I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, canon characters, or the game I used as inspiration.
A Taste of Magic
130th Course – Planned Perchance
"I've seen that magazine a lot lately."
Ragnok lowered it slightly and smiled as Diglin sat down across from him. "I am pleasantly surprised at how good it is," he said. "It is entertaining without being over the top. Interesting articles. Good pictures. And your interview in it was well done."
"Yeah it was," Diglin said with a slightly smug sound. "I'm just as surprised as you though. Given her reputation and all. Then again, I wouldn't have done the interview without assurances saying so."
Ragnok nodded. "I agree. She had a very unpleasant reputation and she wrote some rather pointed articles about Gringotts before. Never rude enough to warrant any kind of official response, but always came close. It is quite the surprise that she is so different now."
"Eh, maybe," Diglin snorted, waggling his hand. "If he could smooth out our rough edges, then small wonder he did the same to her."
Ragnok smiled. "You are not wrong. Such high praise for him too, from you." He cleared his throat. "'Mister Potter is one of the best that I have ever worked with and it has been a pleasure watching his skills grow all these years.'," he read.
"Wasn't a lie," Diglin said comfortably.
"How many humans have you worked with for an extended time?" Ragnok asked with a bigger smile.
"In a cooking capacity? Three." He and Ragnok laughed. "So granted, the lad didn't have much competition but enough for me to still say what I said and mean it without being wrong about it."
"Harry has some glowing praise for you as well. 'Chef Diglin has taught me a lot and I learn more from him every time I get the chance to work with him. He embodies what I think a chef should be: hard working, a leader, confident, and kind. Not to mention an amazing cook of course.'" Ragnok looked at Diglin with amusement.
The other goblin flushed just a little but looked pleased and proud. "He's a good lad. Dreadful liar though as you see." He held his hand out and took the second issue of Gourmancy Monthly from Ragnok while they laughed. "Hey, they used some good pictures of us. That's from the Winter Holiday Party last year."
"We allowed them to use it, for a fee of course," Ragnok said. "I have a second copy here that you can take to Dee when you leave today. They just came out today and I got two copies."
"Great. She put up the first one in the library," Diglin said. They both looked up when someone knocked on the door to Ragnok's office and Doran walked in looking serious.
"What is wrong?" Ragnok asked, put on guard.
"We have discovered an inquiry," Doran said without delay. "Someone is poking about and asking questions. About personnel."
"Oh? Which department?" Ragnok asked, eyebrow raised.
"The kitchens and cooking."
"First I heard of it," Diglin said, sitting up and looking alert. "Who's doing the asking and about who?"
"A higher organization because it came in through a somewhat official channel." Doran frowned. "And about Harry, we think."
"Harry? And what do you mean you think?" Diglin asked sharply.
"The inquiry was about recent employees of different branches, mostly about cooking, kitchen, and supply branches," Doran explained. "And it specifically asked for non-goblin employees of Gringotts and emphasized about the last two and a half years. Ledgemin thought that was suspicious and summoned me for consultation."
"That is suspicious," Ragnok frowned. "And that does sound like someone looking for Harry. I do not like this."
"Neither did I. After verifying with Ledgemin, I came here," Doran said.
"Has a reply been sent yet?" Ragnok nodded thoughtfully when Doran shook his head. "Send the usual reply about how Gringotts does not openly talk about our employees and flag the inquiry as suspicious. Then counter investigate."
"I already started the counter," Doran nodded.
"Good." Ragnok frowned a little. "While it was no true secret that Harry is a part of the bank, it was not exactly open knowledge."
"Until today," Diglin said. He tapped the magazine.
"Hmm, that only did come out today," Ragnok mused. "And already someone is surreptitiously inquiring for veracity? Highly suspect. Doran, put a priority on the counter."
"Yes Sir," Doran said and left the office swiftly.
"I'll send a message to Filius," Diglin said. "Warn him about this."
"Thank you. I will send a message to Lord Black as well," Ragnok said. "Let us hope that this is something benign. And if not, well, we take care of our own."
"Exactly."
Ragnok looked at Diglin directly. "Do not tell Dee yet."
"Fine but if it comes out that we knew well before she did, you're telling her it was your decision."
