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

I am going to be changing my posting schedule a bit. As you may know, I was down and out for a week and wasn't able to write much at all so my bank is a touch thin to maintain 4 updates a week. So I'm going to do minimum 2 updates of this with my usual one update of Extended until I build my bank up a bit. Thank you for understanding. As always, thank you for reading and commenting. Your kind words last week helped me so much, more than you can know. Have a lovely day!

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A Taste of Magic

46th Course – A Different Kind of Lesson

Harry enjoyed the walk from the castle to the Hog's Head. Summer was nice and warm and the scenery was very pleasant. While still mulling over the events from yesterday, the bright sunlight and fresh air helped keep the unpleasant memory at bay. That and the prospect of something new helped a lot.

Hedwig had accompanied him on his walk, alternating between flying about and riding on his head. When he reached the inn, she nuzzled him and flapped off, flying back slowly to the castle. He waved and watched her fly for a moment before walking in. Like yesterday, the place was empty and Aberforth was behind the counter, scribbling in a notebook.

"Kid," he greeted gruffly.

"Hello Mr. Abe," Harry said politely.

"Right, follow me." He led Harry into the kitchen. "You can put your things in the locker there. There's an apron for you to wear when you're here. Everything in here is at your disposal to use but don't break anything. We'll do the roast beef sandwich, chips, and chicken soup as the menu tonight. I generally get say ten or so customers on a weeknight and they all won't get food so make sure there's at least enough for eight portions of the soup and sandwiches. Chips will probably sell more, so make sure you do enough for that."

Harry nodded with understanding. "What's normally on the menu?"

"Normally? Whatever I got. Most people don't order food here or just want snacks. Before I made more of what I and Ari would eat and if they wanted something, I'd give them that and charge them for what I thought it was worth. That's what else I'll be doing with you here, figuring out what people might want to eat. No need to make things fancy or have too much variety." He led Harry to the pantry and the storage cellar.

"Now when customers actually come, you'll make food and serve it up. I'll put orders up on the wheel here," he pointed at a rotating wheel dangling from the top of the service window. "Put it up here when you're done with it and let me know or you might need to bring it out if you're comfortable. If anyone tries to get you to do more or serve alcohol, ignore them. You let me handle them."

"Yes Mr. Abe."

Aberforth snorted. "Right, get to it then."

Harry got to it with a will. He started cooking a stock with aromatic vegetable scraps and bones from the roast chicken. While it simmered, he cleaned and prepared the vegetables, chopping them up and setting them aside. He skimmed the scum off the broth and continued to let it simmer, reducing it into a flavor rich stock. Once poured through a colander, he set the broth on the hob with the vegetables to cook slowly and shredded the roast chicken into it.

After some time, Aberforth came in and looked around with mild surprise. "Not bad," he said, tasting the bubbling soup. "Made it all at once?" He nodded when Harry did. "Sometimes you can set the prep aside, all of it, and then combine it when the soup pot is running low. Won't taste as good as something simmered for a long time but it will be good and then you won't waste a whole pot if you barely sell any."

Harry flushed. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Aberforth said bluntly. "This is your first job right? You cooked for parties before? Catering cooking like that is a different kind of thing. This is how you do it in an order up place. Were you planning on cutting the beef to order?"

He grabbed the roast beef when Harry nodded. "When orders come up and you're busy, you won't have the time. People won't wait like they will for a party. They want it hot, fast, and good and sometimes you have to compromise on one of those things. Portion the beef ahead of time and put it in the ice box. When the order comes in, you can take it out and let it rest a bit and warm up a little before you make the sandwich. Or use a charm." He sliced the beef with practiced ease using a large knife and piled pieces into separate portions.

Harry nodded and watched carefully, taking notes on his tablet. "So I should do the chips in batches?"

"Right," Aberforth said. "Prep the taters ahead of time and set them aside. As you take one batch out for serving, prepare a second batch and let it cook while you use up the first batch. But that isn't a reason to over prepare. Remember, unused ingredients can only last so long before they go to waste. Any waste means less money and less profit."

