77. Happy Gets The Cake 

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Happy felt his mouth go dry once he read the name of the author and the title of the book. The name alone was enough to reveal what it was about. Expansion Magic and how to automate magic was exactly what the Room of Requirement did, and the fact it was authored by Helga Hufflepuff cleared the doubt on who made the room in the first place.

Woosh!

However, just as he picked up the book, something happened in the dark room. The surrounding walls, ceiling, and floor began to shimmer with ancient runes. They were everywhere and covered almost everything. There were also strange magic circles and spells that he couldn't fathom.

"T-This… Is this like the programming behind the end software we see?" Happy wondered. "Do I just need to copy-paste all of this to make another Room of Requirement?"

He opened the book and took a look. "Magical Source, Source-Piggyback Theory, Limitations… this is a goldmine! Wait, can't I just make a bigger Room of Requirement? Hogwarts must be sitting on some great source of magic for the founders to choose this location—I think I know what I want to do after graduation."

Happy turned the pages excitedly. "The only way to use this school to the max is by becoming its faculty—then Headmaster? I can serve as Headmaster for life!"

With something of an idea forming in his lucky little head, he exited the room with the book hidden in his robes. He made his way to the Common Room to relax and grab some snacks while playing with his friends. It wasn't good for his heart to always be preoccupied or stressed.

"Happy! Where are you going? Come with us to the Ravenclaw room." Cho appeared just as Happy turned a corner. "My friends and I are doing a small cooking competition, and who better to judge than you?"

Happy's stomach rumbled. "Sure, let's go. It's been a while since I saw your common room. But will your seniors agree?"

"Agree? They'll roll out the red carpet for you," she chirped, seizing his arm and pulling him along. Surprisingly, she showed no signs of shyness.

Cho quickly answered a question at the entrance and pulled him inside. The Ravenclaw common room boasted various shades of blue and bronze. It also had a breezy ambiance, since it was in a tower. There were tall windows all around, bathing the place in sunlight.

"Happy!" Padma Patil greeted him at the sight. Who wouldn't? Happy was the most fun person to hang out with at school. "I heard you scared Professor Trelawney."

Happy rolled his eyes. "Ugh… She's the one who scared me. Who in their right mind asks a kid to kiss his hand? She's a creep… Anyway, where's the cooking competition? I'm starving!"

"Downstairs, come with us." Cho blurted and dragged Happy to a room in the lower deck of the tower. As they arrived, they were greeted with a spacious circular room with a few beds against the wall. In the middle of the room was a big table with a lot of ingredients, surrounded by small cauldrons atop a magical fire.

"Everyone, I found us a judge!" Cho declared to the four girls there. "Happy, we're trying to create the best chocolate pumpkin pudding for the upcoming Halloween. The participants include Penelope, our Head Girl, who may look grumpy but isn't, oh and she's dating Percy Weasely."

Cough!

Penelope cleared her throat softly, signaling Cho to control her excitement.

"You know Padma and Luna, and the last one is Mandy. Now, just sit here while we cook."

Happy was given a seat just beside the table. On his left was Cho cooking, and on his right was Padma. The others were also close by, chatting with each other.

Now, Happy may not be the brightest of the blokes, but it didn't take him long to realize that something was wrong. He was not in the common room, nor was he in any public space. The presence of beds meant it was a dorm room, and since only girls were here…

"Is this the girl's dorm room?" he blurted out. All heads turned toward him immediately.

"No, of course not. Boys can't enter girls' dorms, so we are using one of the male dorm rooms." Cho replied and continued to make her pudding.

'What a weird rule, but it made sense a thousand years back.' Happy mumbled and watched the girls as they prepared food for him. It felt like living in a dream. The scent of the chocolate was mouthwatering.

To pass his time, he took out his herbology book and began to read. 'Maybe I should get Neville interested in this. He can definitely help me with the seed research, and Professor Sprout holds him in high regard too.'

At best, Happy had found out that, indeed, normal plants can be manipulated with magic, but the magic wasn't permanent. Instead, one had to cast spells and pour potions on each batch of seeds. The new qualities were not passed down to subsequent seeds or harvests.

What he wanted was the ability to create a seed that would generate more seeds—high in yield, crazy resilient, requiring less water, and having excellent nutritional value. Sure, it was a long shot, but he was lucky.

"Done!" Cho cheerfully exclaimed and presented the plate. "It might not look amazing, but it's tasty."