Ragnok sighed. "Fine."
"She's your sister."
"I am well aware," Ragnok said wryly. "Why do you think I said not to tell her now and I sighed?"
-0-
"Beautiful work," Flitwick praised. "Soaking the strings in a magically active solution was a very good idea, making them accept magic all the more easily. And that is an attunement charm, an amplifying charm, and a strengthening charm on them?"
"Yes Sir," Daphne said proudly. "I believe it will work better when the body of the instrument is crafted from wand-like wood, but this has worked very well and I am hoping that once the body is as magical as the strings, it will be even more effective."
She held the violin at the ready and played a simple melody with it, repeating the notes. The piece of origami paper lifted into the air and folded itself to the music, turning into a folded flower before spinning slowly in the air.
Flitwick led the applause. "Bravo! Lovely! I agree with you on your assessment and you have made incredible strides already! In fact, I would love to work with you more with this project Miss Greengrass if you would like. Even over the coming summer. I really enjoyed the performance during the Showcase and your take on it is absolutely wonderful."
"I would very much like that," Daphne said with a beaming smile. "Pansy and Susan have helped me so much with this and I want them to continue to be involved as well."
Flitwick nodded eagerly and continued to look at the other projects. He greatly enjoyed Blaise and Terry's project on a form of scribing quill where other quills wrote what the original wrote. They also checked for spelling on the copies and could write legibly, even if the original handwriting was less than ideal. Hermione, Lavender, Padma, and Sue created a set of floating magnifying lenses that could focus in on things, letting the user work with their hands and be able to look through the lenses at small things and move them at will. Flitwick helpfully provided a charm that prevented the lenses from focusing light on things to the point of causing fire.
"And what do we have here?" he asked when he walked up to Parvati and Harry. "A pillow?"
"Yes Sir," Parvati grinned. "We enchanted it from the inside out. Fluffing charms on the stuffing, sticking charm on the thread and stitching, and toughening and durability charms on every part of it."
"We also used magical solution to make the materials more magically active as well as used fabric that was grown magically," Harry said.
"Sounds like a very tough pillow," Flitwick smiled. He took it from them and hefted it. "Very nice though. Firm yet soft in places. A changing state charm? Based on pressure? Very clever!" He looked at it thoughtfully as Harry and Parvati high-fived. "I can feel more charms on it. What else is there?"
"An aerodynamic charm and an impact charm," Parvati said proudly.
Flitwick blinked a few times. "Whatever for?"
"For this." Parvati took it from him and swung it fast, thwapping Padma across the rear with it. It made a very loud noise on impact and made Padma shriek and jump. Parvati cackled and ran as Padma ran after her, shouting in a different language.
"Pillow fighting, as you might've guessed by now," Harry said while Flitwick and the others laughed at the sight of the twins running around.
"I see," Flitwick grinned. Padma managed to wrest control of the pillow away and was belaboring a yelping Parvati with it. "And all those durability and stability charms make sense now. Wonderful! I know I said this before, but I truly believe this is my favorite class. I haven't been this delighted by projects in quite some time."
"Harry." Lavender looked at him, suddenly concerned. "Clover and Marigold don't have any yet, right?"
"No, they don't. We only have this one right now," Harry said.
She breathed a sigh of relief. "I better get the first one after this one!"
"You'll get the one after the one that's made after this one," Harry said slowly.
"Who's getting that one?!" Lavender gasped.
"Please don't tell me Aster," Pansy begged.
"Nope, it's none of the little sisters, or brothers, or cousin," Harry confirmed.
"Thank goodness," Daphne sighed.
"Then who is getting the next one?" Sue asked.
Harry colored a little, squirming a little under their scrutiny.
"Oh I know, it's Hedwig right?" Hermione asked, smiling.
"Oh duh," Lavender said as Harry nodded. "I'll help you make the one after so I can at least defend myself."
"And we can ensure we are all well-armed before the younger siblings get them," Pansy said eagerly.
"As far as arms races go, at least it's less debilitating and destructive," Flitwick smiled broadly.
"Respectfully Sir, you have no idea what the animals can do with them," Blaise said, shuddering lightly without theatricality.