"How do you know how much you need then?" Harry asked.

"You don't. You sort of look and see and hope. You learn what sells most, what doesn't, what changes you need to make, and how to protect your investment and not waste too much money buying product. That's why you need to keep an eye on inventory too."

"What happens if you run out of something?"

"Then whoever ordered is out of luck," Aberforth said simply. "But so are you. They don't get what they want and might not order something else, and might not come back either. It's a balancing act and you got to learn as you go and be flexible."

"Wow," Harry said, eyes wide.

"It ain't easy," Aberforth said.

-0-

After some time, Aberforth came back again. He looked around the kitchen, mildly impressed. Things were put away and organized neatly. Food was sitting ready to be finished. Harry was wiping the surfaces down and looked mildly jittery while also seemingly at home in the kitchen. "Alright, you eat yet?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm not hungry really."

"Eat something," Aberforth said bluntly. "Lesson number one, take care of yourself. You get hungry when you're busy and you can't eat, you suffer. You get slow, get irritable, make mistakes. No one else will take care of you like you so you gotta take care of yourself first."

Harry looked startled at that but nodded. "Do I make something with anything here?"

"Part of the perk and the detriment of running a kitchen," Aberforth said. "Sometimes you save the best bits for yourself or sometimes you have to eat what's left." He took the end of the roast beef and sliced it into pieces and put the pieces in a pan to sizzle. He then took bread and a large piece of cheese and sliced it into pieces, making rough sandwiches with the hot beef. He handed one to Harry. "Nothing fancy."

"Oh thank you," Harry said gratefully. He already had a pan of chips done and staying warm and put some onto his plate and onto Aberforth's. He poured out small measures of soup and they sat together at the back kitchen counter and ate together. Halfway through eating, the door opened and someone came walking in.

"I got it," Aberforth said through a full mouth. "You finish eating. It's about to start." Harry nodded and watched Aberforth walk out, the older man continued to eat as he entered the bar area.

"Hey Aberforth," the customer said. He was a tall and scarred man, wearing plain robes. He sniffed the air. "What's that? Something smells decent. Ariana been cooking?"

"She can't cook and you know it," Aberforth snorted. "Makes good potions but burns water she does. New employee." He jerked a thumb at the window.

The man looked surprised to see Harry and awkwardly waved back when Harry waved. "Bit young to be in a bar."

"He ain't drinking," Aberforth said.

"He cooks though?"

"Apparently. Want to give it a try?"

"Why not. What you got?"

"Beef sandwich, chips, chicken soup. One or two or all three. It's good."

"All three then, and an ale."

Aberforth nodded and tapped a piece of wood with his wand. The three menu items appeared on it and he stuck it to the wheel and turned it. "Order up!"

Harry leapt up and went to work. He made the sandwich with the pre-portioned beef and put lettuce and tomato on it with mayo and mustard. Then put a double handful of chips on the plate, the amount Aberforth had showed him earlier, and filled a bowl with the soup. Balancing it all on the tray, he put it on the window shelf. "Uh…order up?"

The man snorted and Aberforth rolled his eyes slightly. "I'm old and hard of hearing, Kid. Say it louder and the number on the wood."

"One, order up!" Harry said loudly.

"There you go," Aberforth said and took the tray and slip of wood. He put it in front of the man who sniffed appreciatively.

"Thanks." He ate a bite of everything and looked surprised. "This is the best thing I've had here. It's good!" He ate hungrily. "Might come more often if food gets better like this."

"As if you don't come almost every night anyways," Aberforth snorted. He looked over when the door opened again and two people came in.

"Hey, something smells good," one of them said. "You're actually eating something in here?"

"Get ready, Kid," Aberforth called back to Harry. "Looks like things might pick up a bit."

-0-

After a few hours, Aberforth walked into the kitchen. "How you feeling?" he asked, his voice a little less brusque.

"Tired, but good," Harry said truthfully. He had worked very hard those hours. They got more orders than Aberforth had thought and Harry had to hurriedly make a new batch of soup as well as a few more batches of chips. He had to clean as he went and he was grateful that he was good with the Scouring Charm, it saved considerable time. Finally, the orders stopped coming and he was now finishing cleaning.

