To explain the relationship I formed with the house-elf named Deek would be a very long story.
It's a tale that connects my relationship with his former master, Deek's friends, and even a phoenix.
I'll skip the finer details, but the bond Deek and I forged was tied to two main things.
The Room of Requirement, and magical beasts.
During my fifth year, Professor Weasley, who was the Deputy Headmistress at the time, officially granted me the right to use the Room of Requirement. A room where anything one imagines can appear.
With the guidance of the house-elf Deek, I was able to master its use.
And, at the request of Deek, who loved magical beasts, I would often abduct—no, rescue—beasts from the dangers of poachers into my Nab-Sack (bag) and then release them into the Room of Requirement.
Of course, although I was granted the right to use the Room of Requirement, it was ultimately school property and could not become my private possession.
Therefore, there was always the problem of what to do with the magical beasts after I graduated from Hogwarts.
After a long discussion between Professor Weasley, myself, and Deek, we decided that I would create a space similar to the Vivarium (alternate dimension for Beasts) that the Room of Requirement provided, and I would move the beasts there after graduation.
In the process, Deek, a Hogwarts house-elf, made a contract to become my exclusive house-elf so that he could continue to look after the magical beasts.
And... I had completely forgotten about Deek until just a moment ago.
Yes. I am the one to blame. Yep, no room for excuses here.
And yet, if I were to make a pathetic excuse, it would be that for the last few months—a few months by my clock, so ninety years and a few months for everyone else—I had been holed up in my lab.
I had been researching ancient magic related to time.
I had absolutely no time to spare for the vivarium. And on top of that, I was flung ninety years into the future.
I suppose I must have unconsciously assumed that after ninety years, Deek would have moved on and been living his own life.
In any case, the moment I remembered, I hastily left Gringotts and headed for Hogsmeade.
There are various ways to get from Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade: Portkey, Floo Powder, carriage, train, and so on.
But I had no time to wait for such things, so I just Apparated.
Such a long-distance Apparition carries considerable risk, but with my magical skill and the power of the Elder Wand, it was no problem at all.
I could probably even Apparate between continents without issue.
The unpleasant, constricting sensation of Apparition enveloped my body for a moment, and then I was there, on a familiar street in Hogsmeade.
The air felt both nostalgic and strange. Ninety years was more than enough time to change the streets of my memories. It was a village that was somehow different, yet unmistakably familiar.
My moment of nostalgia was brief, interrupted by an aching sensation, like bruises all over my body, that made me grimace.
"Ugh. That hurts."
No matter how used to Apparition I was, doing so in the frail body of a child was apparently outside my calculations. My undeveloped, seven-year-old body was exhausted from the long-distance travel.
It seemed best to refrain from long-distance Apparition until my body had grown a bit more.
As my body ached, I looked around for my building. It was the middle of the night, so thankfully, it seemed no one had seen me.
It wouldn't do for a seven-year-old kid to be seen appearing out of thin air via Apparition, after all.
Anyway, I was sure my shop was the building next to Spintwitches Sporting Needs, which sold brooms.
The one thing I hadn't accounted for was that the broom shop was gone.
I can't believe it went out of business in just ninety years. Or, is it more natural that it would?
On top of that, Ollivanders had moved from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley, so trying to find my way based on old memories was no easy task.
In any case, I finally managed to locate my building based on the layout of the surrounding streets and went inside.
A worn-out sign hanging on an old wooden door. A building that looked utterly desolate. Was this really my building?
Feeling the weight of ninety years once again, I reached for the lock.
Alohomora.
Not just a simple Alohomora, but a whole security system I had built using ancient magic began to unravel one by one at my gesture.
I remembered how much fun I'd had designing all the security measures in case of an attack.
I was pretty sure I'd even set up a ward that would drop a lightning bolt on anyone who messed with it.
The effort I'd put into security had apparently paid off; even after the long ninety years, some of the systems were still functioning properly.
Click. Clank.
After wrestling with it for some time, the door opened with the unpleasant sound of rusted metal grinding.
I cast Lumos on the Elder Wand and slowly made my way up the stairs.
Amazingly, despite the passage of ninety years, the interior hadn't changed much. The inside of the building was as clean as if it had been swept yesterday, and I immediately knew the reason why.
"Deek? Are you here? Come on out!"
Pop. With the tell-tale sign of house-elf Apparition, a familiar-faced elf appeared before my eyes.
"...Master? Oh, heavens! Is it really you, Master? Deek can't believe it!! Where have you been for ninety years! And why has your body become so young?!"
Deek, who already had white hair to begin with, had clearly aged over the last ninety years.
Though house-elves were a species that could live for over six hundred years, ninety years was still a very long time for them.
In any case, having an old house-elf clinging to my cloak, sobbing and snotting all over it, was one of the more bewildering experiences, even for someone like me who's seen it all.
This was especially true given that the fault lay entirely with me, making it impossible for me to tell him to get off.
"Deek thought, Deek thought had been abandoned again because Deek did something wrong!"
"No, Deek. What happened was..."
I had to wait a long time for Deek to stop crying before I could explain the situation.
"So Master skipped over ninety years entirely?"
"That's right."
