Barnaby looked at the model in front of him with resignation. The second year of Hogwarts was about to start, and although he had thought of many things, the most important one, the main house, had yet to be designed.
Although it would be more accurate to say that of his many designs so far, none had ended up conveying that it was the right one.
He had managed to finalize some parts, but they were like pieces of a puzzle to be assembled later.
Calcifer's exclusive fireplace had satisfied the fire demon, using a combination of fire black quartzite with bluish tones riddled with reddish veins and templar limestone with golden and red tones. It had a small elegant stainless steel arch that was easy to clean, giving it a modern touch on the side, where the logs would be within reach to take as needed.
Sanshi's room had been adapted to his body for maximum comfort. It didn't have elements like chairs, as he could sit on the floor and be at the right height to use various furniture like the vanity, so instead, a piece of magically maintained artificial grass would be installed, kept in perfect condition. A large circular baby duck feather bed would be in one corner, and the door to enter was slightly larger. As for the rest of the decoration, Sanshi said he preferred to wait to see it and do it little by little.
Barnaby also made the bathroom more like large hot springs inspired by Pamukkale, with plenty of space to relax and a design so natural it would amaze anyone who entered. He even designed a small device with Flitwick's help to make the water a pure turquoise and crystalline color, totally suitable for bathing and even drinking, beneficial for health and skin.
He realized it was quite similar to the one used in the prefects' bathroom.
In the barbecue area, he planned to put things as intended, but he realized that perhaps Tonks would want something like a small Quidditch field to fly. Although Barnaby wasn't enthusiastic about this magical sport, there was still plenty of space, and he left it as a pending question to ask when he gave her the surprise.
In the end, he decided to divide the garden area next to the pond into three sections: the vegetable garden with some vegetables and spices like sugar cane, a flower garden with a couple of hives to collect honey, and the rest of the space dedicated to a fruit area, part of it being fruit trees of different seasons and essentially a vineyard.
He already planned what to plant and where to make it aesthetically pleasing in a couple of years and how to rotate the crops to keep the soil fertile and vary the small harvest.
Barnaby didn't know if Tonks would want to help here, as it might seem boring to her, so he made sure it was spacious enough but not too much to manage on his own if necessary.
Now he just needed to do the remaining parts that were still blank, like designing the kitchen to his taste and size (he had no doubt he would be the one cooking in the house, Tonks wasn't fond of domestic chores), the underground pantry/cellar, the master bedroom, etc.
A secret room! He didn't know for what, but he definitely wanted one.
Maybe a small training room for Tonks? She would surely love it.
Barnaby sighed as he rubbed his head; he had so many ideas and had to assemble them perfectly. But another day, today he had thought enough about the matter.
He left the house to get some fresh air and sat next to the garden.
"Did Dad go to get the Thestrals?" He looked around without seeing him, and thinking about the proximity of the new school year, he supposed his father had gone to fetch the herds to pull the carriages for the second years and up.
He once asked Uncle Flitwick why they didn't just enchant the carriage wheels to make the journey directly, instead of being pulled by Thestrals and risking a student getting kicked or bitten.
Not that the Thestrals near Hogwarts were aggressive, but if a student didn't see them and hit one in the eye with an elbow, well…
But the answer he got was straight to the point.
"Orders from the Headmaster."
Barnaby was baffled and still, to this day, hadn't understood the reason behind this decision.
He stayed looking at the clouds in the sky and thought about Tonks' warning about Gilderoy Lockhart.
"I guess it won't take long to find out if it's true."
He trusted Tonks, but even he found it hard to believe that Dumbledore would let an inept professor take a position, causing all the students to fall behind the following year and putting more pressure on their studies.
Well, except for those who graduated this year.
An explosion in the air pulled him out of his thoughts, and he saw one of the castle's house-elves appear before him, moving nervously like an ant on a hot pan.
"Mr. Barnaby, one of your friends is about to be eaten!"
Barnaby thought he misheard.
"You mean they're about to eat someone?"
But there shouldn't be anyone else in the castle. Unless…
"Yes, but… come with me!"
The elf reached out to grab Barnaby's sleeve, and with a snap, they appeared somewhere in the castle. He looked around, bewildered, but the elf urged him as they passed by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and a door appeared in the wall.
Barnaby looked at the elf, who seemed about to cry from anxiety, and opened the door.
"Yes, this place is still a mess," he said, looking around at the piles of randomly stacked objects to see where the problem was. "Oh, there you are."
He could see a pair of legs wriggling while a chest with teeth opened and closed its "mouth" trying to swallow its victim.
Brown leather boots, blue pants, and part of a white tunic with two yellow lines at the edges.
Barnaby reached out and, with a yank, pulled the victim from the mimic and held them by the ankle upside down, letting the drool drip to the floor.
He thought no one would find the deceptive creature in this place before it left in a few days. Unexpectedly, someone not only found it but also fell for the trap despite the large sign he placed next to it:
[Danger. This chest is a mimic, really, don't approach.]
"So…" Barnaby looked at his visitor, who should have arrived at the cottage a couple of hours ago, but there was no sign of her despite waiting. "Can you tell me how you ended up like this, again?"
The visitor turned out to be a petite woman, with green eyes, thick eyebrows, and pointed ears with red crystal earrings. Her long white hair, parted in the middle and tied in two high pigtails, almost touched the floor.
"My instinct and many years of experience told me the trap was the sign and the chest was real!"