Some time had passed since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick were petrified, and the situation had settled into a temporary lull.
Recently, no one else had been attacked, and the mandrakes were growing steadily as well. According to Professor Sprout, it would soon be possible to revive those who had been petrified.
Professor Lockhart, meanwhile, took the opportunity to loudly boast that it was all thanks to him.
"This time, the Chamber has been sealed forever! Stopping before I utterly defeated it was a rather clever decision, I must say."
Then, as if that were beside the point, Professor Lockhart said this while winking at the Gryffindor students lined up outside their Transfiguration class.
"Yes, what the school needs right now is a boost in morale! Let's wipe away all those unpleasant memories from last term! I won't say any more for now, but I do have a splendid idea…"
＊＊
"Chocolate?"
Around lunchtime on a day off just before Valentine's Day on February 14, Saya, who had grown completely attached to me by now, suddenly brought it up in the Great Hall.
"Yes! In our homeland, there's a custom where girls give chocolate to the person they like on Valentine's Day!"
"Well, that's quite a strange custom…"
In Britain, Valentine's Day is generally the day when men give presents to someone they're interested in. The most common gift is a message card, followed by things like bouquets, accessories, or dinner reservations, depending on the person. Some people give chocolate too, apparently.
"By the way, when I told Professor Lockhart about it, his eyes lit up and he said, 'That's a nice idea!' He was absolutely thrilled."
"That sounds like nothing but trouble…"
"And that's why, Elaina, let's get started right away!"
"I don't actually have anyone I like, though."
But Saya put on a bold, mischievous grin and wagged her raised finger from side to side in an oddly irritating gesture.
"Actually, there's also something called obligation chocolate. It's chocolate you give to someone you're not particularly interested in, as a way of showing everyday gratitude."
"At that point, it sounds forced enough to make you suspect a chocolate company conspiracy."
"Huh? You knew about that, Elaina? As expected of you!"
Saya looked genuinely surprised. Was it really a conspiracy by chocolate companies? How underhanded.
"Also, since it's embarrassing to give chocolate to your true crush, people often use obligation chocolate as a pretense to create an opening!"
"…At the very least, I can tell that your homeland is far more troublesome than I imagined."
Honestly, the more I heard, the more my motivation dwindled. But then there were two immediate reactions from the table right next to us.
"Pansy, did you hear that? This is your chance to get closer to Draco!"
"W-wait, Daphne!?"
Daphne Greengrass, who had recently been doing everything she could to push the two together, whispered excitedly to Pansy Parkinson, the very image of a girl in love.
"These things are all about building up step by step. First greetings, then chatting in a group, then light small talk one-on-one, and we've already gotten as far as eating together with everyone. Next comes obligation gifts to slowly close the distance!"
"Well, but…"
"Then tell me, Pansy. Could you invite Draco out for a meal or shopping, just the two of you, right now?"
"T-that's… it's still kind of a high hurdle."
"Then this is your chance! Let's clear these event milestones one by one."
It was a rare sight to see Pansy being pushed back by Daphne's aggressive enthusiasm, but she still looked indecisive. When Pansy became too aware of her feelings, she seemed to be the type who pulled back instead, afraid of being disliked.
Still, since we were roommates, I decided to lend a small helping hand.
"Daphne, I think Pansy is worried that even if it's 'just obligation chocolate,' people might think it's strange if she's the only one handing it out."
"Huh? Is that it, Pansy?"
"Well… yeah. And why do you get that, Elaina?"
"It's exactly the kind of thing an overly self-conscious teenage girl would worry about."
"At least call me shy!?"
In any case, once you understand Pansy's tiny concern, the solution is simple.
In other words—
"Why don't all of us give out obligation chocolate for Valentine's Day?"
＊＊＊
So, with that decided—
"Hannah, thank you for inviting us."
"Don't worry about it. It sounded fun."
At Hannah Abbott's suggestion of having some tea in the common room, I followed her inside along with Saya, Daphne, and Pansy, entering the Hufflepuff common room.
The Hufflepuff common room was hidden behind a stack of barrels in the shadowed right-hand side of the corridor near the kitchens. When Hannah tapped the bottom of the barrel in the middle of the second row twice, the entrance to the dormitory appeared.