"Oh please, as always, you are exaggerating," Daphne sniffed.
"Sunny tried to smother me with a pillow!"
"No she didn't," Pansy said. "First of all, if she wished to smother you, she would have succeeded. Second of all, she likes to carry around a pillow or a blanket to lie on because she's a spoiled beast, not for nefarious purposes."
"She put the pillow on my face and laid on top of it!"
"Okay well, maybe for a minor nefarious purpose," Pansy giggled while the others laughed.
"Harry, please do not let Hedwig attack me with the new pillow," Blaise begged.
"She likes accessories," Harry suggested helpfully.
"Lavender, I would like to commission new accessories for Hedwig," Blaise said seriously.
"Ooh yay! Done and done," she smiled brightly.
"Isn't that extortion in a way?" Susan smiled. "You being paid to make accessories for her so she won't attack people so you both profit?"
"Technically she isn't forcing people to buy them," Hermione laughed. "Nor is she trying to get anything out of it. Not to mention she isn't setting Hedwig on anyone."
"Yeah! And I have very fair prices and give discounts to my friends," Lavender said.
"And to be fair, Hedwig doesn't attack unless she feels like it's necessary," Harry said stoutly. "Or if she thinks it will be funny. Or if she's been offended. Or if she's bored," he added weakly.
"The cost of the accessories is well worth the peace of mind," Blaise said with conviction.
"I love this class," Flitwick sighed gustily.
-0-
"Is something the matter?" Andromeda asked, noticing Sirius' expression.
"Maybe." Sirius handed her the letter he was reading. "Apparently someone is poking about at Gringotts. Looking for information about Harry they think."
"That is suspicious," Andromeda said, frowning as she read the letter.
"Yep. Enough for the Director to inform me, which I'm really appreciative of course," Sirius said. "They're doing a counter check to see who's asking."
"The Flamels, Bad Master," Kreacher croaked as he walked past the door to the sitting room.
"Thanks Kreacher," Sirius called and smiled as Nicolas and Perenelle entered. "Hey there."
"Hello," Nicolas smiled. "I have always meant to ask, why does he call you 'Bad Master'?"
"He doesn't really like me," Sirius said airily and the Flamels laughed. "To be fair he doesn't really like a lot of people but I'm pretty much at the top of the list. Or the bottom. He was super devoted to my mother who super did not like me and he acquired the opinion. We get along fine now though to be fair. He just likes calling me that."
Sirius sipped from a goblet. "I think the only people he actually likes is Andi and Harry." He looked a little sad. "And Reg when he was alive. Mother too of course."
"Not liking is not the same as hating," Nicolas said kindly. He grinned. "A very important distinction."
"One that he distilled to its purest essence," Perenelle said fondly. She looked over at Andromeda. "Is something the matter?"
"Possibly," Andromeda said, handing her the letter. "Someone is trying to find information about Harry we think."
Perenelle took the letter and read it, looking serious. "Hm. I wonder if this is related to the matter that Drake is looking into."
"Someone else is poking about?" Sirius asked, putting the goblet down and leaning forward.
"Possibly. Back at the winter festival at Hogwarts this past winter, Drake caught a whiff of someone that smelled suspiciously similar to Harry and others that cook a lot," Nicolas said, also serious. "The individual wore ICW markings and Drake has been investigating. He found it odd."
"As in someone who uses a lot of spices and things?" Andromeda asked.
"Indeed, and much like people who cook for a living," Nicolas nodded. "Apparently the individual observed Harry and the Crew and the elves for some time."
"He recently spoke with Miss Skeeter," Perenelle said. "At Hogwarts."
"She'll find things out," Sirius said, leaning back. "She has a knack for that."
"Between her, Drake, and Gringotts, we should find out something soon then," Andromeda nodded. "Better that we are aware of course." She looked at the Flamels. "Does Harry know?"
"I do not think so," Perenelle said.
"I don't think we need to bother him with this yet," Sirius mused. "Not until we have something more solid. A lot of this is just suspicion."
"Agreed," Nicolas said. "And if it becomes more than suspicion, we will handle it appropriately."
Andromeda smiled. "I heard he really made a positive impact with the visitors from Mahoutokoro. Professor Dumbledore was delighted when he shared the words the visitors had about their trip here."