"You did good," Aberforth said. "Especially for your first day."

"Thank you," Harry smiled, weary but happy.

"I normally stop serving food around this time. You head back, it's dark but I saw your owl waiting outdoors. Normally you can do prep for the next day at night and while I know this area's safe, don't want to chance it. When the weather's bad or it's real late, you can use my Floo. You want to use it now?"

"Hedwig is out there? I'll walk, I'm not that tired but can I make something for her?"

"Sure. And take what food you want yourself. We'll figure out tomorrow's menu tomorrow when you come in. Go on then."

It was a tired but happy Harry walking back to the castle. Hedwig had landed on his shoulder and nuzzled him when he left the Hog's Head, happy for her sandwich. She then wriggled around so that she could rest her head on his and fluffed up behind his head, draping herself over him slightly. She hooted softly.

"It was nice," Harry said, yawning. "Mr. Abe isn't as scary as he looks."

She barked gently and patted his cheeks with her wings.

"Thank you," he smiled.

-0-

Harry was getting used to working at the Hog's Head. The first few days he had been very tired working the early afternoon into the night but he found it quite educational. Aberforth taught him things he never learned in the kitchen before, ways to prepare things, how to portion things, how to save time here and there. He started learning the basics of inventory and management, something he was going to start talking to Quarters about too.

It was also incredibly interesting to see people he never saw before. All kinds of people patronized the Hog's Head and while he did not spend time at the bar or on the floor with them, just seeing them and hearing snatches of conversation was fun. Of course he was usually busy enough in the back where he did not have the luxury, or the desire, to eavesdrop or listen in.

It was especially fun when Ariana was there. She worked up front as well and though she did not speak out loud really, her facial expressions and body language did all the speaking for her. The patrons liked her and Harry noticed that Aberforth was a lot more relaxed and vocal when she was there. She was always very cheery with Harry and he liked her a lot, even if she constantly stole a chip or a bite here and there.

He was learning a lot, and not just about cooking and management either.

-0-

"Huh, what's this?" a man asked. He sniffed the soup and made a face.

"It's chicken soup, it's good," the scarred man said, the patron who came on Harry's first day.

The first man snorted deeply, sounding as unpleasant as he looked. "Smells off, what's in it?" He noticed Harry looking on from the window. "Wait, you made this?" He snorted again when Harry nodded and frowned. "What is this, baby food? Food made by a baby?"

"Merlin," the scarred man sighed. "Just eat it will you? It's good. No need to be a dick."

"Who actually wants to eat this?" the man complained. He yelped when the tray went zooming away from him, summoned by Aberforth who entered the bar area from outdoors. "Hey!"

"You don't got to eat it," Aberforth said curtly, looking at the man coldly.

"I was going to! Just making conversation," he whined.

"Naw, you were being a prick and I'm not having it. You want something to eat? Go somewhere else. You want a drink? I don't want to hear another thing out of your mouth."

"Abe, come on! You know how I get, I'm just having some fun is all."

"That so? Apologize." He jerked his head at Harry. "To the Kid and not the baby. Ain't no babies here."

Caught, the man offered a half-hearted apology and Aberforth slid the tray back to him. After another glower he walked back into the kitchen and gestured for Harry to step out of sight from the open window. "You okay?"

Harry shrugged glumly. "Not really. I thought the soup was good. He could have tried it at least."

"Yeah, and it is good. You ever hear anyone complain about your cooking before?"

"Yes."

Aberforth blinked at that. "Really?"

Harry nodded. "My cousin and my aunt and uncle," he said quietly. Even though days had passed since leaving Number 4, the last memory still stung him. "They said stuff like that before. Even ruder truth be told."

"Huhn," Aberforth grunted. "Well that actually helps me making my point for lesson number two." He snorted when Harry took out the tablet and got ready to write it down. "Ready?"

"Ready," Harry nodded.

