For some reason, Charlie felt like there was something complicated in Anthony's eyes when he talked about house-elves. Not contempt or arrogance. More like nostalgia. A quiet sense of loss.
"How come I get the feeling you were really close with that house-elf?"
Anthony hummed in acknowledgment, let out a long breath, and then stayed quiet for a while.
"Maybe for most kids, they'd feel closest to their mom or dad. But for me it was different. I was closer to our house-elf.
It's pretty obvious why. No matter how unreasonable my demands were, he'd do everything he could to make it happen.
I loved playing with him. Even when I got older, I still thought it was completely normal for him to fulfill every single one of my requests.
The day he died, my parents even held a funeral for him. That was the first time I found out our house-elf actually had clothes."
Anthony looked at Charlie. "Do you know what it means for a house-elf to have clothes?"
"It means… he's free?" Charlie guessed.
"Exactly. So the way he treated me wasn't because he had to. It was because he chose to.
I only found out later that on the day my father was born, my grandmother gave that house-elf clothes and told him: if you think this family is worth serving, you can keep serving us even while wearing clothes. If you don't think it's worth it, you're free to leave whenever you want."
"Sounds pretty meaningful," Charlie said, nodding.
Anthony smiled a little. "Yeah. I thought so too.
My dad always says that's how he won my mom over. 'I'll prove I'm a man worth trusting' and all that. He brings it up every chance he gets.
Anyway, I'm getting off track.
The point is, after our house-elf died, I realized that because they give themselves willingly, the bond feels a lot heavier than I used to think.
We can't change what house-elves are. They were created to serve wizards from the very beginning.
But as someone who benefits from that, the least I can do is not act arrogant about it. I can at least give some kindness back."
Anthony turned to Charlie. "What do you think?"
Charlie pretended to think it over, then grinned. "If I praise you too much, you'll get cocky. So… you're alright, I guess."
"That's still praise." Anthony laughed. "I want an Easter egg."
There were still two left in their dorm.
Charlie handed him one. Anthony cracked it open.
A whale pushed its way out. It stretched its fins, then flicked its tail and floated gently above Anthony's palm.
Anthony stared at the floating whale, surprised. This one felt more magical than the Christmas eggs.
"Hard to believe you've only been studying alchemy for a few months."
He popped the whale into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully before asking, "What about this afternoon?"
"If I tell you I'm going to Professor Chambers' office again, is that still surprising?"
Anthony blinked, then laughed and nodded.
"Fair enough. If you're spending this much time on alchemy, there's no reason you wouldn't be improving."
That afternoon, Charlie walked into Professor Chambers' office.
With syrup and hard candy making now on the table, one untested variable with Sun Dew and Moon Dew had suddenly come to mind.
"Professor, I just realized—we never checked how Sun Dew and Moon Dew behave under extreme heat or extreme cold."
"Interesting test," Professor Chambers said, eyebrows rising. He nodded approvingly.
"We might as well try it today. Once we're done, we can move on to testing mandrake with Sun and Moon Dew tomorrow."
"Mandrake?"
Professor Chambers nodded. "Yes. In April, the mandrakes Professor Sprout grows are usually just about ready. You'll be working with them next year."
Charlie already knew that. Second-year Herbology focused heavily on mandrakes.
After a short chat, they got straight to work.
Time passed. The tests showed that Sun Dew released its energy very quickly under high heat.
In other words, the effect became stronger, but it didn't last as long.
In extreme cold, Sun Dew dissipated faster.
Moon Dew did the opposite. Cold made it release energy more quickly, while heat sped up its dissipation.
"Sunlight is hotter, moonlight is colder. That actually lines up with the old mystical definitions," Professor Chambers muttered.
The next second, Charlie and Professor Chambers spoke at the same time.
"That's going to be a problem—"
They looked at each other. Chambers raised an eyebrow. "What problem are you having?"
Charlie explained, "When I've been making chocolate so far, I mostly used the essences as fillings. Chocolate melts at a pretty low temperature. Even fully melted chocolate doesn't burn your hands, and it never caused these kinds of reactions with Moon Dew.
But if I want to make certain kinds of hard candy in the future, the temperature issue could get tricky."
Charlie was quietly glad he'd thought of this today.
He still didn't have a solution yet, but knowing the problem existed was better than being blindsided later.
"You could look for a solution among spells," Professor Chambers suggested.
"You love cooking so much, I think you should pick up a copy of Household Charms for Everyday Use."
Charlie nodded. The moment Chambers mentioned spells, he'd already started thinking—maybe the Softening Charm could work?
If he used it to keep hard candy in a pliable state without needing high heat—
"That's actually brilliant, Professor."
"Save the flattery," Chambers said with a small smile. "Let's get back to testing Dream and Thunder."
The experiments didn't go smoothly. Dream Sand didn't change under extreme heat or cold.
Thunder, on the other hand, caused a massive explosion the second it hit high heat.
By evening, when Charlie left the office, he was still sporting a very impressive explosion afro.
It was dinnertime in the Great Hall. The moment Anthony saw him, he—and half of Gryffindor—burst out laughing.
"Go ahead, laugh," Charlie said, trying to smooth his hair back. The second he let go, it sprang right back up.
After the teasing died down, Charlie cut into his pumpkin pie and asked, "How much of your homework did you get done today?"
Anthony had gone to the club that afternoon. Everyone had their own things to do, so he'd declared he was going to be the first one to finish all his assignments.
That way, if Charlie and Hector wanted to copy, they'd have to beg properly.
"Got most of it done," Anthony said.
Behind them, sitting at the Gryffindor table with his back to them, Harry glanced sideways at Hermione.
Hermione was already looking at him.
Harry awkwardly dropped his gaze to the pie on his plate.
He'd spent the whole day messing around. Hermione had kept telling him to do his homework, and he'd ignored her the entire time.