"As if he could do anything less," Nicolas said proudly.
-0-
"Thanks Harry!" Aster said, hugging him. "I feel so much better about our Charms work."
"You're welcome," Harry said, hugging her back. He routinely helped the first years and Astoria with their homework and things when they asked him for it. He just helped them practice for their upcoming final exams and they collectively were feeling more confident. "Are you lot finished with your other work?"
"Uhm." Owen and Nathan looked at each other guiltily. "Mostly," they said together.
"Better do it now or else no shinty or hurling later," Harry said genially.
"I still can't believe Mother and Father told us to listen to you like that," Nathan complained half-heartedly.
"And enforce it," Owen added half-heartedly.
"They care about you two," Harry said kindly and firmly. "Just want you to do well and they know you don't really listen to Millie."
"We listen," they said indignantly.
"Or do you hear her because if you listened, you'd do what she says," Harry smiled.
That made them laugh. "Can we use that?" Owen asked.
"As long as you don't tell anyone I said it," Harry nodded. "Go on, if you finish soon, I can check it and make sure you don't write the same exact things in the same exact way." He grinned at their laconically delivered "okaaaay" and left them and the others to finish their homework.
"And have you finished all of your work?" Hermione asked teasingly.
"I did!" Harry laughed. "And now I can kitter without worrying."
"Kitter?" Tracey asked.
"Puttering in the kitchen," Harry explained. "Grandmother came up with the term."
"Very apt," Daphne smiled. "I am still surprised how easily they listen to you," she said, nodding at the first years and Astoria. "Growing up with them, they would not listen to us at all. Something that has persisted to this day. I would be annoyed if I was not so thankful."
"Parv and I are the same age and we don't listen to each other," Padma said wryly. "Unless when it really matters, I guess. Ivaan is a brat too and Divya is worse. She's going to be a handful next year."
"They're fine," Harry defended. "And they all love you." He smiled at Daphne and Padma's incredulous looks. "In their way."
A loud outburst from the table beside them made them look. "I feel like I should put a stop to this," Hermione huffed.
"They're not betting with real money," Harry said. "Just playing the game."
Pansy, Millicent, Susan, Ron, Blaise, Terry, and Parvati were in the middle of a game of Gemcut. They had just revealed their hands and most of them groaned while Pansy took the round pot with glee.
"But they're betting with snacks," Hermione sighed. "It's still gambling."
"There has to be some stakes after all," Daphne said. "That is half the fun in games like this."
"Blaise keeps forgetting to not eat his winnings," Tracey snickered. "It's so funny to watch."
"Good thing money isn't normally edible," Padma laughed.
"I still don't get it," Clover said, having finished her work and wandered over to lean on Harry.
"It's a lot like Blackjack," Harry explained to her. "But a lot more random. There are four suits like in regular cards but they are named after gemstones: diamond, sapphire, ruby, and emerald. You start with three cards and you have one chance to discard cards and draw more. The goal is to get as close to 25 without going over. But the tricky bit is every round, you spin the dial and one of the stones is considered valuable and one is considered invaluable. The invaluable suit is then considered to be negative numbers. You can also double your bet to spin the dial during the betting phase, which is cutting the gems."
He pointed when the new round started and the dial was spun, showing ruby to be valuable and sapphires to be invaluable. "And you can win a round by being closer to negative 25 than anyone else is to positive 25. You win the whole game by either getting a natural 25, positive or negative, with three cards or you get the Fool's Luck hand which is the zero card, a two, and a five."
"At least with Blackjack, there's some mathematical probability you can rely on," Hermione said. "But this game adds the negative aspect and makes it that much more chaotic. Especially when you previously had a winning hand and it gets dashed by the dial."
"A bit too much maths for me," Tracey laughed. "Fun to watch others play though."
"I should bring mahjong," Sue mused. "That's a fun game but it can get pretty intense pretty quick."
"What is that like?" Daphne asked.
"Poker but with tiles," Sue said. "And a lot more yelling and chaos than poker."
"And there he goes again, eating himself poor," Tracey laughed as Blaise absent-mindedly ate a biscuit in front of him.