"By the way, if you get the rhythm wrong, you'll be doused in boiling vinegar, so be careful."
The Hufflepuff common room, which I was entering for the first time, was circular with a slightly low ceiling, and it had a warm atmosphere decorated in yellow and black.
At the center was a large, fluffy sofa, surrounded by numerous rocking chairs. Each chair had a plump cushion in Hufflepuff colors. On the tables were polished copper cups, lots of flowers, and plates piled high with cookies. Potted plants hung from the ceiling or sat by the round windows.
The walls were paneled with warm-toned wood. Firewood was stacked beside the fireplace, and barrels were used as makeshift tables. Overall, the design conveyed the warmth of wood and plants, a kind of natural coziness. Sunlight streamed in through the round windows high on the walls, offering a glimpse of dandelions and magical plants swaying gently in the breeze outside in the herb garden.
"It kind of feels like Hobbiton from The Lord of the Rings…"
Compared to the luxurious Slytherin common room, it was rather rustic, but in its own way it looked very comfortable, almost like a stylish little restaurant.
And the passage extending from the common room was said to resemble either the house symbol, a badger's burrow, or a whiskey storage cellar filled with barrels. The doors that looked like the bottoms of barrels apparently led to the bedrooms.
When Hannah showed us her room for just a moment, the four-poster bed covered with a patchwork quilt was bathed in the warm glow of a copper lamp. There was even a copper bed warmer hanging on the wall, ready for when your feet got cold.
"Wow…"
"Oooh…"
As Saya, Daphne, and the others admired the Hufflepuff common room for the first time alongside me, Hannah spotted an empty table and beckoned us over.
＊＊
"…I see. So that's the plan."
After listening to our story, Hannah nodded in understanding. Her gentle smile, paired with her blonde hair braided into three plaits, gave off a soft, fluffy atmosphere.
"Sorry, none of us has any experience making homemade chocolate."
"As expected of a young lady…?"
"No, I think it's just that our domestic skills are low."
Homemade chocolate is actually something you learn more thoroughly in domestic science classes at elite girls' schools. At the Muggle public elementary school I attended, all we learned was how to make ham sandwiches and boiled eggs. Pansy and Daphne said they had once made chocolate with a tutor in the past, but they had completely forgotten how.
"So, Pansy, what kind do you want to give?"
"Um…"
After some deliberation, Pansy chose fresh chocolate truffles.
"Isn't that a bit too ordinary?"
"It sounds safe, so I think it's fine."
"Yeah. It's easy to make, so I think it's a good choice."
As we chatted like that, a Hufflepuff student passing nearby called out to us.
"Hey, Hannah. That's a pretty unusual group today."
"Oh, Estelle-senpai."
The person Hannah reacted to was a woman with an androgynous air, different from Saya's. Rather than boyish, she had an almost gender-ambiguous presence.
Her lavender-colored hair was semi-short and fell naturally, her sharp and dignified eyes were yellow, and she was slightly taller than me. Her supple figure sat somewhere between a model's build and an average one, and she gave off the calm aura of an exemplary student.
"Let me introduce her. This is Estelle Rostruff, a third-year."
"Nice to meet you."
Estelle replied cheerfully and seemed to be fairly close to Hannah.
"Estelle-senpai, this is Elaina from Slytherin. She's really smart."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Prompted by Estelle's curious tone, I puffed out my chest with a smug little smile.
"I ranked second in our year last year. Well, I was only seven points behind first place."
"Hehe, people who place second always make sure to emphasize that part. How nostalgic."
"..."
Without any trace of malice, Estelle casually slipped in what essentially amounted to, "Well, I was first," and I froze on the spot.
Ignoring Daphne, who seemed to sense the tension and whispered, "Elaina, stop it…," I closed my eyes, took a slow breath, then looked straight at Estelle with a serious expression.
"By the way, Estelle, how many total points did you score when you were a first-year?"
"I think it was 680 points."
"I see. I had 684. That's four points lower than me♪"
"Um…"
Estelle looked troubled.
"Are you… making fun of me?"
"Not at all. Not really."
I won.
I will not say what exactly, but in any case, this was my victory.
(End of chapter)
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