"People are arseholes." He smirked at Harry's look. "They are. You're always going to run into an arsehole that is going to run their mouth, make up shite, and go off on you even when you did your best. Sometimes, because you are doing your best. And if you work with people and food and things, you have to take it to a degree because you depend on them to make a living."

He jerked a thumb out the door. "Now that doesn't mean you have to accept it all. You always have the right to run someone out if they're acting like that. But there's always consequences. They can go around yapping about what happened, make up a lie, and people will believe them. Then others won't come and, in the end, you lose. So you'll have to decide what's more important: your money or your pride."

Aberforth looked at Harry seriously. "And only you can make that decision for yourself."

Harry took a deep breath. "I think I get it. Sorry you might lose business defending me."

"Don't worry about it. Wilkins is a loud arsehole and worse when he's drunk. He's mostly harmless so I haven't permanently banned him yet but I've kicked him out before and kept him out for a while. But I wasn't going to let him run his mouth at you without reason."

"I thought lesson number one was that no one was going to take care of you like yourself," Harry said with a small smile.

Aberforth snorted richly, his lips twitching into an unwilling smile. "Lesson number three, don't throw my words back at me."

"Is that really a lesson?"

"What do you think?" The small bell chimed on the countertop and he grinned sincerely. "Wilkins is going to get his punishment tonight it seems. He's afraid of Ari and she enjoys punishing him for his many faults."

Ariana came through the door and the patrons greeted her on the way in, many smiling brightly. All save for Wilkins who shrank around his food, looking away.

"Abe! Harry!" she said brightly in her soft, raspy voice. "I'm starved. Pour me a bowl of soup before I start working?"

"Not sure you want any," Aberforth sighed dourly. "Apparently it's baby food made by a baby."

Ariana's easy expression became thunderous. Her eyes hardened and she put her hands on her hips, her wand tapping her leg. "Who said that?!" she growled, the rasp in her voice making the words sound especially angry.

"Wilkins of course, running his fat arse mouth," Aberforth said.

Without another word, Ari spun and stomped out onto the floor, crossing her eyes and glaring at Wilkins. Despite his larger size and stature, he quailed at the sight of her. "Ariana, I was only having some fun," he stammered.

"You know, we never knew where she got it from," Aberforth said conversationally. He and Harry stood at the window watching Ariana chastise Wilkins. She seemed to yell without speaking, writing out her words in large glowing letters that floated above Wilkins in the air with her wand. The others laughed and cheered as she continued to write furiously, letting everyone read what she was writing. "Mum was soft spoken and Dad was quite calm too, mostly. She sure can chastise though, not that you'd ever expect her to."

Harry watched with open-mouth astonishment as she transfigured a large baby's bonnet and bib and forced Wilkins to don them before she stood over him and watched him eat his soup slowly. She turned to the window and looked pointedly at Aberforth.

The older man guffawed. "Yeah, we got milk," he chuckled, walking to the ice box and pouring out a glass of milk. He handed it to her through the window. "She said since Wilkins is a baby, he can't drink alcohol so he can only have milk."

"Wow, you can understand her without her talking? That's a really close bond," Harry said admiringly.

"Something like that," Aberforth nodded. He guffawed again when she transfigured the cup into a bottle, complete with a nipple, and stood there and watched Wilkins shamefully drink it. When he finally finished, he sheepishly took off the bib and bonnet and retreated to the corner with an ale while the rest of the inn laughed themselves hoarse.

"That'll teach him to make fun of our Harry's food," Ariana said when she walked back in, making a rude gesture out the window.

"What else would you like to eat?" Harry asked with a big smile. "I'd love to make it for you."

"Ooh! Make me whatever you like! I leave it to you," she whispered excitedly. "After I have my own bowl of soup first, please."

Later Aberforth came in with some plates. "A full English breakfast?"

Ariana nodded happily, munching on a piece of butter fried bread dipped in runny yolk. "It's so good! I told Harry that I usually get back to Britain late so I miss out on breakfast foods and he said there wasn't a reason I couldn't have breakfast for dinner, and he's right. Hey!" She smacked Aberforth's hand as he reached for a piece of bread. "Get your own!"

