I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

Hello everyone. Just a reminder that I will be away until next Friday so this will be the last update until then. I did update 4 times of Taste and once of Extended this last week so hopefully that helped. If you observe the holiday, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family. I am so Thankful to be a part of your fancition family and am thankful for your kind words. My best to you.

Have a lovely weekend!

-0-0-0-

A Taste of Magic

96th Course – Glimpses of the Future

"I should be surprised by this, but I'm not," Pansy remarked.

Snow fell heavily on Hogwarts and the surrounding countryside and more than a few students braved the cold to go out and enjoy the picturesque scenery. A snowball fight begun, started by the Weasley twins of course, and it slowly grew to include students from all the Houses. Those that were not currently fighting for their lives sat on the sidelines by fires in braziers that the house elves had brought out and lit for them.

Harry had played a little in the beginning and decided to sit out of the rest with a few other friends. Hedwig was unbothered by the cold and snow and came down to fly about and sit with Harry and the others. When a snowball thrown by either Fred or George had hit Harry in the head, Hedwig had been very offended and bombed the twins with snowballs made by Harry and the others.

That led to Hedwig joining the fray and she would helpfully hover over targets or gleefully bomb them with increasingly larger snowballs the others made for her: charmed to be lighter for her to carry and to stay together more easily while exploding messily on impact.

"She's having fun," Harry smiled. He waved his wand and their latest snowball-bomb levitated into the air and Hedwig snagged it as she flew past. She flapped hard, rising high into the air before diving steeply, her wings folded. At the last moment she extended her wings and veered off, releasing the ball with her talons. The ball-bomb flew on and impacted, knocking Cedric over and sending him flying into Fred. Others cheered at the sight and Hedwig flapped off, hooting in glee.

"She does make it look very entertaining," Daphne smiled. Hedwig flew evasively, dodging thrown snowballs and waggled her tail feathers condescendingly as she flew past.

"What is that?" Padma gasped.

"If it works, it should unleash all the small snowballs and pepper them," Hermione said. She moved the large floating snowball around in mid-air, inspecting it from all angles. It looked lumpy, the large snowball made up of many small snowballs.

"Let's find out!" Harry sent it into the air and Hedwig grabbed it as she passed. They watched as she flew over the enemy snow fort and once more did a diving run. She released it and flapped off and just over head height, the snowball exploded outwards, peppering all the people underneath it in a hail of snowballs.

"It's so satisfying when proof of concept is proven successful," Hermione said, smiling proudly. They chuckled, watching Ron and Millicent and Susan lead their team up the snow fort and throw out the ones who held it previously.

"Do you want more bombs?" Harry asked when Hedwig flapped to them.

Hedwig shook her head and landed on Harry's arm. She waddled to his chest and pecked at his jumper. When Harry lifted it, she squirmed beneath and fluffed up comfortably, hooting softly.

"It is getting colder," Padma shivered.

"To the Uncommon Room?" Harry suggested.

"Yes please," Daphne said with relief. They pushed their way through the snow and a few others joined them as they did. They finally got into the castle and with slightly chattering teeth and some shivering, made their way to the room and sighed with relief when the crackling fire within helped chase the chill away.

"How does some egg flower soup sound?" Harry said, putting his cloak up. "I can whip that up really fast."

"Sounds really good to me," Padma said happily. In a short time, they were tucking into a rich and silky broth that tasted of chicken, salt, pepper and ginger with ribbons of barely cooked egg threaded throughout the soup. Chopped scallion provided crunch and freshness, rounding the flavors out.

"I feel loads better," Lavender said, hands around the bowl. "That was fun but the cold really gets you."

"Tell me about it. I'm glad we learned the different warming charms and have the stones," Neville said.

"I'm glad our room here is super warm," Padma said.

"Inky and the others ensure it," Harry said gratefully. He set a second pot aside. "They're great." He refilled the bowls for Hedwig, Crookshanks, and Sunny before refilling his own.

"Do you all have your meetings with your Heads this week as well?" Pansy asked.

"What meetings?" Astoria asked while the others nodded.

"Fifth year meetings," Hermione said. "To discuss career things and assess how we are doing for O.W.L.s."