"Ron does it too," Ginny giggled.
"Gambling places would be a lot more interesting if you could eat your betting materials," Padma laughed.
"Probably a lot more fights and arguments," Daphne snorted.
"Speaking of gambling, I have an idea what to make for us to snack on."
"Ooh what?" Clover asked eagerly, following him to the kitchen side.
"There's a game I learned from the Dumbledores: mystery pies and beans. We make a bunch of different kinds of hand pies that all look the same and you pick one at random and eat it with a Bertie Bott's every flavor bean," he said as he started taking things out of the ice box.
"Oh that does sound like quite the gamble," Daphne smiled.
"I think Grandfather has had the worst one so far. He got the super fermented fish bean," Harry said, smiling at the memory.
"Oh I don't like the sound of that at all. Just hearing the words make me gag," Padma said queasily.
"I've smelled it before on a trip once," Hermione said, looking queasy at the memory. "It is awful, absolutely wretched."
"Let's hope our luck holds today then," Ginny said. She grinned as Ron groaned and put his cards down morosely. "More than his at least."
-0-
"Any luck?" Ragnok asked.
"Actually, some," Doran said. "On the surface, it looks like the inquiry came from the ICW. After some more investigating, the source is someone somewhat related to a major ICW official's staff."
"Interesting," Ragnok hummed. "But not sanctioned by the ICW it seems."
"No Sir," Doran said. "The person I spoke with at the ICW was clear about that. That said, officials and their staff are allowed to use ICW lines of communication for," he snorted and rolled his eyes, "'quasi-official' reasons as long as they do not go against the standards imposed by the ICW."
"How delightfully vague," Ragnok snorted. "So while they did not condone the inquiry, they did not say it could not be done as long as we are not too upset. And if we are, then it is not their fault but the official's fault, which in turn can be blamed upon the person who made said inquiry."
"Pretty much," Doran said. He shook his head. "They think they are being so clever."
"Of course they do," Ragnok said with a deeper snort. "Did you find out the originator of the inquiry?"
"A person that works for an official of the Entertainment Department for the ICW."
Ragnok looked surprised. "The ICW has a department for entertainment?"
"Apparently it is both for entertainment as well as the regulation of entertainment to magical cultures. Sort of like the Ministry Department of Secrecy."
"Oh that makes sense. Ensures that the wizarding worlds as they are do not become common knowledge to the Muggles," Ragnok nodded. "But they also produce entertainment? Or regulate it?"
"A bit of both from what I have learned," Doran said. "It is a newer department in the ICW."
"I wonder why they were asking about Harry then," Ragnok mused. "Keep at it and see if you find anything else."
"Of course. Not even the ICW gets to interfere with Gringotts business and the safety of our own," Doran sniffed.
"No they do not," Ragnok smiled widely.
-0-
"I don't know what I'm eating and it's weirding me out," Millicent said, chewing with a perplexed look on her face. "And it tastes really weird with this pie." She handed half the bean she bit into to Neville who took an experimental nibble.
"Oh that's really weird," Neville agreed, making a face. "It's fishy and creamy?"
"Sounds like tuna mayo," Harry said. "Or tuna salad. It's canned tuna mixed with seasonings and mayonnaise."
"Can't recommend that with a pork pie," Millicent said, drinking tea to wash away the taste.
The friends had all thought the mystery pie and bean game to be a great idea, with some reservations, and for the most part they were enjoying the experience. As per usual, there were definitive winners and losers.
"Mmm, custard bean and apple pie, that's a winner right there," Padma smiled as she chewed happily.
"Normally I'd hate Brussel sprouts as a bean but it does taste really good with this ham and chicken pie," Hermione said.
Pansy coughed and clutched her nose. "What was that?!" she gasped. "It was spicy but my nose feels like it's burning!" She blew her nose noisily, glaring at a laughing Aster.
"Aww boo," Parvati said glumly. "No fair."
"Did you grab a spicy looking bean?" Millicent asked.
"No, not that I thought," Pansy coughed. "I thought I would be safe enough with a green bean that it wouldn't be spicy."
"Oh did it have like a mustard or horseradishy taste to it?" Harry asked. "It might've been wasabi. Sota told me about it and I tried it when they came. It's very sharp and intense but not like a chili pepper."
