I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
A Taste of Magic
97th Course – A Lazy Day
"Are you okay?" Harry asked worriedly.
Padma looked up. "Hmm? Oh, me? I'm okay."
"Uhm, you don't look it," Harry said frankly.
Padma rubbed her eyes. "Okay, maybe I'm a little not okay. I'm really stressed by O.W.L.s. I really want to do well and I'm studying so much and it's just grating on me I guess." She smiled a little when he hugged her. "Thanks."
"Everyone's feeling the strain I guess," Harry said.
The library was full of fifth and seventh years. People looked faintly feverish and harried, bent over books and notes. While typically a quiet place already, the library had an undercurrent of nervousness running through it, of people at their limits.
"Yeah, and I have my prefect duties to do," Padma sighed. "Sometimes I don't know why I took the position."
"Because then you couldn't be padfect?" Harry suggested with a smile.
She snorted. "You make it sound endearing. Parvati makes it frustrating."
"To be fair, you haven't known me long enough for me to annoy you as much."
She smiled and hugged him. "I doubt you'd ever irritate me like she could. I appreciate your attempts though."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
She shook her head. "Not really, unless you can somehow give me more time to study or something like that. I know time-turners are a thing but to use that for studying sounds like a new level of hell. Plus you have your O.W.L.s studying and I know you're working hard for the team thing too for the Showcase."
"So are you."
"Yeah, but you'll be doing more for that." She smiled weakly. "I'll be okay. Thanks though! Maybe make me something tasty later?"
"Of course," Harry said. They hugged one more time and Harry left the library. As he walked, he thought a bit and went to the Uncommon Room. "Hi Hedwig."
Hedwig cheeped at him and fluttered to him, sitting on his shoulder and nuzzled him lovingly.
"Are you up for a couple of flights?" he asked.
She bonked her head against his, hooting sternly, making him laugh.
"Glad to hear it. You know the places too. Going to have you take a couple of messages and wait for a reply please." He wrote a few letters and helped her put on her harness. At her direction, he tied a pink ribbon bow around the harness and gave her a pre-flight snack. "Take your time," he said and watched her flap out the window. In an incredibly short time, she was already gone from sight. "She's getting faster and faster," Harry said admiringly.
-0-
"Hey Harry!"
"Hey Amy!" Harry smiled and exchanged a hug with Amythyst. "What're you doing here?"
"Bringing you something," Amythyst said and handed him a large circular pan with large wells in the surface spaced out evenly. "Since Hedwig was out with a few messages, I brought this and the recipes for you."
"Aww thanks, I really appreciate it," Harry said gratefully. "Wow, heavy pan."
"Yup! Cast goblin iron. The extra durable stuff. You could hit Flynt with it and nothing would happen to it."
"What would happen to Flynt?" Harry grinned.
"Something I'm sure," Amythyst grinned back. "Your idea got added to a breakfast plate for one of the early morning kitchens. It's a hit."
"That's good, and the recipe is here?"
She nodded. "And a traditional goblin one."
"Thanks Amy. Say hi to Chef and the Crew for me."
"Will do. Few of us are going to come on your next Hogsmeade day."
"I'll warn Mr. Abe," Harry smiled.
-0-
"Harry wants us to go to the Uncommon Room tomorrow," Millicent said. Sunny had returned to their dorm room with a note tied to her collar.
"We go there when we can anyways," Pansy said, bemused.
"Well yeah but he wants all of us to come first thing in the morning," Millicent laughed.
"Okay then," Pansy said agreeably. "I wonder why."
"Knowing Harry? Something evil and nefarious," Millicent said with a big smile. "Ow! Sunny! That was a joke!"
"Oh my, the beast turned on her owner for him," Pansy laughed, laughing all the harder at the look of wounded indignation on Millicent's face and Sunny's flat-eared look of feline indignation.
"You're not supposed to do that," Millicent complained.
-0-
"Oh hello everyone," Luna said brightly, seeing everyone coming to the Uncommon Room.