"I have some waiting for you," Harry assured him.

Aberforth snorted. "Lesson number four: don't take Ari's food."

"She already taught me that lesson," Harry grinned.

-0-

"It is quite lively in here," Dumbledore smiled.

"Yeah, for some reason," Aberforth said, pouring a glass of mead for his brother.

The inn was comfortably busy. The rest of the bar was full and the tables had customers. Ariana was chatting with some as she filled glasses and there were even two House Elves walking around with trays, serving food and drink and busing the tables. The patrons chatted and laughed; the atmosphere bright.

"Some reason indeed," Dumbledore smiled, seeing that everyone had a plate in front of them and were eating as well as drinking.

"Hello Professor," Harry said. He saw Dumbledore come in and went out to greet him with a wide smile.

"Hello Harry," Dumbledore smiled broadly. "It seems the position agrees with you."

"I really like it here," Harry said, making Dumbledore smile more and even Aberforth looked soft for a moment. "I've learned a lot here and I think I'm getting better at cooking under pressure. A good kind of pressure though."

"Excellent, I am happy to hear it," Dumbledore said.

"What would you like? We have turkey sandwiches, ham sandwiches, and chicken soup tonight. Or I have the Dumbledore family special ready to go."

"We have a family special? Well I must get that then." He watched Harry leave fondly. "Business has perked up it seems."

"Yeah," Aberforth grumbled. "Steadily too. Getting more people coming in on the regular. Had to get more help. Kid's good but even he was getting swamped as was I and I wasn't about to tell Ari to be here more. She helped me find the House Elves that wanted to work, Willie and Nillie. They're sibs."

"Don't sound too happy over earning a bit more," Dumbledore said dryly.

"You know I never needed this place to make lots of money," Aberforth grunted. "Still, I'll admit, beats mostly empty nights. No need to be too busy but I'm fine with steady. 'Sides, if things stay like this after the Kid leaves, Willie can cook and Nillie can help with the rest."

"You probably will not be able to keep Harry away," Dumbledore said. "He is very loyal."

"Don't mind a visit but I won't have him working here when he's supposed to be learning at school," Aberforth said bluntly.

"Agreed, but strange circumstances seem to happen about him so we cannot discount something happening." He beamed. "I told you it would be good for the both of you to have him here."

"Nobody likes someone saying 'I told you so'," Aberforth grunted.

"Ah, this looks wonderful," Dumbledore smiled when Harry set a large tray in front of him. "I love a good full English breakfast! How did this become the Dumbledore family special?"

"Auntie Ari loves it and when I made it for her the first time, she insisted that it's the Dumbledore special," Harry explained. "Listening to Auntie Ari is lesson one point five."

"Auntie now?" Dumbledore grinned, munching on some toast and egg.

"She said Miss sounded too impersonal," Harry smiled. "I haven't tried calling Mr. Abe something she suggested however."

"Probably for the best," Dumbledore nodded while Aberforth snorted. "Lesson one point five?"

"There was already a lesson one and hers couldn't supersede the established lesson one."

"Learning a lot of lessons and things while you have been here?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sure have! It's great."

"Excellent! Tell me some of them."

"I learned that smuggling illicit narcotics has a range of punishments because the term 'illicit narcotics' is very broad and it was designed that way."

Dumbledore choked on a mushroom, coughing and wheezing until Aberforth leaned over the bar and cleared the obstruction with a hearty whack on the back. "I beg your pardon?!"

"Apparently the original writer of the law was found to be a major drug purveyor and designed the law for his eventual incarceration," Harry said with a guileless expression.

"Where did you learn this?!" Dumbledore gaped.

"Bennets," Aberforth said, amused. "He was complaining about it the other night and taught Harry a thing or two about magical law enforcement."

"He also taught me that hemlock is a very natural plant that used to be a very popular poison and needed its own antidote potion. That and if you see anyone with it growing on their property or wearing a sprig of it, they can't be trusted," Harry said. "Which makes sense."

