Errand Scrub-a-dub-dub Solo Finished

Saturday: June 29, 2019
6:00 pm

Washing the dishes wasn't exactly hard work, but it was time-consuming work, one that could become tiresome after a while. Not that Andrew minded the monotonous chore. He was a Muggle-born after all. Washing dishes was a daily ritual of his, back home in London. While his family did have the modern convenience of owning an automated dishwasher, it was usually reserved for larger gatherings. On the daily, the bulk of the load was still washed by hand. Not that Andrew ever complained about it, but neither did he miss it, since coming to Hogwarts. One of the perks about being a student was that he didn't have to bother with normal household chores anymore. The house-elves pretty much took care of everything. What could possibly prompt him to enter the kitchens to wash the dishes now? Well… Part of it was the financial incentive. Ten shillings' worth, to be exact. But no matter how high the compensation was, Andrew wouldn't have accepted the task if he wasn't on break. With nothing else to do before tomorrow -- when the train would take him back home to London for the summer holiday -- he might as well do something productive by helping the house-elves clean up after dinner. And there was bound to be plenty of leftover dessert from him to snack on while he worked.

Rolling up his gray sweater sleeves so they wouldn't get soggy, Andrew got down to business, whittling his way through the mound of dishes that towered in a daunting heap before him. Traditionally, if he were home, he and his two siblings would be working together in an assembly line -- Stacy washing, Andrew drying, and Kyle putting them away. But since he had chosen to sign himself up solo for this task, he had to complete his allotted amount of dishes by himself, even if the house-elves weren't busy to help him. So long as he kept up a steady pace, he reckoned he would be finished in an hour or so.

In batches, he scraped off the remnants of food into a trash container before dumping each load of dishes into the right tub of the sink, filled with a bath of soapy water, letting them sit as he tackled each individual plate, cup, and utensil one by one. Fishing them out from the soap-bath, over to the adjacent tub -- it was a two-tub sink -- he then took a sponge to any stubborn debris and stains, rinsing them beneath the faucet until they were spotless and sparkling. A clean stack of dishes grew on his left side, while the pile of dirty ones on his right, no matter how many he washed, seemed to remain at the same height, as if his load was being magically replenished and then some, like the Hydra -- for each one he washed, it felt like three more were being added to his load. Then again, perhaps most of the students were eating dinner at a later hour, which would explain the growing influx of dishes. Eventually, he challenged the stack, it would have to dwindle down at some point.

Fortunately, he had Penelope to entertain him and keep him company while he worked. The plump gray rat had sat on Andrew's shoulder throughout dinner and stuck on for the ride, as he headed down to the kitchens afterward. While Andrew tackled his chore, Penelope scampered around the room, popping back around to check on Andrew periodically, sometimes nibbling on a chunk of food that had fallen to the floor during the clean-up. While the rat was as squeaky-clean as they would come, for one that was bathed and groomed regularly, some would still doubt and cringe at whether it was sanitary for a rat to be hanging around the kitchens. Just as long as Penelope didn't set paws on any of the dishes; Andrew guarded his pile of clean ones with a close eye.

Sidetracked in a moment of whimsy and boredom, Andrew puffed off some foamy bubbles from a plate, before attempting to blow some rather large sudsy bubbles between a fork. Watching one of his successful bubbles float a few seconds in the air before popping, it reminded him of the Bubble-Producing Charm. In fact, he reckoned there was probably a spell that would speed up the process of cleaning the dishes, rather than devoting all his time to washing them by hand. Even though he had already completed his first year at Hogwarts, it never really occurred for Andrew to do things with magic -- ordinary, Muggle activities that he had done all his life without. Some might tease him for doing it the "long", "hard" way, but even when it wasn't out of forgetfulness that he was a wizard, he actually took pride in being able to accomplish things without magic. Doing the dishes by hand gave him a sense of normality, making him wish he was back home. He looked forward to seeing his family again, after so many months apart.

Falling into the silence and rhythmic motion of scrubbing and stacking dishes… It was relaxing to let his mind unwind, to give himself time to think and reflect on his day. Before long, Andrew's thoughts had preoccupied him and the rest of his body carried on with the rest of the chore without much conscious effort. Eventually, he reached the bottom of the stack, drained the sink, and proceeded to wipe down the puddles of water from the countertops.

"Job well done, Sir. He's done us a big favor," one of the younger house-elves piped up in appreciation, cowering meekly as he approached Andrew.

Andrew smiled humbly at the house-elf, knowing that he hadn't done much, compared to what the rest of the house-elves had to put up with daily. If anything, this house-elf gave him too much credit, acting like he had cleaned up the entire kitchen by himself. As much as Andrew wanted to dismiss his efforts and say it was nothing, he knew better than to turn down a compliment.

"Happy to help -- er, what's your name?" He directed the question at the house-elf, who seemed taken aback that Andrew would even ask such a thing. Being a Muggle-born, growing up without the aid of magic or high-class luxury of servants, it still weighed on Andrew's conscience, having a bunch of house-elves cater to his every need and whim. Prior to arriving at Hogwarts, he was accustomed to doing laundry and dishes by himself, so it was a bit awkward for him at first, when the house-elves took over those responsibilities, as much as Andrew wanted to help out; they wouldn't let him. Even though the tiny creatures seemed to enjoy their labor, he couldn't help but feel sorry for them. He wondered if the thought of independence and freedom ever occurred to their narrowed minds.

"Tamsin, Sir. But Sir need not call Tamsin by his name…" The house-elf shifted from one bare foot to another, glancing up shyly.

"I'll remember your name, Tamsin," Andrew assured him, though it didn't occur to him that, out of a hundred elves that resided in the Castle, the odds of him and Tamsin bumping into each other would be slim. "What are you going to do for the summer?" He wondered what house-elves did "for fun" when they weren't on full load, now that most of the students were heading back home for the summer holiday, leaving the Castle mostly vacant.

"Tamsin will do what he always does, Sir. He will stay and cook and clean. And make sure Sir has all his things for tomorrow." Tamsin chuckled timidly, perhaps a bit in awe that one of the students would bother stooping so low to converse with him, though he didn't want to be a burden and hinder Andrew from leaving. "Sir should get some sleep now, hmm?"

Andrew dried his hands on a towel, before unrolling his sleeves. "Thanks, I will. And you too." With a once-over around the kitchen to check that everything was in order, that nothing else was required for him to do, he beckoned Penelope over, scooping the rat up and perching her back on his shoulder.

"Well, you take care of yourself, Tamsin. See you around," Andrew said warmly. The room was dim-lit and quiet, now that everything was cleared and put away. "Good night." He waved to Tamsin and a few other house-elves before turning to leave the kitchens. His energy well-spent, Andrew looked forward to collapsing on his bed, bound to feel the soreness in his arms when he got up in the morning.

Word Count: 1,446