I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Hello everyone, hope all are doing well. I managed a few chapters this week and I think I can reliably do 2-3 updates a week for a few weeks so an extra update his week. The last few days have been rough so here's something for some positive energy, and I hope all are having a nice weekend. As always, thank you for reading and commenting, it means so much to me. Have a lovely day!
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A Taste of Magic
48th Course – Cultural Exchanges
"Abe! You're overworking him!"
Aberforth grunted when Ariana poked him hard in the side. "I am not," he said, pushing her back. "We've been slower and I said he could take the night off if he wanted."
Harry shook his head. "I'm fine, really. Only a little tired, still getting used to my day position."
"Oh you started it? Tell me about it," Ariana said brightly as she poked a kettle and the water within started to puff and steam. She waved her wand, summoning a teapot, two cups, and a container of tea over.
"I'm working in the Gringotts main kitchen," Harry said proudly. He continued to talk as he peeled hard-boiled eggs. "I go in mid-morning to help with prep and work with them during lunch service before leaving right after. Rest in my room for a bit before coming over."
"Really? With the goblins?" Ariana asked. "That's no easy thing to get or do." When the kettle started whistling, she rinsed a tea pot with the hot water before pouring in a measure of leaves and setting them to steep with the hot water. "How did you get that position?"
"Professor Flitwick. I told him a while ago I was interested in learning about goblin cooking and culture and he arranged it."
"Good for you!" Ariana patted his arm. "More people should be like you, interested in other cultures and the like." She looked at him closely. "But that is a lot of work for someone your age. Are you sure you're not being overworked?"
"I can handle it," Harry said confidently. "I just underestimated how busy they get but I'll get used to it. I used to do long days of meal prep and cooking on my own while also cooking for three meals. This is actually easier, here and at Gringotts, because I get to cook with people and that's fun."
"If you're sure," she said worriedly. She filled the two cups with tea and gave one to Harry. She rolled her eyes when her brother made a noise. "You can get your own cup."
"Thanks," Aberforth grunted and summoned his own cup and filled it with tea. "They treating you okay? Gringotts can be a little rough to outsiders."
"I think so," Harry said as he finished peeling the eggs. He emptied the pot and set it aside and started filling a large mixing bowl with mayonnaise, mustard, powdered garlic, onion powder, celery salt, a pinch of sugar, and lots of cracked black pepper. He mixed it all together slowly. "As far as I know anyways. I haven't really learned any Gobbledegook yet, only a few words. The one I hear most sounds something like pother? Poiter? It sounds a lot like Potter, but not quite."
"Poittor," Ariana said. "It's a catchall term for a tall skinny thing to hang something off of like a lantern or to use as a beanpole. Some used to use them to measure tunnel dimensions or things like that. Where did you hear that?"
Aberforth chuckled. "They probably use it as a nickname."
"Ohhh you know, that makes a lot of sense," Harry said with dawning realization. "A lot of the crew say that to get my attention and I thought they were just saying Potter differently."
Ariana frowned at that, glaring at a guffawing Aberforth.
"Just a nickname," Aberforth said, moving out of poking range. "They treating you right otherwise?"
"I think so," Harry said as he started chopping the hard-boiled eggs and putting them in the mixing bowl with the sauce. "Chef Diglin is tough but he works with us too. Has high standards. He's been telling me things and teaching me things here and there so that's really cool. The crew haven't been super friendly but they aren't being mean either."
"That's good then," Ariana said, not completely convinced but no longer frowning. She brightened when Harry handed her a spoon full of egg salad. "Mmm! This is nice and tasty!"
"It's salad sandwich night," Harry said. "Egg, chicken, and tuna. Plus a soup as an option too and crisps instead of chips."
"Soup's pretty popular," Aberforth said. "Can't take it off the menu now but it'll be a good staple."
"And only the special people get the special," Ariana said, eating another spoonful. "But you know you can take a break from here if you need to, right? Abe and I can run things now with Willie and Nillie here."
"I know and I appreciate it but I like being here," Harry said sincerely. "Plus you get grumpy when you don't eat."