"Oh, dear. Deek feels so sorry for Master."
It wasn't the kind of thing you'd expect to hear from Deek, who had waited for me and looked after the house for ninety years, but that was the nature of the house-elf.
"But Deek, why did you wait for ninety years? I'm sure I told you when we first made the contract that you could leave if any unavoidable circumstances arose."
"Deek is a good house-elf! Deek was not given clothes. Deek is not so weak as to be unable to wait this long!"
Deek looked immensely proud, showing his pride in himself as a house-elf. Oh Deek, you're dazzling.
Meanwhile, thinking of the income from phoenix feathers, I asked Deek.
"By the way. What happened to the other Beasts?"
At my question, Deek's expression darkened slightly as he spoke.
"Ninety years is an exceedingly long time for a beast. Deek could not bear to watch the beasts, sad for Master's absence, cooped up in the vivarium. So, in the end..."
As he spoke, Deek suddenly seemed to be overcome with self-loathing and began to slam his head on the floor.
"Deek is sorry! Deek is sorry! Deek dared to release Master's beasts from the vivarium! Deek is a very bad house-elf!"
"No, it's fine, so please stop hitting your head!"
Deek continued to try to harm himself for a while after that. I finally had to give him an 'order' before he would stop.
"You released them, so they must all be living in the wild now."
I had wanted to see the beasts for a moment, but on second thought, this was for the best. It's better for them to return to nature than to live cooped up in the vivarium without me.
If Deek hadn't released them, those beasts would have lived and died in a false wilderness.
Seeing the look of relief on my face, Deek was finally able to shed the guilt from his own.
"Master, not all of them are gone!"
"What?"
And as Deek whistled, a golden light like a blazing fire erupted from behind him, so bright it almost blinded me.
Chir-r-r-up!
Seeing it, I smiled as brightly as any seven-year-old and opened my arms.
"Ardeura!"
The phoenix, a creature that lives an eternal life through a cycle of death and rebirth. The one I cherished most among all the magical beasts. Ardeura, at least, hadn't forgotten me and had stayed!
Screee!
Ardeura snuggled into my open arms like a baby. She was a little smaller than I remembered, but since I had also shrunk, it didn't matter.
Ardeura was rubbing her face against my chest in my embrace. She was so happy to see me that tears were dripping from her eyes.
As befitting the tears of a phoenix, which are said to heal any wound, Ardeura's tears instantly cured my body, which had been creaking from the side effects of Apparition.
"Ardeura waited and waited for Master. Not long ago, she was finally engulfed in flames and died, which made Deek very sad, but then she was reborn from within!"
Seeing the two beings who had waited for me for ninety years, Ardeura and Deek, a smile naturally spread across my face.
"In celebration of our long-awaited reunion, how about we have a party?"
"Oh, what a fantastic idea! Deek will prepare the food at once!"
For now, let's just enjoy the reunion.
Come to think of it, I hadn't eaten a proper meal in several days, even by my own timeline.
This was a problem shared by most wizards; when we get engrossed in one thing, we tend to neglect everything else.
Normally, I could use various spells to maintain my physical condition for a while without eating, but considering my current body, I would need to consciously keep supplying it with nutrients.
Otherwise, I might not grow to my original height, and growing up shorter than I was supposed to be would be quite stressful.
Anyway, after finishing our first meal in a long time, I was sitting on a dustless chair with Ardeura.
Deek, who was watching me, asked.
"Master, what are you going to do now? Will you resume your research?"
Deek's question was a valid one. Having leaped ninety years through time, what would I do now?
The answer had been decided since yesterday.
I placed my hands on my hips and declared proudly.
"We are going on a journey!"
"A journey, you say?"
Cheep?
"I'm going to see how the world has changed, both the Muggle world and the wizarding world. I'm going to see with my own eyes what ninety years of time has brought! You two are coming with me!"
At my words, Ardeura flapped Her wings and let out a positive cry. Deek, meanwhile, was worried about the practicalities.
"Master! It will take a long time to see a world that has changed over ninety years. If you just travel all that time, the money in your vault might run out!"
Hearing Deek's words, I was suddenly reminded of my recent visit to Gringotts.
Gringotts, whose security hadn't changed in over ninety years... In the wizarding world, stagnation is regression, which makes it a sin.
Besides, from what Albus told me, the vaults of the Death Eaters who were sent to Azkaban should still be preserved, right?
At that thought, a mischievous smile touched my lips, and I spontaneously uttered the next words.
"Well, if that happens, we can just rob a Gringotts vault, can't we?"
Bellastrix... Bellatrix? Anyway, I heard a woman with a name like that has a lot of money in her vault.
I get to take a criminal's money, and Gringotts gets a free security consultation (at least their own money won't be stolen), so isn't it a win-win for everyone?
Hearing my words, Deek let out a sigh.
"Master, you haven't changed at all, even after ninety years and with a younger body."
Chir-r-r-up!
"Hey, I'm just saying it's something to consider if we run out of money. I'm serious!"
As I said this, the grin never left my face, and seeing my mischievous expression, Deek and Ardeura looked at me with eyes full of disbelief.
Hey, I'm serious. Why don't they believe me?