"I think so? I was very surprised by it," Pansy said, breathing deeply through her nose.
"I think the petlings have the right idea," Lavender smiled. She watched Hedwig, Sunny, and Crookshanks munching on pies and ignoring the beans. "Still, it's all in good fun, right?" She bit into her pie. "Mmm! Steak pie!" With slight hesitation, she bit into a reddish-brown bean. "This is…raisin? Oh that's weird!"
"You basically got an old-fashioned mincemeat pie," Harry smiled.
"There's meat in mincemeat?" Luna asked.
"There used to be! It used to be sort of a way to preserve bits of beef and pork for the winter. You mixed bits of chopped cooked meat with lots of dried fruit and spices and wine and vinegar," Harry said. "To get all you can out of the food and to save it for winter. Eventually they started adding more sugar and sweet things to it and phased out the meat but even now they still use suet for a lot of them. Beef fat."
"Not the worst combination thankfully," Lavender smiled.
"I think I got the wurst combination," Parvati said. "As in, I'm pretty sure this bean is sausage flavored."
"Oh yeah, I think so too," Harry said when Parvati gave him the other half of the bean to try. "That's so weird. Sausage flavored beans. Which normally, beans and sausage go together great."
"Who ended up winning the whole game?" Daphne asked.
"Pansy, she got a Fool's Luck," Millicent said. "Which we all know is luck."
"I still won," Pansy said smugly.
"That is a fun game," Susan said. "No wonder Auntie and the others like it so much."
"I have got to stop eating my winnings," Blaise sighed. "Which wouldn't happen if we used something else to bet with."
"And you know why not," Hermione said sternly.
"Let's use chips next time," Parvati said.
"The round tokens they use at gambling places?" Tracey asked.
"Oh sure, we can use those," Parvati nodded. "I was just going to have Harry fry us up some instead of using biscuits."
"That would defeat the purpose of not eating the winnings," Blaise frowned.
"Only for those that lack self-control," Parvati sniffed.
"I'm surprised you didn't eat your betting materials," Padma said.
"I was munching on my personal snack supply so they didn't get mixed up," Parvati said to laughter. "Which I'm now out of come to think of it."
"I made more stuff earlier," Harry grinned.
"Love you, bro," Parvati smiled and threw an arm around his shoulders, leaning against him comfortably.
"Have you done a pie and bean combo yet?" Millicent asked.
"Not yet, might as well now." Harry reached out for a pie and bravely picked up a red-colored bean.
"Don't you know what the pies are?" Ron asked with a smile.
"No! They all look the same and we mix them up when we bake them," Clover said stoutly.
Harry put the bean on the edge of the pie and bit into both at the same time, chewing bravely.
"Well?" Lavender asked, looking at him.
He smiled. "Ketchup bean with a pork pie."
"That sounds good!" Sue said.
"Some people always have good luck," Pansy groaned.
"Food luck," Harry grinned as the others groaned at the joke.
"I think we're the ones with good food luck," Luna said brightly.
"Yeah we are," Lavender said soulfully.
-0-0-0-
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Glad you enjoyed.
alix33 - The rolled omlette. One of my favorite ways to have eggs.
poka - A bit of a meandering chapter but I thought it was fun to see all the different things and the things they shared and enjoyed together. It's nice to give Harry a chance to cook off against someone new but still roughly with his skill set.
odonnellzoo - Right? When I had my first non-instant ramen, it was so good and wonderful. I hope to one day make it at home. Same with pho. It was so nice to be able to bring Iron Chef into the setting.
Hands Off My Wolfie - There was a lot of practical applications that I really liked: food, Quidditch, and even spellwork and learning. Well Sanada was also a judge lol. Perks of being headmasters I suppose. Thanks for reading.
dtlwheels - Pretty much. It's always sad to read about people who don't adequately prepare for pets and treat them as accessories and not real living beings.
DarkRavie - Thank you.
Shilanu - I'm glad you enjoyed the stories. I love Asian cooking as well.
TheSphynx - That would be very cute and she would be good at it.
Arnie1701 - I think there will be plenty else going on.