"That is true," Ariana smiled. The front door opened and she got to her feet. "Well, better get the night started. Keep my grazing plate full, please." She left the kitchen with a swirl of her robes.
Aberforth chuckled when Harry did in fact put some food on what Ariana called her grazing plate. It was a plate by the door and she liked having bite-sized bits and things on it so she could take and munch on as she went in and out the door. "I hope she knows I won't be doing that for her."
"Willie probably will," Harry chuckled. He looked thoughtful all of a sudden. "Oh, I just realized I could hear her a little better lately. Auntie Ari I mean."
"Ah, well she likes you Kid so there's that."
"That makes a difference?"
"It does, but it ain't my story to tell."
"Oh, I see. Well I like her a lot too so I'm fine with it." He smiled at Aberforth. "I like you a lot too, Mr. Abe."
Aberforth chuckled again and patted Harry on the shoulder on the way past. "Feeling's mutual but don't go telling anyone."
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"Potter, over here."
"Yes Chef." Harry walked over to Diglin, tying his apron strings tight. "I noticed you call me Potter."
"Yeah, that's your name." Diglin raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"
"I just realized what poittor meant the other day, what the others call me," Harry said.
Diglin glared at the crew who hurriedly rushed off to do their duties. After noticing Harry not being bothered by said nickname, Diglin decided to push past it. "Alright, well, here's a new ingredient for you to learn." He opened a crate and stuck his hand in swiftly, pulling something out that seemed to comprise legs and claws. Harry's eyes widened as he saw the hard shell of the thing Diglin held shifted in color and it waved its limbs angrily.
"This is a crake," Diglin said. "And those claws hurt as much as they look."
"Oh I heard of those in my Defense class," Harry said. "They're spiders that can camouflage right?"
"Pretty much," Diglin said, looking mildly impressed. "More crab than spider but that's something for magizoologists to argue over. Have you prepared crab before?"
"Not from fresh," Harry said, watching the very fresh crake still flailing angrily.
"Well you treat them the same essentially. I usually do this to stun them if they need it." He whacked the crake on the hard upper shell with the base of his knife, making the crake go still. "Sometimes you need to, sometimes you won't. Then we either steam or boil them." He maneuvered a very large pot over a stove top that was practically built into the ground. "This is a specialty crake pot. Stun them and arrange them in these holders while the water steams up."
Harry was a bit nervous and he did get pinched a few times, but the claws did not break skin. He became more comfortable as they worked and they filled the immense pot with crakes and covered it. After steaming for twenty minutes, they fished the crakes out and dumped them in ice water. The crakes had contracted their limbs just like crabs but their shells were a dusky purple instead of a bright red.
"This is how you clean them up." Diglin flipped one onto its back and cut the bottom shell off. "Apron, that's this shell, comes off. Crack it or cut it, sometimes you need to do both. Pour out the liquid in the upper shell into a bowl, that's liquid gold for us. Then take off these large shells on either side, and pop out the organs. Some like them, some don't. Throw them into this bowl here. Drag a spoon around the shells and put the small meat here. Then crack the legs open and remove the meat and put that here." In short order he had a pile of leg shells, the back shell, the meat separated, the bowl of liquid fat, and the bowl of small meat as well as the bowl of organs.
"Wow! That's so cool and you're so fast!" Harry exclaimed.
Diglin looked faintly amused and pleased in equal measure. "I've shelled a lot of crakes. Alright then, your turn." He watched carefully as Harry attempted his own cleaning with one. "Right, twist the blade there and it works better if you use the tip there, where the joint is. Good." When he finished, Diglin nodded and he went to work too.
"Do you make the same things with crake meat?" Harry asked.
"Yup. Soup, stew, cakes, pretty much anything you'd use crab for. There're deep crabs, crabs way down in the depths of the earth. Way bigger than crabs in the ocean though. Hunters typically go for them. They're dangerous, and dangerously delicious."
"Do you farm crakes?"
"You can, or go for wild ones. They stick to the darker tunnels and caverns and caves."