"Morning," Blaise said, stifling a yawn. "Does anyone know why we are here so early?"
"Not really," Ron said. "Harry was already gone when we woke up this morning."
"Might as well find out," Parvati said. She opened the door and they all trouped in, sniffing the air appreciatively.
"Hey everyone!" Harry waved to them. "First, put your bags and school things on the table there."
"Why?" Hermione asked, frowning.
"Don't you trust me?" Harry asked, looking hurt.
"Of course I do," she protested. "But I mean-wait hey!"
"Come on, it's Harry," Tracey said, taking Hermione's bookbag and putting it on the table with her own. "He's not a Weasley. Oh! Sorry! I meant he isn't one of the twins!" she amended with red cheeks.
Ron snorted and Ginny did the same. "That's our thought process," Ron said easily, putting his things on the table.
"Wow, you just let her take your stuff like that," Parvati said admiringly. "She really is a bad influence on you."
"Let me put my prefect badge on my bag too so I can do things," Hermione said shortly.
"Now you're just really proving my point," Parvati sniffed.
After everyone put their things on the table, Harry tapped it with his wand and a faint outline glowed gently. "That's pretty," Astoria commented. "What was that?"
"A Blocking Charm. It temporarily blocks people from crossing it for a short time. Grandmother taught it to me. She said it's one of the best ways to protect treats and things going missing."
"Uh, how long is it going to last?" Padma said nervously. "Because we really need to study. O.W.L.s are only a few weeks away."
"Only for a short while," Harry said. "And I know O.W.L.s are coming but we still have like a couple of months, not just a few weeks. I saw that everyone was stressing over classes and O.W.L.s and prefect duties and other things, less about O.W.L.s for you guys not in our year but you've been busy too, and I figured we could all use just a nice lazy day, even a few hours to just relax and not worry about things."
He gestured to the long table laden with all sorts of ingredients and things. "And I was thinking what's a nice lazy day food and decided to do a bunch of different kinds of pancakes."
"Why pancakes?" Sue asked.
"They seemed like a very lazy food to me," Harry said weakly. "You know, they just lie about."
"Makes sense to me," Luna said brightly.
"You really did all this for us?" Daphne asked, touched.
"Everyone deserves a break, even if it's just a short while. Plus this gave me a chance to try some new things. I asked for some help with some recipes and I got a lot."
"No way!" Parvati and Padma gasped when they saw a very familiar looking batter being brought out in a large container. "Is that dosa batter?!" they exclaimed together.
"It is! Grandmother Durga gave me the recipe and said I can do dosa and uttapam from the same batter. She sent me the urad dal and told me how to make it with the rice and I had the batter fermenting after I soaked and ground the dal with the rice." He smiled broadly when the Patil twins hugged him tightly. "She also forgives me if I mess it up the first few times."
"You're the best," Padma said happily.
"We know how to make it too, we just didn't think it would be easy to get the stuff to make it," Parvati said eagerly.
"It has to be good with their reaction," Lavender smiled.
"It's so good," the twins said together.
With their help, Harry put pans on to the stove to heat and they poured out measures of the batter. "Dosa are a lot thinner and crispier, kinda like crepes," Parvati said. "You can eat them plain or spiced or wrap them around a filling. They're usually savory."
"Uttapam are thicker and you put toppings on them," Padma said. "Also savory usually."
"Oh it's so glossy and pretty," Pansy said when they put out the dosa. It was indeed thin and crispy with a golden-brown exterior. They broke easily when pulled on and had a delightful chew to them. "Mmm, they're tangy!"
"The batter is fermented a little, kinda like pickles are," Harry said. "I really like the flavor of them. The batter is fermented lentils and rice."
"Oh, these are really good," Ginny said, munching on the smaller and rounder and thicker uttapam. "I like the onions and herbs in it. They're nice and chewy."
"Do you have these at breakfast time?" Astoria asked as she ate a dosa happily.
