Things had been changing lately.  He no longer felt the need to study constantly, his grades were still the best they ever were, but he didn't spend every spare moment with his nose in a book or bugging his sister to study.  Ever since he started drawing again he couldn't stop.  Even now, in the kitchens, with a goblet of pumpkin juice and some gingerbread cookies freshly baked by the house-elves who seemed ecstatic to have company, he couldn't stop.

Shade had brought his sketch pad with him and was adding some final shading to his sketch of the castle.  It had turned out better than he thought it would.  He was in the kitchens for a good reason though, he didn't want anyone to know about his sudden desire to have a career as an artist.  He smiled to himself as he thought about charms to put on his drawing that would make it seem as if candles were flickering in the windows, or birds were flying through the sky.

He got so caught up in adding the finishing touches to his sketch that he wouldn't of heard a werewolf howl if it was right beside him, therefore, if someone else had entered the kitchen while he was concentrating, then he wouldn't of heard or saw them at all.

One of the best ways to become a master magical chef, is to practice, practice, and practice some more! At least, those were Aoife Moffett's thoughts as she walked to the kitchens. Her battered red bag was stuffed to the brim with old papers and she carried her Pewter cauldron in both arms. Oddly enough, she wore her plain brown shoes-one of the only two pairs that fit her-well, as far as she knew.

'Can't cook barefoot.' She thought to herself, pausing to look down at her shoes. 'I mean, the elves do it, but they're special.'

She continued to the kitchens. Luckily she knew the way from reading some book about Hogwarts before she came to the school. She set her cauldron down to open the door. But once she gathered her cauldron and went inside, she saw that someone was already there.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "Um, are you alright?" She asked.

'Of course he's alright, stupid.' Aoife thought, wincing. 'He looks fine to me, anyway.'

Shade was startled out of his intense drawing by a timid question, ""Um, are you alright?".  He looked up from the notebook he had been drawing in and saw a first year coming inside the kitchen with a cauldron.  He was silent for a moment while he gathered his thoughts and then replied, "Um, yeah, I'm okay, what are you doing here?"

He closed his notebook and leaned forward in his chair with his elbows on his knees to look at her, "Not much interesting things for a first year to do in the kitchens."