After they cleaned most of them. Diglin left the rest to Harry and took some of the meat and the bowl of fat with him. He set a station up beside Harry's table and Harry watched surreptitiously as Diglin made a large pot of soup from what he took as well as chili peppers, potatoes, onion, and beans. As it simmered, a deliciously rich smell filled the air that was salty but not salt-brine, as if it was similar to the sea but not quite. It evoked the same sense of vastness, inexplicably, and a deep richness.
The crew gathered and filled their bowls of the soup and someone poured out glasses of an amber liquid that bubbled and fizzed in the cup. Diglin handed a bowl to Harry. "Eat up. Crake chowder, Gringotts' way."
"Thanks!" Harry took a deep breath, enjoying the rich smell from up close. He dipped his spoon into the chowder, admiring the thick and silky texture of the broth and the pearls of golden oil that floated on top. He sipped it slowly, to enjoy the flavor and to cool the broth as he did. It tasted like it looked, creamy and rich and deep. The vegetables were soft, just barely holding their shape. The crake meat was dense and chewy, not as delicate as crabmeat. Yet it was a delightful denseness, and with each chew it released more of the heavy flavor that the crake had.
Harry had eaten half before he realized the others were watching him closely, not having started eating yet themselves. "Is something wrong?" he asked, slightly embarrassed.
"Not at all," Flynt said. He smiled widely. "How is it?"
"It's amazing! I really like it. Crake is similar enough to crab but the flavor and texture is really different."
"And how're you feeling?" Amythyst asked lightly, almost nonchalantly.
"I feel good," Harry asked, slightly confused. "I always feel good when I eat something delicious."
Diglin snorted softly. "Drink," he said, pointing at the glass. "It's what you usually have with crake."
"What is it?" Harry asked as he sipped it. It tasted pleasantly acrid and with a more bitter afternote, the bubbles still fizzing slightly. "Mmm, it does taste nice with the crake. Cuts through the heavy flavor easily."
"It's teagale," Diglin said as he drank his own. "Ale brewed with a special goblin tea leaf." His eyes widened when Harry coughed and sputtered and half the crew looked alarmed and the other half jumped up. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine," Harry wheezed, coughing. "But am I allowed to drink this?"
"Why wouldn't you be?" Amythyst asked nervously. "You never had issues with goblin food before."
"You said it's ale? It's alcoholic?"
"Barely," Flynt snorted.
"I'm only thirteen!"
"And? Chef's almost eighty and he doesn't fuss about it," Hacker laughed.
"And I can cook you under the table any day you gobling," Diglin growled, making the crew laugh.
"I'm not supposed to be allowed to drink alcohol until I'm eighteen! Or seventeen in the Wizarding World I think."
"Oh." Diglin made a hand gesture that made the rest of the crew snort. "Wizarding laws don't apply here. You're on goblin territory. Our goblings drink when they're a lot younger. Stuff made for them of course but it's fine. You're fine. You won't get drunk off that."
"Oh okay," Harry said, much relieved.
"You're kitchen staff," Amythyst said kindly. "If you're a part of the crew, age doesn't matter." She looked around at the rest. "Right?"
Harry felt really touched and flushed from happiness when they all nodded. "Thank you," he said softly.
"You're just being nice to him so he'll run your calls more," Flynt grumbled.
"Not just that," she said, throwing a bit of shell at him. "He's good at mincing. I never have to pull out straggly bits from his prep, not like some I can mention."
"What, you?" Hacker scoffed. "Last time I asked you for diced chilis you had them in all different lengths. I felt like I was looking at a sifter working through shale and dirt."
Harry hid his smile with his bowl, feeling even better.
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"Hello Harry," Rangok said warmly as Harry brought him a tray of food. The Director had come for lunch and was glad to see the boy in seemingly good spirits. "And how are you this day?"
"Doing great, thank you Director," Harry said brightly. "Here you go. Crake chowder, fried mushrooms, bread rolls and pickles."
"Ahh I do love the crake chowder here," Ragnok said happily. "Always love to see it when it comes up on menu."