"Oh, sounds serious," Astoria said.

"Just a little," Daphne said dryly.

"Well what are you worried about?" Astoria countered.

"Ever since we came here, I want to have a greater impact on my future prospects," Daphne retorted. "Since we were allowed to remain."

"Guess that's fair," Astoria conceded.

"It's so cool that you're joining your family business," Harry said to Pansy.

"You are?" Daphne said, surprised.

Pansy nodded, cheeks faintly pink. "I am. Father and Mother and I talked about it over the holiday and I want to do what he does. I got a taste for it during last year's Festival and the skills I watched him employ have been very useful this year."

She smiled at Harry. "Thanks to you, of course."

"Hey, you're the one that's doing everything," Harry protested.

"Well yes, but you helped make it possible for me," Pansy said. She touched the locket that hung from her neck. "I never would have had the chance or the inclination otherwise."

"Does everyone have ideas of what they want to do?" Astoria asked, looking around.

"I want to be a Healer," Padma said. "Always have."

"You're the right Patil to be one," Daphne smiled.

"Right?! Parvati's bedside manner is terrible! When we were little, she would poke me and tell me to stop being sick," Padma laughed.

"Parvati and I want to run a clothing store together," Lavender said. "Something for us to make clothes and things, even custom make stuff if we can. She also wants to write too, which would work great together."

"I want to do a mastery," Hermione said. "Magic is just so fascinating and I want to learn and do so much with it. I'd love to do enchanting one day. I had a long talk about it with Mrs. Tonks and Mrs. Flamel about it the last time they came and tutored."

"Oh speaking of, they'll accept you as an apprentice," Harry said.

"They will?!" Hermione squeaked.

"Grandmother told me to tell you. Said if you were serious about it she'd be happy-" He coughed when she hugged him tightly, crushing him in her arms. "Hermione…need to breathe…" he gasped.

"Sorry!" Hermione let him go while the others laughed. "I'm just so excited!"

"I would like to pursue something musically," Daphne mused. "I am not entirely sure how or what yet, but I would like that very much."

"And you're going to run a fancy restaurant, right?" Astoria asked Harry.

Harry smiled. "I don't know about fancy, but I would like a restaurant one day."

"Ooh what kind?" Padma asked. "Indian food is pretty great, you know."

"I do," Harry laughed.

"Harry can have a very nice and elegant place," Pansy said with Daphne and Astoria nodding. "You make wonderful multicourse meals."

"Or make those weird dishes from around the world," Neville said.

"If we've learned anything these last few years, you could make Muggle foods for Magicals and be super successful," Hermione said enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" Lavender agreed.

"That's a good point," Harry nodded. "It's funny, my grandparents and Sirius and the Tonkses and Remus and I were talking about it over the holiday break."

"And what did you say?" Pansy asked.

"I want something…comfortable, I think."

"Comfortable? Does that mean a relaxed dress code?" Astoria asked. She scowled at Daphne after her older sister poked her in the back.

Harry laughed again. "Sort of. I want something homey and cozy. I want to be able to go out and see what ingredients are fresh and good and then bring them and make something. I want people to come hungry and leave happy. I want to cook whatever makes people smile."

He looked off in the distance. "I like seeing people smile."

Lavender hugged him. "You're really good at that."

After hugging her back, Harry got up and started assembling ingredients. "I bet the others will show up soon so now's a good time to try something new."

"Another soup?" Daphne asked, watching him.

He nodded. "Something I wanted to try for a while and will help me this week." He sliced leeks into thin half-moon pieces and sweated them in a tall stock pot with butter. He then added chopped carrots and spices along with a whole chicken and covered it with stock. Eventually, when the chicken had cooked through and the vegetables had softened with the stock reducing into a rich chicken broth, he added barley and shredded the chicken meat, putting that back in too.

"Are those prunes?" Hermione asked, looking confused.

"They are," he confirmed. "I thought it was weird too but apparently it's traditional. You can either cook them with everything or add it at the end so I'm going to add it at the end to see."

"Mmm, that's wonderful," Pansy said later when Harry served some to everyone. "A very simple soup but very clear and lovely."