Padma nodded, chewing blissfully. "Sometimes with leftover vegetables from the night before mixed into the batter and cooked together. This is home for us."
"I like how you spread the dosa batter around on the pan," Neville said. "Makes it even and thin."
"The next one is savory too," Harry said, lifting a towel off of a pan.
"Cong you bing!" Sue shouted. "You made these?!"
"Your mum gave me the recipe. They were a lot of fun to make," Harry said, enthusiastically returning Sue's high five.
"They're scallion pancakes," Sue explained to the rest. "So good! You can eat them with a beaten egg or fried egg or as is with a sauce, or even wrap them in something sometimes but I love them every way. They have lots of layers and lots of crunchy scallions."
"They smell amazing," Terry said as the scallion pancakes sizzled in the pan.
"You can tell they're well made when you see them puff up a little here and there," Sue pointed out. "That means the layers are thin and are heating up throughout, and the layers will separate and you can taste all the chewy layers."
When they were browned nicely on both sides, the pancakes were cut into small pieces and the others ate them by dipping them into soy sauce with other seasonings mixed in.
"These are chewy and crunchy," Blaise said. "Very nice. I like the different textures and the crunchy scallions."
"This one is a goblin recipe," Harry said. He put thinly sliced mushrooms, green onions, slivers of onion, and julienned carrots into a bowl and added flour, water, and salt on top. He mixed it all together and then ladled the mixture into a hot skillet, pressing on the top gently to even it out. "It's also super similar to the Korean pancake called jeon which is nice."
"Mmm, gosh that's tasty too," Millicent said as she bit into it when it was done. The vegetables were soft but still retained their shape. The batter holding it together was soft too, absorbing a bit more oil. The whole pancake was softer and chewier than the crispy Chinese scallion pancakes. The sauce they used for the former was just as delicious on the later.
"You know, I only ever thought of pancakes being sweet, these are really nice," Ron said.
"I hope you're still looking forward to sweet ones," Harry said.
"Always," Ron said eagerly.
"That's a weird pan!" They looked at the large pan with the small wells on the surface. "What is it?" Astoria asked.
"It's called an aebleskivers pan," Harry explained. He ladled small amounts of batter into each well and they sizzled and cooked. "Danish pancake balls."
"Oh fish balls are funny but not pancake balls?" Sue asked, rolling her eyes.
"Pancake bollocks are still funny," Luna said to open laughter.
"They look so cute," Lavender exclaimed when Harry rolled them after they cooked a little. Using chopsticks, he moved them so that the batter flowed into the well while the cooked portion was out and he moved them once more, eventually forming a small round pancake.
"You eat them with powdered sugar, honey, or jam," Harry said. He popped one into his mouth, enjoying the soft fluffy texture and the light sweetness of the small pancake.
"I really like these," Susan said, licking her lips. "They're delicious!"
"And finally, American style buttermilk pancakes."
"What makes American pancakes different from our kind?" Luna asked.
"Ours are usually thinner like crepes. They don't have a leavening agent, something that makes the batter fluffy. American ones are thicker and softer." Harry waited for the round pancake edges to lift from the pan a little and small bubbles appeared in the batter before flipping it.
"Those definitely look a lot more cakey," Tracey observed.
"Oh but they're really good too," Parvati said. "Wow, imagine having a few of these at the start of the day. I'd be tempted to go back to sleep."
"Oh I imagine these would be very lovely to sleep with too," Luna said, her cheeks full of pancakes. "They're very soft and fluffy."
"That would be really sticky though," Astoria said, giving Luna an odd look.
"Well no syrup of course, that would be silly."
"Right, that's the silly part." Astoria yelped, looking up at Daphne who gave her a stern look.
"And there's plenty of extras of all the pancakes we had today," Harry said, gesturing to the ice box and the back table that was covered in more ingredients. "If anyone wants more of a certain kind, we can make more."
"I can never not have enough dosa or uttapam," Parvati said happily.
"Thanks for doing this for us," Padma said, giving him another hug.