"It's really good," Harry agreed.
Ragnok's head shot up and he looked at Harry with surprise that rapidly turned into horror then concerned. "You had it?!"
"I did. I helped prepare the crakes and more," Harry said, thrown off slightly by the reaction.
"And how are you feeling?" Ragnok asked nervously.
"I feel great. It was good and I think I hit my stride here. I'm not as tired all the time, still a little tired 'cause it's hard work, but I'm getting used to it. The crew and Chef are super awesome," Harry said stoutly.
"And you feel okay? Physically I mean?" Ragnok asked.
"Yes Sir, I really do."
"Good! I mean, good good. May I speak to Diglin?"
"Of course, I'll go get him. Enjoy your lunch, Director."
Ragnok smiled and waved as Harry left but the smile became an expression of fury when Diglin walked over. "You fed the boy crake?!" He ignored the looks from the other goblins in the eating room and more than a few edged away slightly, putting more space between them and the irate Director.
"He came to eat goblin food and crake is goblin food," Diglin retorted.
"Crake meat is poisonous to humans!"
"Only some of them! And we had teagale for him, that neutralizes any crake toxin."
"You gave him teagale too?!"
Diglin threw his arms up. "We were being thorough!"
"A portion of humans are deathly allergic to teagale!" Ragnok threw his arms up too. "And he's underaged!"
"Oh. He told us about the underaged thing but didn't realize humans could be allergic to teagale." Diglin shrugged sheepishly. "He's fine though, see? And he liked both. I don't see what the problem is. And the whole underaged drinking law thing doesn't apply on Gringotts territory so there."
Ragnok buried his face into his hands and let loose a litany of colorful language that made the few eavesdroppers look even more alarmed and even Diglin shuffled and blinked. "Been a while since you've used that kind of language," Diglin muttered.
"If something happened to him, Filius would've had our necks," Ragnok growled.
"I'm aware and Amy's a medic so he would've been fine," Diglin said.
"For your sake, he better remain fine," Ragnok said acidly.
"Calm down," Diglin snorted. "Have you tasted the chowder yet?"
"No, why?"
"Go on."
Ragnok rolled his eyes but sipped the chowder, smacking his lips appreciatively. "Mmm, that's a good bowl of chowder. Well made." He narrowed his eyes. "What did you do to it?"
"Nothing you paranoid mine-plug," Diglin snorted. "The boy made it."
"Oh? You let him make it?" Ragnok asked, surprised.
"He sussed out the general process and the majority of the ingredients just from watching me. We were running low so I let him make a trial batch and color me surprised to find out it was pretty damn close after giving him the recipe to follow." Diglin watched Harry as he chopped more ingredients for the other crew members. "There's something about that boy and his cooking."
"Been a while since I've seen you so approving so soon," Ragnok remarked.
"It really has been."
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"Oooh what's this?" Ariana said, looking at the container that Harry brought.
"Crake chowder, I made it at Gringotts today," Harry said proudly. "Chef taught me the recipe and how to prep one of the main ingredients and I made it. It's really good."
Ariana's head came up. "Crake? Did you have any? Are you okay?"
"Oh is this about it's poisonous to certain people?" Harry nodded. "I'm fine, thank you."
"Oh thank goodness," Ariana sighed. "I'm glad you knew."
"I actually didn't until much later," Harry admitted. He blinked at Ariana's look of anger. "Though Chef and the crew did ask me if I was okay when I tried it the first time so, I guess they were sort of looking out for me. They gave me teagale to drink with it too."
"I hope it was the weak teagale," Aberforth said, amused. "Some of that stuff is strong."
"I have half a mind to go to Gringotts right now," Ariana said angrily.
"Don't worry, Professor Flitwick went back." Harry smiled at the recently made memory. "After I brought him a container of crake chowder, he wasn't too happy with what happened either, though he was very happy with the chowder. After I got checked over by Madam Pomfrey, he took the Floo back to Gringotts to 'have a word' with them."
