That night, long after curfew settled over Hogwarts, Alexander slipped quietly from Ravenclaw Tower.
After casting Disillusionment Charm, he sent off.
His destination lay far below the castle.
Deep in the basement, directly beneath the Great Hall and not far from the Hufflepuff dormitories, lay the Hogwarts house-elf kitchens and living quarters.
Massive ovens glowed softly.
Counters were stacked with prepared ingredients.
Dozens of house-elves bustled about even at this late hour.
The moment Alexander stepped inside—
Everything stopped.
Then chaos erupted.
"YOUNG MASTER CHEN IS HERE!"
House-elves rushed him from every direction.
Some bowed.
Others grabbed his robe.
A few shoved plates of midnight snacks into his arms.
"Would Young Master like pudding?"
"Or roast chicken?"
"Or treacle tart?"
"Can we do anything for Young Master?!"
Alexander smiled politely, already holding more food than he could carry.
"I actually came to ask for help."
Silence fell instantly.
Every elf leaned closer.
"I need two elves," he said calmly, "For a couple of days. I have a garden and livestock that need care. I'll pay you for the work."
Gasps.
Horror.
Several elves looked offended.
"PAY?!"
"It would be our honor!"
"We would never accept payment from Young Master!"
Alexander raised his hands slightly in surrender.
"Alright, alright. Volunteer basis then."
Cheers erupted.
He continued:
"In a few days, I may also bring new house-elves to Hogwarts. So you'll have more friends."
That sent them into another wave of excitement.
"NEW FRIENDS!"
"YAY!"
"THANK YOU, YOUNG MASTER!"
Alexander scanned the crowd.
He picked two elves who stood a little calmer than the rest — attentive, organized, and already holding cleaning tools.
"You two."
They froze.
Then pointed at themselves.
"U-Us?!"
"Yes. I need reliability."
They burst into tears of joy.
"WE WERE CHOSEN!"
They immediately saluted.
Alexander explained:
"I'll leave my briefcase in my dorm room. Every morning before breakfast and every evening before dinner, I need you to enter it and maintain everything inside."
The two elves nodded rapidly, memorizing every word.
"It will be done, Young Master!"
"Perfectly done!"
Before he left, the entire kitchen staff loaded him with even more snacks.
He thanked them and promised:
"I'll visit more often."
That alone made their night.
Back in Ravenclaw Tower, Alexander quietly placed all the snacks on his roommates' desks.
A silent gift.
Then he got to work.
He opened his enchanted briefcase and stepped inside.
The interior space was massive — Newt Scamander–style expansion magic at its finest.
Alexander spent the entire night reorganizing zones:
Zone 1 — Basilisk Containment (Future Use)
Reinforced barrier wards
Multi-layer Protego arrays
Anti-petrification viewing shields
Zone 2 — Chicken Perimeter
Dozens of roosters and hens
Elevated coops
Sound amplification charms (future anti-basilisk weaponization)
Zone 3 — Botanical Garden
Mandrake plots
Seed cultivation beds
Potion ingredient rows
Auto-irrigation enchantments
He worked nonstop.
Adjusting terrain.
Layering shields.
Testing structural magic.
He didn't notice time passing.
Morning light filtered faintly through the enchanted sky ceiling inside the case.
Two small pops echoed.
The house-elves arrived.
They froze in awe.
"W-W-WOW…"
"A magical world… inside a briefcase…"
They ran around excitedly, inspecting everything.
Alexander greeted them.
"Welcome to your workplace."
He showed them:
The chicken enclosures
Feed storage
Garden beds
Tool sheds
They immediately began working with professional enthusiasm.
Cleaning.
Watering.
Organizing.
They treated the space like sacred ground.
Satisfied, Alexander left them to it.
He exited the briefcase, kept it unsealed, and set a detection charm.
That way, he would know when and who entered his briefcase.
Then went to clean up.
By the time he changed into uniform, packed his books, and checked his spell notes—
He felt completely refreshed.
Productive night.
Infrastructure established.
Future basilisk operation: progressing smoothly.
He left his briefcase on his bed and picked up his backpack, then headed to breakfast as if nothing unusual had happened.
Behind him—
Inside the case—
Two extremely happy house-elves were already turning his secret ecosystem into a thriving operation.