Ethan Jones, who had been attending classes for a week, slept for a full twelve hours that night, so much so that he missed breakfast.
"I'm so hungry!" When he got up, the dormitory was already empty.
He casually took a piece of candy from his share, which had been divided up the night before.
"Boom!" Fire shot out of his nose and ears, and he instantly regained consciousness.
"Luckily, there was no damage, but I can't give these to them. I'll keep them for myself." He put away the remaining two pieces of Pepper Imps.
"Perhaps I could give it to Hagrid as a gift; I think he would like it?" he thought.
It was still early before lunchtime, so he decided to go to the kitchen to find something to eat, following a method he vaguely remembered.
After washing up, he went down another staircase in the Great Hall and groped his way to the location of the kitchen.
"Where is the kitchen?! I remember it being underground here, right?" He walked and walked, and even saw the door to the Hufflepuff Common Room, but he still couldn't find the kitchen.
He carefully recalled the movies he had seen: "Was it not shown in the movie at all? How did I know the kitchen was here? Did I search for related information? Or did the comments say so? I can't remember some of it clearly."
As he continued to wander around, he saw two conspicuous red-haired boys carrying a pile of food appear in the corridor and walk towards him.
"The Weasley twins!" Ethan Jones's eyes lit up.
He quickly stepped forward and stopped them: "Hello, I'm Ethan Jones, a first year. I missed breakfast, so I'd like to go to the kitchen to find something to eat. Could you two tell me where the kitchen is?"
The two exchanged a glance, their goodwill towards this first year who dared to come to the kitchen for food after only a few days of schooling greatly increased. They liked this kind of unconventional person: "Of course, I am Fred Weasley, and this is my brother George."
"Just keep walking from here until you see a picture of a bowl of fruit hanging on the wall. Stop there, gently tickle the pear inside, and you'll find the kitchen."
"Which House are you from? We don't think we've seen you in Gryffindor before," Fred asked.
"Thank you both, Slytherin. I'm starving, I'll be going now. See you next time." Ethan Jones didn't bother with pleasantries, quickly thanked them, and walked in the direction the brothers had come from.
"Slytherin has such polite first years? That's quite rare." George shrugged, almost dropping the food he was holding.
Fred reacted quickly and tapped him, saving the freshly baked pie.
"Which House doesn't have a few 'rebellious' ones? Putting aside everything else, doesn't Percy sometimes seem more like a Slytherin than a Gryffindor?"
"You're right."
The two, carrying their food, were heading to the Gryffindor Common Room for a morning party.
With the help of the two men, Ethan Jones successfully found the eye-catching oil painting.
He tickled the only pear in the painting, and it made a chuckle, turning into a green doorknob.
As Ethan Jones pulled the doorknob, he saw a hundred or so tennis ball-sized eyes staring at him, which startled him.
"Um, hello everyone, I'm here to find something to eat." Looking at the elves who were wearing the same uniforms and looked very similar, Ethan Jones couldn't tell them apart at all, so he could only speak to the one closest to him.
"Of course, sir! Just ask, and we can prepare everything for you!" It wasn't just the house-elf in front of him speaking; the house-elves further away were also excitedly shouting in their high-pitched voices.
"Well, thank you very much. I think I just need two pies and one, no, two roast meats, the portions should be large. I plan to give them to Hagrid." He thought for a moment and then stated his request.
"Almost done, sir, please wait a moment!" The other house-elves immediately busied themselves, leaving one of them behind to guide him to sit down at a long table.
"Would you like something to drink, sir?" The house-elf looked at him expectantly.
"How about a cup of black tea? No sugar."
"I'll be right there!" He dashed off, and in less than a minute, a steaming cup of black tea was placed on the table.
"What's your name?" he asked, sipping the black tea, which tasted almost exactly the same as the one he'd had in Dumbledore's office.
"My name is Toto, sir!" Toto replied excitedly, as if he were honored to have Ethan Jones know his name.
This indeed aroused the envy of the other elves, who also hoped that Ethan Jones would ask them their names.
Unable to bear the intense stares, Ethan Jones had no choice but to ask them their names one by one.
"Shrek." "Kiki." ...
After asking around, the pies and roast meat had been on the table for fifteen minutes.
"Thank you for your hospitality, I'm leaving now, bye-bye!" He picked up the already packaged food, said goodbye, and fled the kitchen.
"You're being too enthusiastic, I'm almost embarrassed." He shook his head, picked up the pie, took a bite, and said, "It tastes good."
He devoured the pie, and carrying the roast meat as a gift, he passed through the deep castle and headed towards Hagrid's hut from the back door along the path.
The scenery along the way was quite beautiful, which put him in a good mood.
Soon, he arrived at the cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
"Hagrid! Hagrid!" he shouted, but no one answered him.
He pressed his ear against the wooden door, listening intently to the sounds coming from inside.
They discovered that not only was Hagrid's voice absent from the house, but it also seemed that even Fang was not there.
"Where did you go? The Forbidden Forest?" He couldn't help but look at the deep forest.
Although he was very curious about the Forbidden Forest, reason prevented him from going there.
The Forbidden Forest was still too dangerous for him, and he had heard that there were Werewolves in it. Although he really wanted to see this legendary creature that he had heard of in his previous life, he was even more afraid of being infected and living a life that was neither human nor beast.
Sitting on a log, he put the roasted meat aside, took out his wand, and began practicing spells.
"Professor Flitwick said that magic is the power to make things happen, so, is it possible for me to unleash a flame that can ignite wood without Hagrid's teachings?"
After practicing the Lumos motion a few times with little improvement, he pondered:
"Furthermore, Professor Flitwick said that I should have a greater talent for fire magic and Dark Magic. Although I can't cast other fire spells yet, wouldn't I be able to learn this one easily?"
He looked at the pile of firewood Hagrid had stored away, found a piece about an arm's length from it, placed it on the grass away from the pile, straightened up, and pointed his wand at the firewood.