Harry grinned when the Dumbledores snickered. "I haven't seen him this mad before, even when Seamus set the entire stack of feathers on fire and Neville accidentally scattered the burning feathers all over the classroom our first year."
"Damn, sad I missed that. He's got a real temper and if you're not the target, really fun to watch," Aberforth said. "Well I know I'm not one that's allergic to teagale and crake isn't poisonous to me. Neither of them are bad for you, right Ari?" He got up at her head shaking. "Let me go get some teagale just in case. That chowder smells good." He opened the door to lead to the cellar, walking down the stairs slowly.
"How do you know so much about goblin culture?" Harry asked.
"I've worked with them a lot, ones in other countries too," she said. "Goblins have their own form of potion brewing but some potions they don't do as well so I'm always happy to work with them and trade and the like. I'm friendly with them."
"That's good. They're not as scary as the lessons we learned about them," Harry said.
Ariana laughed mirthlessly. "No? They're more scary in my opinion."
"So can people if they're pushed, just like they are," Harry argued.
"That's fair," Ariana conceded. She sat and watched him as he started preparing things for the night's service. She started humming softly and noticed him giving her small looks. "I'm sorry, is my humming bothering you?"
"No, uh, actually, I realized I can hear you a lot more clearly than when we first met weeks ago," Harry said. "Has your throat gotten better?"
"Do you? Oh that's lovely then," Ariana said with a broad smile. "Actually it hasn't. It kind of won't, not really." She started undoing the scarf around her neck.
Harry gasped when he saw her bare throat when the scarf was undone. A large scar ran across the front of her throat. "Oh no, what happened?! Are you okay?"
"You're so sweet," Ariana smiled. "It happened to me a long time ago, when I was much younger." She patted the stool beside her. "It's a bit of a story." She waited for him to sit before she coughed, clearing her throat with a gravely rasp. "When I was little, some Muggle boys saw me doing accidental magic. They were very confused and when they confronted me and I couldn't repeat what I did, they were very rough with me."
She patted his arm when he looked indignant. "Our father found out after he found me and he didn't take it so well. He attacked the boys and their parents and it was a big sad mess." She sighed. "He was sent to Azkaban and died there."
"I'm so sorry," Harry said, horrified.
"I never had such a great grasp on my magic growing up," she said. "Remnants of the trauma. As we got older, Al and Abe and I, our mother passed in an accident and Al had to watch me. Abe was in Hogwarts at the time and Al had just graduated."
She took a deep breath. "Al and…a friend of his had grand plans and well, things came to a head. They argued a bit and Aberforth got drawn in and well, things haven't been good for a while at that point and tempers rose and broke. They started fighting, dueling really, wands and all."
Harry sat there, eyes wide, enthralled.
"I saw the friend draw on Al and Abe and I was so scared and my magic got out of control," she continued. "I ran in and things were so chaotic and he panicked. He struck me with a Curse and it hurt my throat." She touched the scar there. "That sort of stopped the fighting and I fell over and lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was in St Mungo's and had been for a long time. Al never left my side. He blamed himself of course but it wasn't really his fault, he didn't cast the Curse.
"Recovery took a very long time," she said with a small shrug. "But Al was there the whole time. Took care of me and the strangest thing was the injury and the subsequent healing actually balanced my magic, where it wasn't as wild and explosive anymore. Though permanent damage was done. I would always have trouble with incantations and the like, and I lack the strength Al and Abe have, but I'm alive and that matters most."
She smiled and it was strong and weak at the same time, a complicated expression. "But I can do a lot of basic spells and some I am very good at non-verbally casting certain spells. You'll learn that later. And as you know, potion brewing doesn't have many incantations at all and I'm quite good at it. Al helped me obtain a good education and I'm living my life well. I have my brothers, a profession, and the Hog's Head. And now you!"
Harry smiled at her last statement, at the sincere pleasantness from it. He then looked serious. "What happened to the person that Cursed you?"
Ariana looked sad. "I can't tell you, it's not my story to tell really. Hope you understand."
Harry nodded. "I think so." After a moment he spoke again. "So how can I hear you better now?"