'Amazing? What the hell is this?' Happy got up and looked at the dish, only for his nose to scrunch up. 'Ugh… Only Luna and Penelope made something decent.'

But he was a gentleman and did give the cake a try. "I will taste all of them first and then declare the winner."

"Yes, sir!"

So, Happy first picked up a small spoon and took a bite of Cho's cake. 'Hmm… texture is a mess, too much salt, and the pumpkin is overwhelming the taste of chocolate. I feel like vomiting.'

Happy simply nodded and moved on to Padma's cake. 'Hmm… Slightly better, but why did she add some spice to this? Ah, too much cinnamon.'

Next, he tried Luna's cake, which was pretty small, just like her stature. 'Ah, something decent, finally. She got the right mix of sweetness and pumpkin, but it's not baked correctly.'

Finally, he tasted Mandy's cake, which was similar to Cho and Padma's creations. But at long last, he came to Penelope's cake, which looked the best. He felt this was due to Penelope being the oldest, a seventh year, after all. Her experiences must have helped her.

"Ah!" He muttered after taking one bite. "We have a winner. Perfect texture, perfectly cooked, slightly less chocolate but not bad at all."

"You mean ours taste bad?" Padma asked.

"..."

Happy's eyes comically darted in different directions, one looking left and the other right. He chuckled and prepared to leave. "Hehe… I'm in danger… See you guys later. Oh, the second prize goes to Luna, third to Mandy, fourth to Padma, and last to Cho! Bye!"

Woosh!

Spells were fired, and feelings were shattered, but no compromise was made with the truth. Happy, a master eater, couldn't lie when it came to food, for it was akin to lying about his religion—food.

"Come on. It wasn't that bad." Cho stomped her foot. "I guess… I should just stick to Quidditch. The match is coming."

"Where is my galleon?" Penelope extended her hand. "I won the bet."

"..."

"Ugh… It was a mistake to bring him. He was too honest." Cho sighed.

…

For Happy, his hunger was unsatisfied even after eating five girl's cakes.

He soon found himself in the kitchen of elves and got himself a nice meal made. A friendship had formed between the two foes by then. The old elf Grogy and Happy occasionally enjoy new tasty food.

It was just a time of ordinary things. However, Happy found himself excelling in magic. His Charm classes were going great, as he learned everything very quickly, and his Transfigurations somehow always turned out well for him, even if he fumbled with the wand a bit.

Potions were also an easy subject. In simple words, any place his luck could shine, it shined quite brightly. The only places where he would sometimes mess up were History and Divination. But he dropped out of History and took Ancient Runes instead, as the secret to Room of Requirement was in his grasp now.

October was already in full swing, and before he knew it, the 10th of October arrived, the day he had decided to meet with Lord Greengrass at the Statue of Liberty.

But there was a problem. He hadn't specified the exact time he was going to meet the man, and only had told him the date. And it dawned on him that he had only remembered about the meeting when the 10th of October was about to end, meaning midnight was fast approaching.

'Fuck! East Coast has a five-hour difference. There should still be time.' He calculated and quickly made his way to the Statue of Liberty using teleportation. Once he arrived, he apparated onto the torch of the statue, where some space was available to stand to admire the view.

"You're late, Mr. Lestrange," came the annoyed voice of a middle-aged man.

Happy remained very proud, as was expected from him. "Too many things to deal with, Lord Greengrass."

'Like eating and sleeping. Ugh, I gave him a bad first impression. Better dazzle him with my acting.'

"You talked about healing my daughter. Can you do it? And how?" Lord Greengrass asked. He had been waiting since morning, after all. His patience had worn thin.

Happy smiled and admired the view. "Not so fast, Lord Greengrass. Everything has a price, and healing your daughter isn't a small matter. To cure Blood Maladictus is nothing less than asking me to perform a miracle—but it can be done—for a price."

Lord Greengrass felt a shiver run down his spine. "W-what is the price?"

"It's not money. I possess more than any of you already. What I want is loyalty. What I require is responsibility—What I demand is your allegiance to work for me under an Unbreakable Vow." Happy demanded, a delectable smile adorning his face.

For poor Lord Greengrass, the floor beneath his feet seemed to slip away. He couldn't understand if he stood before Happy, or Voldemort.

"U-Unbreakable Vow?"

"Calm down. It will only be there for secrecy purposes, not to control you or anything of the sort." Happy clarified. "But first, you must prove yourself before making such a vow."

"W-What must I do?" Greengrass was now worried about what Happy might ask.

"Nothing, I just need you to go to Africa…"