Dumbledore blinked at Harry before glaring at Aberforth.

"I also learned that hags don't need to eat liver to survive, they just like to eat it for the taste and out of tradition."

"Mrs. Yog," Aberfroth supplied, grinning at Dumbledore's look.

"I've learned how to do inventory, more than what I did in the clubroom and how to manage things a bit," Harry continued with genuine enthusiasm. "I learned how to make certain ingredients last longer and repurpose them into something interesting and new the next day. And I think I've gotten faster on some things."

"That's good," Dumbledore said with relief.

"Oh and the most important lesson, but not lesson number one, is that people are arseholes." He handed Dumbledore a napkin after the older man choked once more, coughing out some mead. "Here you are, Sir. Oh I better get back to the kitchen, Willie is waving for me." Harry dashed off.

"What on earth are you teaching the boy?!" Dumbledore said, deeply appalled and glaring at his brother.

"Many things, apparently," Aberforth smiled. "I warned you."

"You are a bad man."

"Takes one to know one."

-0-0-0-

Fill-them-up - Thank you, I'm glad you like them so.

poka - I'm rather surprised. I was sitting on that plot point from literally the first Halloween chapter and I didn't think it would go over that impactfully. I knew I wanted it to be an important point and it'll have some repercussions for the future, but I underestimated the hit a little. I am glad that most people thought it was a very impactful moment however. Ariana's inclusion was also a last minute decision that a lot of people seem interested in, which I am happy for as well. I've enjoyed writing for her and think she is going to work in well over the course of the rest of the story. I grew up working in my mother's sandwich shop and I let some of my experiences come through in this chapter, hope you enjoy this peek into the first new setting.

Mitkon2001 - A bit too nice yes, but him having the support will be a delight. Ariana has been a lot of fun to write for and was a genuine surprise for me, so I hope people will enjoy her inclusion and not see her as an empty character or someone who was included for no reason. It'll be a tall order to make it feel necessary, and I hope people end up liking things as they go.

odonnellzoo99 - Yeah, she not nice lady. I've had people complain about how overdone the Dursleys were, as in overblown, in Family so I tried to be more nuanced here. Her cruelty here is a touch more subtle but I think equally impactful and devastating in its own way. The three Dumbledores, what a weird statement, have been fun to write for and I'm glad I decided to include her in this setting.

Kaya - Yes, her survival will change a lot and I'm going to have to try and adapt things a fair bit to reflect it, but I hope people end up liking their newer dynamic and how things changed because of it. Hope you end up thinking the change in this fic to be acceptable.

xXMoonlightSorrowsXx - I liked Dumbledore's and Harry's conversation went in the aftermath of the revelation, it hit that genuine remorse and mentoring and comfort feeling I wanted to hit. The D3 sibling dynamic has been fun to think about and write and I think they are going to have a nice impact on Harry's growth.

alix33 - Their singing competition was one of my favorite parts, following her chasing Fawkes and her kicking the window open. I like the mental image of Hedwig kicking things.

doRodrigo - Enjoy today's chapter.

dawnsfire - The Hog's Head probably didn't really serve food at all in canon but I thought it would be fun to explore in this setting. I expand on it a little in this chapter. She is dead in canon, hence me saying that this setting is AU and I like to think her inclusion will have noticeable changes on things that happened and things to come. Gosh, I never thought about her trying to use the apron later and imagining what might come of it.

DarkRavie - Thank you.

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - I think people will like what I have written and planned for the Dumbledores, hopefully.

DustieDaven - Answers will come as the chapters do. I thought the line about burning Number 4 down to be very funny as well.

Lyn1991 - Hopefully he will learn what her favorite really is one day, and come back stronger.

silentlinkmit339 - Not really based off of Family, though some of the themes are similar. I wanted to do a nice slice of life again, but with more of a focus on cooking and food while exploring bits and pieces of the canon setting that I haven't done or seen much of before. I wanted to do something with lower stakes, if that makes sense, and let it be driven by good food and character interaction and dialogue. I am glad you enjoy Family so much and hope you continue to enjoy this one.