"Because I like you and I'm used to you," she said simply. "My magic resonates with yours and you can hear me more easily because I 'speak' with my magic sort of. I use it to breathe more easily and it was used to repair my neck and throat so it's an odd little side effect but I find it fascinating too."
"Oh is that how you can talk to Mr. Abe and the Professor without actually talking out loud?"
"Yup! I love being able to do that and we've had fun messing with people that way." Her eyes sparkled and she giggled openly.
"Does your magic resonate with a lot of people?"
"Not at all. Only special folk," she said, tousling his hair. "People I like. I like you because you're a hard worker and you're still so kind despite what you've endured." She smiled warmly at him. "That and I adore your cooking."
He flushed happily. "I like you a lot too. You and Mr. Abe are great and the Headmaster has always been really nice to me and is helping me so much."
"I'm glad you say that," she said with a soft sad smile. "Al was ever so distraught with how his actions affected you."
"He's making up for them," Harry said sincerely.
"Good, and now that you know me and Abe, we can help you all the time too. You're one of us now," she smiled. Her smile grew when he opened his arms hesitantly and she hugged him hard. She looked over when Aberforth reappeared from the cellar, holding two bottles in one hand. "Abe! Harry can hear me!"
"He mentioned it the other day," Aberforth said. "Sorry Kid, you're one of us unlucky sods now. Once Ari has her claws sunk into you, you're never escaping."
"I can think of much worse places to be," Harry smiled.
"I like you the most now," Ariana said, sticking her tongue out at Aberforth.
"Poor Kid," Aberforth sighed, grunting when Ariana shot a stinger at him. Soon he and Ariana were eating crake chowder and drinking teagale, exchanging barbed words that only siblings could and Harry worked alongside with a smile on his lips that never did quite go away.
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Guest - Oh wow, your dorm had a kitchen? That's cool. Mine didn't and halfway through college, I moved to the on-campus apartments that had kitchens and I was happy with that when I moved over. I love omelets.
Jaysto - I never worked in a completely professional kitchen before, but read a lot of books by those that attended the Culinary Institute of America and by other professional chefs so I tried to capture that vibe and feeling. I like to think Harry will slowly win them over by proving his worth. Keep that last bit in mind. I think when the moment comes that's somewhat similar, it will feel nice.
Starmaker60 - Thank you, hope you continue to look forward to chapters.
50 - I am glad you are excited. That's a possibility perhaps.
poka - You were a chapter early, some of that remarks about the goblins appear in this chapter actually so hopefully you will enjoy. Also, Flitwick and Ragnok are cousins so there is that connection, at least in this setting. I had hoped that was clear but perhaps it wasn't. I am slowly going to sprinkle more information in, you know I enjoy my callbacks.
Hands Off MY Wolfie - I'm lucky that at the sandwich shop I grew up in didn't really serve or had a waiter or anything like that. When I was upfront, I just shouted orders out loud or called the names of people who placed orders over the phone. When I hit what was called my 'problem with rude people period', I was sent to the back to cook instead of be up front haha. Thanks for reading.
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Yes and no. More like him exploring different cultures that wasn't seen as much in canon, a chance to explore some alternate scenes and things like that. But yes, he will have very caring individuals as we have seen and his connections will prove to be beneficial for everyone later on.
kilowatt - I'm glad you found it too. Thank you.
doRodrigo - Thank you for reading.
odonnellzoo99 - I'm glad it came through. It would be easy for him to 'magically' excel and be the best and also to be really dismissive or not liking cooking anymore. I wanted to show how he sort of retained his enthusiasm learning about food and since the two avenues now are so different to what he was used to, it's enough to make him sort of move past what happened and let him grow. He finally has a chance to learn from people and new things and people aren't treating him as Harry Potter, but as Harry.
alix33 - Ariana probably did shove things onto or him into a lot of things.
DarkRavie - Thank you.
silentlinkmit339 - Eventually more will be revealed, but I like to think small changes to the setting would cause certain other changes in mindset to happen like this. Glad you like it.
scpotter - Thank you for reading, glad you are enjoying the story.
