Chapter 331: The Kitchen
Chapter 331: The Kitchen
After dismissing the Weasley Twins, who had taken the blueprints to make a fortune, Liam was about to take a short nap when Hermione called out to him from the Common Room entrance.
“Liam, can you come down to the kitchen with me to do some research?”
“What kind of research?” Liam asked, puzzled. He didn't recall any professor assigning such a task recently.
“It’s about house-elves,” Hermione explained. “Most of the work in the magical world is done by house-elves, who are essentially free slaves. I want to investigate their actual conditions. After all, apart from Dobby, who has mental issues, I’ve never seen a house-elf. In this situation, it’s impossible to make a proper, comprehensive analysis. Fortunately, Ginny told me where the Hogwarts house-elves are today, and I want to take this opportunity to check it out.”
As long as it’s not about making people vomit, Liam thought, and nodded. He quickly tidied up and followed Hermione down to a bright, wide corridor in the basement.
This corridor was different from the one leading to the Potions Classroom. The torches were placed more densely, and the walls were decorated with pleasant pictures, mostly of food. It was much cozier than the dungeon corridor leading to the Potions Classroom.
Halfway down the corridor, they could see a pile of wooden barrels at the end. That must be the Hufflepuff Common Room, Hermione thought, but it wasn’t their destination. They stopped in front of a portrait of a large silver bowl filled with fruit.
“A bowl full of food? This must be what Ginny was talking about. She said her brothers often come here for midnight snacks.” Hermione walked up and scratched the large green pear. The pear wriggled and giggled, then transformed into a large green doorknob. Hermione grabbed it, opened the door, and they both stepped inside.
This was the Hogwarts kitchen, a place Liam had heard much about but never visited. The kitchen was a vast room with a high ceiling, its size equivalent to the Great Hall above. The stone walls were lined with many gleaming copper cauldrons and basins, and at the far end was a large brick fireplace. It was much as he had imagined.
“Good afternoon, noble sir and lady. What brings you here today?” an older-looking house-elf bowed and asked.
“We’ve been studying at Hogwarts for four years, and only yesterday did we learn that you house-elves serve us here. Out of curiosity, we’d like to understand more about how you work and live here. We hope we’re not causing any trouble or inconvenience,” Liam stepped forward and said.
“Oh, sir, you are too kind. It’s no trouble at all,” the older house-elf bowed again. “Feel free to look around, and if you have any questions, anyone will be happy to answer.”
Hermione quickly ran over to start questioning the house-elves. The Hogwarts house-elves looked well-cared for, each one healthy and wearing the same uniform: a tea towel with the Hogwarts crest. They wore these towels as robes. After giving Liam and Hermione a quick glance, they returned to their work, only stopping to answer Hermione’s questions seriously when she approached.
Liam, meanwhile, curiously examined the four long wooden tables in the huge kitchen. They were spotlessly clean now, but during meals, they would be piled high with food, which would then be magically transported to the corresponding tables in the Great Hall above.
After mastering Alchemy, Liam had observed and analyzed many things at Hogwarts, including the dining tables. Unfortunately, he had only examined the tables in the Great Hall and hadn't seen the corresponding tables in the kitchen, which made it impossible to fully understand the teleportation spell on them. So, now that he had the chance to enter the kitchen, Liam began to observe these tables closely.
These tables could teleport items over short distances within the Hogwarts Castle, which was famously impossible to Apparate into. Liam had always suspected that the principle behind this was similar to that of the Vanishing Cabinet. If he could figure this out, he might gain a deeper understanding of dimensions.
"Could you tell me the story behind these tables?" Liam asked a nearby House-Elf. The House-Elf looked proud and began to explain, "These tables are said to have been left by the founder Hufflepuff. They were in use when our earliest ancestors first came here."
"Hufflepuff! Over a thousand years, and the items left by the founder of the school are still functioning. That's truly incredible", Liam said, his eyes wide with surprise.
After learning Alchemy, he knew how difficult it was to create a magical item that could maintain its effect for a thousand years. For example, the bracelet he was currently working on could only last for a couple of hundred years, and even a Valyrian steel weapon, with its superior materials, could only extend its lifespan a bit longer. The additional enchantments on it could last about five or six hundred years. So, Liam was genuinely surprised to see that this ordinary-looking table could maintain its magical effect for a millennium.
"Of course, the great Hufflepuff created many wondrous things", the House-Elf continued, but then looked a bit downcast. "Unfortunately, we lost her favorite Golden Cup."
"Golden Cup?" Liam thought of Voldemort's Horcrux. Seeing Liam's interest, the House-Elf gave him a detailed introduction.
According to legend, the Golden Cup was specifically designed to hold beverages and could store enough drink for the entire school. It could also keep the contents in the same state for a year, meaning whatever was put in would come out exactly the same. The only regret was that after Hufflepuff's death, the Pixies couldn't find the cup.
They suspected that one of Hufflepuff's descendants had taken it while sorting through her belongings, despite her explicit instructions to leave it in the castle for the House-Elves to use. Unfortunately, as House-Elves, they couldn't freely enter and leave the castle, so they had no way to find the cup.
Liam nodded, understanding the original function of the cup. Once he obtained it, removing Voldemort's soul fragment would be much simpler. With this additional information, he gestured for the House-Elf to continue with their work and began analyzing the magic on the tables.
After more than half an hour, Hermione finished her research. Liam had also figured out the principle behind the tables. He was deeply impressed by how Hufflepuff had maximized the properties of the materials used and integrated the tables into the castle's magical circulation system, which was why they had lasted for a thousand years.
Putting away his notebook, Liam nodded at Hermione, who looked a bit troubled, and they left the kitchen together. Of course, before they left, they took a variety of pastries offered by the House-Elves.
(End of Chapter)
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