"You can more than help," Pete said, as cheerfully as he could, shoving his wand in his back pocket. The room was clear, and even if a house elf suddenly appeared, they seemed to move pretty slow. Instead, he devoted his hands to brushing William off, paying little attention to strictly appropriate hand placement. "You can take over completely. I've cleared the first two floors, just working my way up."
There was logic there; if he'd started on the upper floors, house elves could have gotten to the children while he was still far away. This way, any student-eating elves would have to make it past him before they got to the common room. "They're updating my list," he continued, pulling his wand out for a quick mending spell on the shoulder of William's shirt. "And as far as inventory goes, you have a decent amount of produce tucked away in the dorms, a few tins of nuts, and a truly extraordinary amount of biscuits."
He stepped back, looked William up and down, and grinned. "Ravenclaws and their sweet tooth. Sweet teeth? That just sounds creepy. Hello."