"I kind of like the prunes in it actually," Padma said, licking her lips. "The sweetness adds a nice touch."

"What is this called?" Astoria asked.

"Cock-a-Leekie soup," Harry said. "It's a Scottish soup."

"Oh, that's why you said it'll help you this week," Lavender giggled.

"Look at you, bribing your Head of House," Astoria smiled. "Clearly you learned from your Slytherin friends."

Pansy inspected her nails, making a show of buffing them and looking smug. "Nothing wrong with applying your talents to your benefit."

"And ours," Daphne added smugly. "May I have some more, please?"

"Of course," Harry grinned. "And it's not so much a bribe as it is a form of contrition."

"Ah, because of Mr. Flamel," Hermione smiled.

"I really think he makes her madder than the Weasley twins," Harry laughed.

-0-

"Your desk looks oddly cleaner," Flitwick said, looking at said oddly clean desk.

"It was getting rather cluttered," Dumbledore admitted. "It was time to clean it up some. A clean place to work is one free from distraction, to increase productivity as it were."

"I have seen you work with many distractions being actively waved in your face," Flitwick said. "With you barely blinking or acknowledging them."

"A necessary ability," Dumbledore said. He handily ignored Fawkes roosting beside him, making faces and waggling his tail feathers about.

"I see," Flitwick smiled. "And I suppose the suddenly clean desk had nothing to do with Miss Skeeter and her camera? I passed her earlier."

"Oh perhaps there is some correlation," Dumbledore said. "She wanted a picture to accompany her article about how Hogwarts is preparing for the International."

"Ah, that makes sense." Flitwick frowned slightly. "Then again, you have never cared too much about your appearances before when it came to being photographed for things. Or the state of your office." Flitwick looked down and his brow furrowed even more. "Is that…did you really have that sitting on your desk?"

Dumbledore slid the locket into a sealed box and put it carefully into a desk drawer. "Yes, as a rather large distraction."

Flitwick smiled. "Ah. How clever of you."

"I am glad you think so," Dumbledore smiled back. "Miss Skeeter did seem a bit curious when I asked her to make sure the desk was within frame and prominent. But she did not question me."

"Just as well. No need to make that more common knowledge." Dumbledore had consulted with Flitwick with information about horcruxes. Gringotts employed an army of Curse Breakers and Explorers and Delvers, professions that came into contact with horcruxes. Flitwick had gathered as much as he could and consulted with a few trusted friends at Gringotts and his information had proved quite valuable.

Flitwick had readily joined the group in wanting to deal with the situation and had provided advice and provided a tactical mind to exchange ideas and plans with. Something Dumbledore was grateful for. Flitwick was also very fond of Harry and more than happy to help.

"Indeed," Dumbledore said. "Have you decided who you would like to demonstrate for Charms at the Showcase?"

"Harry, Miss Granger, Miss Patil from my House, and Miss Greengrass for the fifth years," he said easily. "Miss Bell, Miss Chang, and Mister Diggory for the older years."

"A good showing," Dumbledore nodded approvingly. "I think Harry will be one of the ones that will be showing in multiple categories."

"I will offer him help in dueling too, just in case."

"He has had some training there from Miss Tonks."

"Ah very good, she's an excellent duelist," Flitwick nodded approvingly.

Dumbledore sighed and rubbed his eyes. "As well as Ariana."

"She is also an excellent duelist," Flitwick smiled. "Still, there's plenty I can teach him."

Dumbledore started nodding agreeably before sitting up straight. "Wait, what exactly are you planning on teaching him?"

"Headmaster, what are you insinuating?" Flitwick asked, sounding hurt. "Have I ever given you cause to question my teaching?"

"I know that look and I know that tone and you are faking any indignation you are showing." Dumbledore pointed a finger at an unapologetic Flitwick. "Ariana already teaches him concerning spells and Aberforth teaches him earthy and cynical wisdom that, while necessary, is still slightly concerning."

"What spells has she taught him?" Flitwick asked eagerly.

"The Flame Whip."

"Oh that is a good one."

Dumbledore groaned. "You are not going to teach him alternative dueling, are you?"

