unholy stench permeated the air, thick and cloying. It was a nauseating blend of burnt sugar, something vaguely sulfurous, and an unidentifiable, acrid tang that made the eyes water.
Lily, her nose wrinkled in disgust, walked beside Severus, who looked equally displeased. "What in Merlin's beard is that awful smell, Severus?" she grumbled, waving a hand in front of her face.
Severus, ever the stoic, merely grunted, but a faint green tinge to his usually pale face betrayed his discomfort. "It smells as though a particularly foul batch of Exploding Snap has been left to fester in a cauldron of treacle."
They followed the putrid aroma, which grew stronger with every step, leading them inevitably towards the Potions classroom. The door was ajar, and a faint, sickly-sweet smoke wafted out. Exchanging a wary glance, Lily pushed the door open further. Inside, the classroom was a chaotic scene. A cloud of thick, greenish-brown vapor hung heavy in the air, and one of the cauldrons, usually gleaming, was bubbling with a viscous, dark goo. Sitting cross-legged beside it, stirring with a large wooden spoon, was Echo. His black hair was streaked with a sticky, reddish-brown substance, and a determined, if slightly bewildered, expression was on his face.
"Echo?" Lily asked, her voice laced with surprise and a touch of apprehension.
Echo looked up, his hollow eyes blinking in recognition. A wide, somewhat sticky smile spread across his face. "Oh, hey, Lily! Sev! What are you guys doing here?"
"We could ask you the same question," Severus drawled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And what, precisely, is that abominable odor?"
"Oh, this?" Echo asked, gesturing vaguely at the bubbling cauldron with his spoon. His black hair flickered with a proud, albeit slightly confused, yellow. "I'm cooking!"
Lily stared. "Cooking? What are you cooking, Echo?"
"Porridge," Echo replied, stirring enthusiastically. "At least, I think it's porridge. It's for the house-elves." He set down the spoon, his yellow hair softening to a warm, genuine orange. "They've been so nice to me lately, you know? Since everyone else in Hogwarts, besides you guys and the professors, has been treating me like I have the plague. So, I figured I'd pay them back with a nice, hearty meal."
Lily and Severus exchanged another look, this one a mixture of bewilderment and alarm. They cautiously approached the cauldron and peered inside. The "porridge" was a thick, bubbling mass of dark, greenish-brown sludge, studded with unidentifiable lumps and emitting an almost radioactive glow. It smelled even worse up close.
"Echo," Severus said slowly, his voice unusually calm. Are you making food or toxic waste?"
Echo snapped his fingers, his orange hair flaring with sudden insight. "You're right! It needs something else." He leaned over the cauldron, sniffing thoughtfully. "It needs more sugar!"
Before either Lily or Severus could react, Echo called out, "Shimmer! More sugar, please!"
With a soft pop, Shimmer materialized on Echo's shoulder, a mischievous glint in its intelligent eyes. It snatched a whole, unopened bag of sugar from a nearby shelf and, with astonishing speed, ripped it open and dumped its entire contents into the bubbling cauldron.
"Echo, no!" Lily cried, but it was too late.
A massive cloud of sugar-infused steam erupted from the cauldron, exploding outwards with a soft WHOOSH, engulfing all three of them. Lily and Severus coughed violently, batting at the air, their eyes watering. Echo, surprisingly, seemed unaffected, stirring the pot vigorously as the sugary explosion dissipated around them.
Once the dust settled, Lily, still coughing faintly, took another tentative sniff. "Well," she admitted, surprised, "it does smell… sweeter."
Severus, however, grimaced. "More like burnt caramel, if you ask me. And something else. Something… vaguely reptilian."
Echo, beaming, scooped a generous dollop of the greenish-brown concoction into a small bowl. He held it out to them, his orange hair flickering with eager anticipation. "What do you think? Perfect for the elves, right?"
Lily and Severus stared at the bowl, their faces contorted with open disgust. The "porridge" was a solid, gelatinous lump, still faintly glowing and emitting a sweet yet undeniably repulsive odor.
"Echo," Lily said, her voice strained, "can… You cook at all?"
Severus, for his part, looked directly at Echo, his eyes narrowed. "Are you actively trying to kill the house-elves, boy?"
Echo's face instantly deflated, his orange hair dulling to a resigned, mournful grey. He looked from their disgusted expressions to the bowl in his hand, then back to the bubbling cauldron. A deep sigh escaped him.
"You're right," he mumbled, his shoulders slumping. "You're absolutely right. I wouldn't feed this slop to a troll, let alone the hard-working, friendly house-elves." He shook his head, a picture of utter failure. "I'll just… I'll go and dump this in the Forbidden Forest. Hopefully, it won't kill a tree."
With a heavy heart and slumped shoulders, Echo began the arduous task of putting away his spare ingredients and various cooking tools. Bottles of strangely colored powders, jars of suspicious-looking herbs, and a truly alarming collection of oddly shaped knives were carefully placed back onto dusty shelves. Shimmer, sensing Echo's dejection, gently nudged his cheek, but Echo barely registered the comfort. His mind was still replaying the disgusted looks on Lily and Severus's faces. The house-elves deserved better than his culinary disasters.