"Of course, what are sibs for?" Harry said with a smile.
They broke into different groups based on what they wanted to eat more of. Parvati and Padma helped the others make the dosa and uttapam while Sue took over the cong you bing. The goblin jeon style pancakes were easy for others to handle and there was plenty of batter for the aebleskivers and the American pancakes. Laughter filled the air as people cooked and ate and chatted, trading the different finished products about and commiserating at not so perfect ones while appreciating and praising the ones that turned out well.
"I'm glad the animals are partly magical too," Hermione said. "I'm pretty sure regular cats can't have pancakes and onions and syrup and things. Also pretty sure owls shouldn't either."
Hedwig, Sunny, and Crookshanks had done justice to their own fair share of the many different pancakes too. Crookshanks was sprawled out in his bed, having eaten himself comatose. Sunny was nibbling on one last aebleskiver and Hedwig munched happily on a crisp cong you bing.
"That would be really unfortunate," Harry smiled, rubbing Hedwig's head.
"It's so fun that there are so many different kinds of pancakes," Ginny said. "Just depends on where you're from."
"In Chinese, a lot of the flatbread or thin pancakes we use to wrap other things in is called bing," Sue said. "There's a nice street food one where it's scrambled egg and sauces and lettuce wrapped in a thin pancake. We also have really nice thin ones to wrap duck in or stir-fried meat and veg in."
"I read about a Japanese one in the book you gave me," Harry said. "It sounds really interesting but I didn't want to try it just yet. It also looked really intimidating to try. I was really happy to find out that the goblin one is so similar to the Korean one."
"You're going to choke if you keep doing that," Pansy chided, watching Millicent throw an aebleskiver up and catch it in her mouth. "And I'm going to point and laugh. Hey!" She gasped and looked down when an aebelskiver bounced off her front, leaving a powdered sugar impact on her shirt. "Don't waste food!"
"Don't throw food around," Harry said with a mock-sad sigh. "If you do, I'll feel bad and won't cook anymore."
"Won't happen again, ever, I swear," Millicent said hurriedly. She cleaned it up and hugged Harry. "Forgive me!" He laughed and coughed when she tightened her grip and he patted her arm in equal parts soothing and to have her loosen up some.
"That is a threat we would not ignore," Daphne said sincerely.
"I was kidding," Harry said sheepishly.
"The threat is still enough to take it seriously, even if you weren't," Blaise said.
After a while longer, everyone sat back, completely sated.
"That was nice, thank you so much," Hermione said and the others echoed her words.
"I'm glad! And see? It was nice to not be worried about things for a little bit. The charm wore off a while ago and no one seemed all that eager to restart studying," Harry said.
"It did?" Padma looked over at the pile of school things. "I guess it can wait a little longer," she conceded. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up," she sighed, pushing a giggling Parvati.
"We can clean up," Ron said, rising with a groan and rubbing his stomach. "Slowly. I'd hate to get a stomach ache and ruin all that food."
"Not you," Pansy said, pushing Harry back into his seat. "Our turn. You did all this for us. Here." She put a purring Sunny in his lap and a comfortably plump and heavy Hedwig on his head. "You cannot move anymore."
"Not without feeling bad," he said, smiling in agreement. Crookshanks yowled until Hermione deposited him around Harry's shoulders like a furry shawl, making the kneazle purr with comfort.
"Did you make some for the elves?" Sue asked.
"I did. We did some testing yesterday," Harry said, accepting a cup of tea. "They'll probably show up on the tables soon in different ways."
"Excellent," Millicent smiled.
The rest of the day passed pleasantly. They broke into groups and worked on schoolwork and reviewing things with each other, with Luna and Ginny and Astoria helping to quiz the older students based on notes and things. A few left to go to the library or to do other things, Ron and Ginny had Quidditch practice which Terry did as well.
"This was nice," Hermione said, closing her notebook. "I feel pretty good about things and it really was nice to start the day in such a pleasant way.