"I wasn't planning on it but now that you mention it-"

"Filius, please do not tell me you will teach Harry how to duel in the goblin fashion," Dumbledore begged.

"Very well, I will not tell you."

"That-that is not what I meant and you know it! Filius. Stop laughing!"

"Oh do calm down, Albus. Harry lacks the temperament and the bloodthirsty nature that goblin dueling requires," Flitwick said, waving a hand. He continued to laugh. "The very idea of Harry fighting like that is laughable, he is far too kind!"

Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief.

"That said, if he actually got serious in a duel with magic, I think he would be more than just fine and will do what is needed," Flitwick continued.

"I do as well," Dumbledore said proudly. "He is very loyal and will protect those he cares about."

-0-

"I hope you do not feel compelled to do this," McGonagall said with a trace of embarrassment.

"Compelled? No. Mildly obligated out of a sense of responsibility? Maybe," Harry said with a smile. The smile grew at McGonagall's look. "Something Sirius said his mind healer said that was kinda similar and we liked how it sounded."

She sighed but still took the container of soup eagerly. She sighed happily when she lifted the lid and took a whiff of the savory aroma. "Wonderful. Smells just like the kind I had growing up. You even included the prunes."

"It's a tasty soup," Harry said brightly.

"One of my favorites." She set the container aside and opened a file on her desk. "Now then. Your schoolwork is still very good. You are within the top ten of your year, very proud of you for that." She smiled at his smile. "You average Exceeds Expectations on the majority of your classes and I have noticed that you have worked hard in Transfiguration, I appreciate that. Maintain your current level of work and I believe you will do well on your O.W.L.s with similar results."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said happily.

"Also, I wanted to inform you that for the team going to the Showcase, there is usually at least one student that will be doing multiple demonstrations. You are currently one of the ones that is being considered for that. Also, the top performing schools at the Showcase typically will do a final presentation to demonstrate a plethora of skills and spellwork at the end."

"Which will be me?" Harry asked with some trepidation.

"There is a very good chance that it will be," McGonagall said.

"I'm not the best in my year though, and I doubt I'll be the best in the team," Harry said. "Hermione is way smarter than me and works really hard too. Same for Padma and I'm pretty sure Daphne beats me on scores fairly regularly too."

"Scholastically yes, they are above you. But the representing student is not simply the best academically. They are chosen because they embody multiple qualities that the school and the professors deem important."

"I do know better than to tickle a sleeping dragon," Harry said.

McGonagall chuckled. "Indeed. That said, if you become the chosen representative, I believe you will approach it with your usual hard work and ability and I have faith in you."

"Thank you," Harry said softly.

"Now, I know that O.W.L.s and the Showcase are the more immediate concerns and that looking past them might seem less important, but we would not be doing this meeting justice if we did not give it a cursory look. N.E.W.T. classes, as you may guess, are more difficult than previous levels. Most need you to score Acceptable at the bare minimum to take the class to handle the coursework. Exceeds Expectations is preferable and in the past, some required you to score Outstanding."

"Makes sense."

"You are also allowed to drop classes that do not interest you and there are a few classes that are only available after completing fifth year. A lot of professions require successful completion of N.E.W.T.s classes with good scores on the final test as well."

"Healers have really high requirements, Padma showed me," Harry said sympathetically.

"Quite. It is a demanding profession." McGonagall looked at Harry fondly. "I think you will be embarking on new territory however. You wish to do something culinarily related, yes?"

"Gosh, what gave you that idea?" Harry asked innocently, smiling at McGonagall's snort. "Yes Professor, though not exactly sure what yet. It'll probably involve a lot of cooking though of course and I've been using more magic to do things with it too. So Charms definitely, and Transfiguration too."

She smiled happily. "Excellent, and yes. I too have started thinking of different applications for transfiguration and it has been fun to do so. Yes, Mister Potter, I know how to have fun," she chided at his look of faux shock.

"I know. I saw you play hurling," Harry said.

"I need to talk to the Headmaster about potentially starting a league for that here," she mused.

"Millie and Ron will like that."

"The Matron will not," McGonagall said dryly, "then again she played too so there is that."

