On the evening of Saturday, December 24th, 1994, Harry, Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur joined Amos and Amanda at the dinner table to discover that Amanda had made several French and Bulgarian dishes.
The dishes on the table in front of them included Bouillabaisse, Kebapche, Steak Frities, Banitsa, crispy French bread, and Tikvenik for dessert with Budweiser to wash it down with.
"So, " explained Amos, "Tomorrow we will be celebrating a traditional Diggory Christmas but tonight Amanda wanted to give Viktor and Fleur a taste of their homelands, so she prepared some French and Bulgarian dishes for us to enjoy tonight."
"I can't promise that I did as good a job of preparing these dishes as the people in France and Bulgaria who prepare them regularly, " said Amanda humbly, "I hope my work is sufficiently acceptable for us to be able to enjoy this meal."
"Amanda," piped up Viktor kindly, "It was very decent of you to think of Fleur and I and prepare some foods from our homelands for us to enjoy on Christmas Eve. Thank you very much for preparing this meal for us."
"I second that," cooed Fleur, "We really appreciate both the thoughtfulness and the effort you put into making this meal for us."
"Some foreign dishes were served at Hogwarts on the night the delegations from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arrived, " remembered Cedric, "They were pretty good, and it was an interesting experience."
"I remember Fleur coming over to the Gryffindor table to collect the Bouillabaisse to take back to the Ravenclaw table," said Harry kindly, "It was good that Hogwarts provided such foods for our guests."
"Let's dig in," chimed in Amos.
Next nanosecond, Amos, Amanda, Harry, Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur piled their plates with a bit of everything.
As they ate, a comfortable and peaceful silence permeated the room. They wanted to take it all in and savor it and not disrupt the experience by talking. In the cases of Viktor and Fleur, they wanted to really savor this reminder of home on Christmas Eve. For Amos, Amanda, Harry, and Cedric, they wanted to really take in the experience of eating dishes that they would not normally eat on a day to day basis.
When everything was gone, Amanda asked, "So, what did you all think of this meal?"
"It was really good," said Harry happily, "Hermione went on vacation to France in the summer between second and third years and she had Bouillabaisse there. She said it was a nice dish. I have to agree. In fact, all of these dishes were an enjoyable change of pace for me."
"I couldn't agree more," nodded Cedric, "The Kebapche was especially good!"
"Kebapche is my favorite!" declared Viktor, "During this dinner it almost felt like for this time that I had been transported back home to Bulgaria for a bit."
"That was exactly my intention," smiled Amanda, "This was a way for me to try to make my foreign guests feel welcome in my home and I'm gratified to hear that it was successful. I know I didn't get off to the best with any of you with my swooning and fangirling. "
"It's okay, Amanda," said Harry reassuringly, "That happened once, and you acknowledged that you were in the wrong when Cedric called you out on it. You have treated us with nothing but kindness and warmth ever since."
"Yeah, and I must say that I'm really glad we came here for Christmas Vacation instead of staying at Hogwarts," added Viktor.
"A school is no place to spend Christmas, " agreed Fleur, "And I felt like I taken back home to France during this meal with the Bouillabaisse being my favorite."
"Viktor?" asked Amanda, "Can you please give me an honest assessment of how well I did in making the Bulgarian dishes?"
"I'd honestly say an eight out of ten," assessed Viktor fairly, "You did a pretty good job in preparing the Bulgarian food. It's not the best Bulgarian food I've ever had. It's not a ten out of ten, but I can't fairly expect you to be able to reach that standard. I doubt anyone outside of Bulgaria would be able to achieve a ten out ten on these foods, so I'd say you were quite successful. It was more than good enough to give me that feeling of being taken back home to Bulgaria so that in and of itself says a lot about what a good job you did on this meal."
"Thank you for the honest assessment, Viktor, replied Amanda, "I appreciate you being honest enough to admit that my work wasn't the best Bulgarian food you've ever had, and I'm also delighted to know that I did a good enough job for you to be able to enjoy it all the same."
"My review of your preparation of the French foods has a similar tone," interjected Fleur, "I think eight out of ten is quite a fair score. I've definitely had better French food that would receive a review of ten out ten, but I think it would be extremely difficult for anyone outside of France to achieve that. The fact I was able to feel like I was back home for a bit is the litmus test that proves you passed this test. I'm legitimately impressed that you're able to do a good enough job to get an eight out ten from me."
"Thank you, Fleur, " beamed Amanda, "It seems I did as well as could be expected of me for a first try. If I ever make French or Bulgarian food again, my goal is to get at least a nine out of ten next time. But what do Harry and Cedric think?"
"Nine out of ten," put forth Harry, "I loved that meal. That stuff was damn good!"
"Nine out of ten from me as well," offered Cedric, "I really enjoyed having some different dishes than usual and it was all quite delicious."
"I eat Amanda's cooking every day and there are plenty of times she achieves a ten out ten," explained Amos, "But, on this meal I'd say nine out ten is probably the appropriate score. The uniqueness of this meal relative to what Amanda usually makes was pretty cool and she did a great job, especially for someone making these foods for the first time."
Amanda suddenly frowned.
"Well, it actually sounds like I failed. While everyone gave me a good score, the fact that the two people who I specifically planned this meal for gave me lower marks than the other three people I shared this meal with is disheartening, " sighed Amanda, shaking her head.
"Amanda, you did a wonderful job, and you should be quite proud of yourself, " said Harry fiercely, "The thing is, it was actually going to be much harder for you to achieve high marks from Viktor and Fleur than from the others precisely because they are used to these French and Bulgarian foods and have the background eating these foods to make comparisons against. It's easier for Ceric, Amos, me, and you to enjoy what you've done here because we don't come into this meal with any expectations. That's why they gave you lower scores, which were still eights."
"And" Cedric reminded his mom, "Both Viktor and Fleur felt like they got a taste of home and a feeling of being taken back home for a bit. That was the whole goal of planning this meal with them in mind in the first place. "
And at that, both Viktor and Fleur rose from their seats, walked up to Amanda, and gave her handshakes.
Amanda smiled. That convinced her.
"Amanda holds herself to very high standards when it comes to her cooking," explained Amos seriously, "This is a good thing as it motivates her to do a great job with her cooking every day. But she really should give herself a break on this one."
Amanda looked her husband in the eye.
"Look at it this way, Amanda, " said Amos supportively, "Sometimes, when you challenge yourself, succeeding at taking on that challenge doesn't have to mean being perfect. Sometimes, accomplishing what you set out to accomplish is what really matters. You set out to make Viktor and Fleur feel welcome here and you set out to make them feel at home for a bit. You clearly achieved your mission there and that's why you were successful tonight."
Amanda took these words in and smiled back at Amos, finally feeling at peace.
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