"Yeah seriously, I feel loads better. Thanks sib," Padma said, leaning against Harry.
"I'm glad everyone liked it," Harry said contentedly. "I know a lot is going on but it's nice to just relax a little bit while still staying on task."
"Not too much time left though," Lavender said. "Next thing we know, it'll be O.W.L.s then it'll be the Showcase."
"I wonder what things will be like after," Pansy said softly.
"We'll be fine," Parvati said confidently. "I say that now with a belly full of pancakes and with perhaps an undeserved sense of confidence. I'll probably be losing my shite when test time comes."
They laughed together at that. "We'll do it together though," Harry said.
"Lose our shite? Collectively?"
"Sure, why not," Harry grinned.
"That sounds unpleasant," Hermione sniffed. "Panicking, I mean. As long as we're prepared, we won't need to."
"You lose your shite, don't pretend you don't," Parvati scoffed.
"I don't know, I haven't seen it yet," Tracey smiled.
"I can prove it," Parvati said slyly. "Say, Trace, can I call you Trace? Trace, Hermione won't confirm or deny that you two have snog-" Hermione shrieked and leapt forward, tackling Parvati and the two girls fell over with a shout.
"Is it bad that I feel a little jealous that she hasn't done that to me?" Tracey asked with a small pout while the others roared with laughter.
"Which, Parvati bothering you into a physical reaction or being tackled by Hermione?" Daphne giggled.
"More the latter," Tracey smiled.
"I was about to say that give it time. Parvati almost always has that effect on people," Padma smiled. "Hey! Scrap that way, not on me," she said, kicking back at Parvati.
"Harry! Help!" Parvati yelped.
Harry chuckled and after a moment flicked his wand, separating the two. He then put Sunny on Parvati and Crookshanks on Hermione, pinning them down. "There we go. Now you two can't move and can cool off some."
"Cool off? Sunny's pretty warm," Parvati laughed from her prone position.
"I'm going to kill you," Hermione hissed, grasping at air.
"You're mad? I still haven't gotten an answer yet!" Parvati complained to a laughing crowd.
-0-0-0-
TheSphynx - That's such high praise for me. I love re-reading books. There are two series that I reread every year so hearing people like to reread what I write is very comforting to me. Thank you so much.
DOOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Yup, laying the framework down for lots of things coming up. I'm trying to be more interesting that way.
Astrakahn - Thank you so much, glad you enjoy. Thank you for reading.
DarkRavie - Thank you.
odonnellzoo99 - One of my favorite comedic tools, it's so banal and such a dumb aside but I adore it. I liked that throwaway bit too. Fawkes, a being that one assumes would be dignified, acting like an idiot and Dumbledore serenely ignoring him. Thank you, I had a pleasant holiday. Hope you had a good one too.
alix33 - I didn't know prunes was a traditional ingredient either. I looked at a few different recipes and it popped up a few times.
TheReader81 - My goal for this fic was to highlight some of the other characters one usually doesn't see and ones I haven't really written before, and give them new life and let them grow and explore and develop.
Hands Off MY Wolfie - That's more for Harry. Most of the other students will have separate classes. Hedwig could probably outfight and outfly a drone. Thanks for reading.
poka - That has been fun too, exploring how Dumbledore and the teachers interact as well as other adults. I was pretty happy with the Fudge scene a while back. I'm pretty excited for the Showcase, if I'm being honest. I'm about there in writing and it's going to be some very different world building and I hope people like it too. Thank you.
Tatieyana - Unfortunately for the last 8 weeks or so, the website had a lot of problems. I see every chapter fine, probably because I posted them, but for a while there was a lot of missing ones and I didn't have any control over them. The site has been much better lately so hopefully things are fixed. You can try AO3 as well. Same username. I'm glad you are enjoying the story.
1529 - Always happy to see you and thank you for the kind words. Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving too.
dtlwheels - Thank you. I wanted to challenge myself and show Dumbledore in a different light in this fic.
mbporecha - Thank you.