Harry grinned at that. "Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology will still be useful and fun. I like Potions. And I think Remus, er Professor Lupin, would be sad if I didn't take Defense and I still like the class. Maybe one day I'll have to defend myself from a rude customer."

McGonagall snorted deeply at that, smiling. "Those are good choices. I assume you will wish to drop History and Astronomy? That is fine as well. Runes will still be good as well. Now I have been asked to inform you of two new classes that you may potentially wish to take." She rolled her eyes. "Well, one asked and the other 'informed'."

"Oh no, what did Grandfather say?" Harry asked, concerned.

"I feel vaguely ashamed that you can infer that just from my tone," McGonagall said sheepishly.

"I can pretend otherwise if it makes you feel any better."

She snorted again. "No need. You are correct however. Nicolas and Perenelle have offered to teach an Alchemy class but the caveat is that you have to be in said class. Alchemy has not been taught at Hogwarts for some time because in all honesty, it is a deeply individual profession, depending on the individual. However, they have come up with a broad and general approach to the class and it will be a little different because there will not be a formal grade or test at the end."

"That's so nice of them," Harry said. "And I think I would, but I also don't want to take too many classes."

"Which is laudable and it brings me to my second class. Professor Flitwick teaches an Enchanting class and wishes for you to take it. Alchemy has elements of enchanting within it, and Filius is willing to do a hybrid lesson plan to coincide with the alchemy course to not overburden you. Also, enchanting and alchemy have a firm foundation of runes as well and Professor Babbling is amenable to making changes on her end as well."

"Wow, so I can sorta combine the three into one large class?" Harry asked.

"Essentially. You will attend the classes for Enchanting and Alchemy, meet with Professor Babbling as needed, and can then take the N.E.W.T for Enchanting and Runes."

"I think that sounds fun," Harry said sincerely.

"Splendid, that will please them all," McGonagall said approvingly.

"But that means Grandfather and Grandmother is going to be here on the regular," Harry said with a trace of concern and more than a trace of amusement.

"Yes, I will have to deal with that," McGonagall sighed wearily. "Or rely on you to curb your grandfather."

"That takes a lot of time and effort. Good thing you didn't make me a prefect," Harry said cheekily.

McGonagall gave him a sour smile. "I suppose," she said begrudgingly.

"Nev's a great prefect."

"Yes, he is," McGonagall said proudly.

"And if I was, I wouldn't have had a chance to make that really," Harry said, nodding at the container.

"Yes yes, you made your point," McGonagall sighed. She smiled softly and sadly. "When you smile like that, I see your mother looking proud at proving a point."

"You do?" Harry asked, delighted.

She nodded. "I have some time before the next meeting. Perhaps I can eat some of this soup and tell you a few stories."

"I'd really like that," Harry said, his smile from ear to ear.

-0-

"I need a hobby like that," Pansy said.

"Sewing?" Lavender asked.

She and Pansy were in the Uncommon Room alone. Pansy had arrived to do homework before her patrol shift and Lavender had come soon after. They decided to work on a herbology essay together and had just finished. Lavender had taken out a new project to work on while Pansy finished an assignment for Care of Magical Creatures.

"Something like that."

"Want to give it a try?"

"I did several times the last few years in Household Charms," Pansy said wryly. "I stabbed myself many times with the needles, even the ones that were allegedly charmed to not break skin."

Lavender giggled. "I still do that, even with thimbles. I think the needles from the kit are special though, that they can still pierce thimbles or even the thimble charm once in a while." She finished a stitch. "What are some things you like?"

"Oh I don't know," Pansy said thoughtfully. "I like to scheme and plan things."

"You can have a journal for that," Lavender smiled.

"And have all my plans in one place and written out?!" Pansy gasped.

They laughed together. "That's fair. How about wood carving?"

"Now that's an idea. Though Millie would say I shouldn't be around sharp things," Pansy smiled. She shook her head. "I even tried cooking at home a few times."

"Really?"

Pansy nodded. "Tulip, our house elf, was very kind to me but also very blunt. I'm a better eater than cook it seems." They laughed some more. "I wanted to try though," Pansy said after the laughter subsided. "He makes it look so easy and he looks so happy doing it, so I wanted to try."