Just as he was about to hoist the cauldron, intending to haul its bubbling, glowing contents to the Forbidden Forest, a small pop echoed in the usually silent classroom. A tiny house elf, its ears drooping, its large, brown eyes filled with a familiar sorrow, materialized beside the cauldron. It was Pippy.
"Oh, Master Echo," Pippy squeaked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Pippy is so sorry for interrupting, but Pippy was wondering if Master Echo might have some… scraps?" Her gaze fell on the bubbling, greenish-brown sludge, and to Echo's horror, her mournful eyes brightened. Without a moment's hesitation, Pippy stuck a slender, brown finger directly into the concoction.
"Echo, no!" Lily shrieked, her voice laced with alarm. "Pippy, stop! That's… that's not food!"
Echo's eyes widened in horror, his black hair flaring a desperate, frantic red. "Pippy, no! Don't! That's poison! It's really, really bad! You'll die!" He lunged forward, trying to pull her hand away, but Pippy was surprisingly quick.
Before he could reach her, Pippy licked her finger clean, her eyes closing in what looked suspiciously like blissful contentment.
"Oh, Master Echo," Pippy whispered, a beatific smile spreading across her face. "This is… this is wonderful! Pippy has never tasted anything so good!"
Echo, Lily, and Severus stared, utterly dumbfounded. Pippy licked her lips, her eyes still closed in pure enjoyment.
"You… you like it?" Echo stammered, his red hair flickering with disbelief, then a hesitant, hopeful yellow.
Poppy opened her eyes, which now gleamed with genuine delight. "Oh, yes, Master Echo! Pippy loves it! It is… it is sweet and spicy, with a wonderful kick! It reminds Pippy of… of sunshine and mud pies, all at once!" She dipped her finger in again, happily licking it clean.
Lily, her mouth agape, looked from the beaming house elf to the bubbling, glowing sludge. "Sunshine and mud pies?" she repeated, a bewildered laugh escaping her lips.
Severus, for his part, merely stared, his pale face tinged with a look that was a complex mix of revulsion, astonishment, and a grudging, almost imperceptible curiosity. He then slowly pinched the bridge of his nose again, as if trying to process this new, utterly bizarre development.
Echo's yellow hair blazed with delighted surprise. "You… you really, really like it?" he asked again, a wide, hopeful smile spreading across his face.
Pippy nodded enthusiastically, her ears flapping. "Oh, yes, Master Echo! It is the bestest food Pippy has ever tasted! Pippy would eat this every day!"
Echo let out a whoop of joy, his orange hair vibrant with triumph. He turned to Lily and Severus, his hollow eyes shining. "See? I told you! I can cook! It's just… not for humans."
Lily, still reeling from the unexpected turn of events, could only manage a weak chuckle. "Apparently not, Echo. Apparently not."
Severus, after a long, drawn-out sigh, finally lowered his hand from his nose. His expression was still one of deep skepticism. Still, there was a flicker of something new in his dark eyes – a reluctant acknowledgment of Echo's inexplicable culinary success, at least in the eyes of a house elf. "Well," he drawled, his voice as dry as parchment, "it appears your talents, while certainly… unique, are not entirely without an audience. Perhaps you should consider a career as a purveyor of… house-elf delicacies."
Echo beamed. "That's a brilliant idea, Sev!" He looked at Pippy, his orange hair flickering with renewed purpose. "Pippy, would you mind telling the other house-elves that Master Echo has made them a special treat?"
Pippy's eyes widened further, if possible. "Oh, yes, Master Echo! Pippy would be delighted!" With another joyful squeak, she popped away, presumably to spread the word to her eager brethren.
Echo, with a triumphant grin, returned to stirring the cauldron, his earlier dejection completely forgotten. The foul, greenish-brown sludge, once a symbol of his culinary failure, was now a source of unexpected pride. Lily and Severus watched him, a mix of amusement and lingering bewilderment on their faces.
"Well," Lily said, shaking her head with a smile, "at least someone appreciates your cooking, Echo."
Severus merely grunted, but the faint green tinge had left his face, replaced by his usual pallor. He even managed a tiny, almost imperceptible quirk of his lips – the closest thing to a smile Echo had ever seen from him.
As if on cue, a flurry of pops echoed throughout the dungeon corridors. In a matter of minutes, the Potions classroom was filled with dozens of house-elves, their large eyes gleaming with anticipation, their tiny hands clutching empty bowls. They swarmed the cauldron, eagerly lining up to receive a generous scoop of Echo's unique "porridge." Echo, now a proud chef, happily served them, his orange hair blazing with pure joy. The house-elves devoured the concoction with relish, their happy squeaks and murmurs of delight filling the air, a stark contrast to the silence that usually dominated the dungeons.
Lily and Severus exchanged one last look, a shared moment of incredulity and amusement. Echo, the chaotic, unpredictable boy who could command three-headed snakes and break pure-blood noses, had now, inexplicably, become the favorite chef of the Hogwarts house-elves. It was just another day in his extraordinary, bewildering life.