Lavender nodded. "It's not fair comparing ourselves to him though." She snorted. "I remembered when I was baking biscuits at home with his recipe and my little sisters said that Harry's was a lot better. Oh! By the way, how cute is it that our little sisters send messages to each other?"

"It is rather adorable," Pansy smiled. "She's excited about going to Hogwarts with them this coming year." She frowned slightly. "You do realize that we will have no rest with them here. They're going to be united against us."

"I have thought about that," Lavender admitted. "I'm pretty sure Clover and Marigold will be in Gryffindor together, or in the same House together. I know Parv and Pads are in separate Houses, but they're pretty different in a lot of ways and Clover and Marigold are identical menaces."

"I'm pretty sure Aster will be in Slytherin," Pansy said. "She's a lot like me when I was that age. But she's also kinder in other ways."

"I guess we'll just have to suffer," Lavender said dolefully. "Or get Harry to control them. They listen to him."

"They really do, instead of us," Pansy smiled.

After a moment of silence, Lavender looked at Pansy. "We're friends, right?"

"Of course we are," Pansy replied. She looked faintly troubled. "Have I done something to upset you?"

"No! Not at all!" Lavender said hurriedly. "I just wanted to make sure because I really do think you're a friend, a really good one. And…I really don't like hurting people, especially friends."

"Ah," Pansy said softly.

Lavender put her project down. "Do you like Harry?" she asked, looking at Pansy directly.

"Of course I do," Pansy said. She looked back at Lavender. "But I imagine you mean it in a different way."

"I do," Lavender said.

"Would you believe me if I said I don't know?" Pansy said after a beat of silence. "Surprisingly, that is something I have been wrestling with lately as well."

"Me too," Lavender said quietly. "I've been thinking and looking back on things and well, Hermione said something that made me reevaluate my feelings."

"Do you like Harry?" Pansy asked softly.

"I do," Lavender said softly but with conviction. "He means a lot to me and I think he means a lot more than I used to think."

"I understand that completely," Pansy said. "And I care deeply for him too. I…I don't know how much or what kind, however, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's kinda rude for me to just ask like this," Lavender said.

"I appreciate you being direct and trusting me," Pansy said with feeling.

"You deserve it," Lavender said. "You really are a good friend, I'm sorry for insinuating otherwise."

"No, you didn't do that," Pansy said. "I mean, I get what you mean."

"I hate for anything to happen, with our friendship or with Harry," Lavender said slowly. "Especially since I don't know how Harry feels either."

Pansy took a sharp breath and let it out slowly. "I do not know either. I won't say nothing will change because that would be impossible to say. I am no seer. Unless you have a prediction?"

"If I did, I wouldn't have asked you," Lavender said, returning a weak smile.

"How about, no matter what happens, we will work on it together? I would miss our friendship as well," Pansy said after some thought.

"Thank you, I'd appreciate that and I promise to do the same," Lavender said gratefully.

They sat there, not looking at each other for a long moment.

"Have you tried knitting?" Lavender asked. "It's crafty and the needles you use are a lot bigger and they don't pierce the skin. Or at least you have to try really hard to do it. Crocheting uses a hook so even less likely for skin breaking."

Pansy smiled a little. "No, I haven't, but it sounds pleasant. Would you show me?"

Soon the two were knitting together with Lavender teaching Pansy, and they laughed together as they needles clacked together, chatting and passing the time.

-0-0-0-

odonnellzoo99 - I was sitting on that Hedwig prank joke for so long. I had no idea where to include it for so long and it came out as hilarious as I hoped it would. I was really proud of the portable kitchen idea.

Hands Off MY Wolfie - I like how self aware Nicolas is. He's very annoying and arrogant but the fact that he knows it makes it oddly endearing to me. I always wanted to eat a gingerbread house. Like a tiny one. Hedwig? Do that? Noooo. Thanks for reading.

Arnie1701 - That would be a fun name.

TheSphynx - I'm pretty happy with this family too. It feels different than the one in Family, but still warm and wholesome even with a few similar elements. I always want to try and write a few things differently. Glad you are enjoying. Being told people like to reread my work is super high praise.

- Thank you so much.