Everything is Ready

Chapter 26 Everything is Ready

The kitchen is easy to find; it's located directly below the Great Hall of Hogwarts, accessible via the stairs leading to the Hufflepuff common room.

Ian quickly arrived at the stone-built basement corridor and found the legendary painting that concealed the door—a painting of a bowl filled with fruit.

Before he could even scratch the pear, the door opened from the inside, and a student wearing a Hufflepuff ginger school uniform walked out.

This unexpected encounter left them both somewhat stunned.

However, Ian quickly realized that he already knew the identity of the student when he saw him. It was because the student's face was too recognizable: Cedric, the Hufflepuff Light and a model student.

"Good morning. So this must be the hidden kitchen door. Looks like I'm lucky to have found the right place. Ian Titus."

As Ian spoke, he extended his right hand.

He felt it was necessary to get to know this kind-hearted person who was both very popular and good-looking in the original work.

"Hi, I'm Cedric Diggory. Mr. Titus, I know you. Many Hufflepuff girls talk about you, and they've privately voted you the most handsome boy Hogwarts has had in nearly a hundred years."

After Cedric, the sunny boy type, finished speaking, he also extended his right hand to shake hands with Ian as a gesture of friendliness.

"I always thought only Hufflepuffs cared about the kitchen, but I didn't expect Ravenclaws to care too. You've come to the right place, this is the hidden kitchen. Many students don't even know where the kitchen is for seven years."

After a slight pause, Cedric added, "Do you need me to come in with you? As Hufflepuffs, no one knows the kitchen better than us."

"Thank you for your enthusiasm, but I'd like to explore it by myself. Only by discovering the mysterious castle alone can I truly feel a sense of accomplishment, don't I?"

Ian politely declined Cedric's offer. It wasn't a dangerous place that required accompaniment, and he wasn't there to ask for a lavish lunch.

……

When Ian arrived at the kitchen, he was still deeply shocked. It was a room as spacious as the auditorium above, with a ceiling hundreds of meters high, making it hard to connect it with the basement at all.

A huge stone fireplace, a neatly arranged array of kitchen utensils, and many gleaming copper pots and pans—countless house-elves are diligently working to prepare lunch for the students.

When the house-elves saw Ian arrive, there was no outrageous chaos or riotous scene. Instead, they were focused on their own tasks.

Indeed, if every visiting student caused some kind of disturbance, then the students at Hogwarts probably wouldn't be able to eat much food all year round.

"Bang!" Just as Ian was observing the kitchen, a house-elf about two feet tall suddenly appeared in front of him.

Wearing their own exclusive "uniforms," ​​a tea towel printed with the Hogwarts crest is wrapped around their bodies like a cape.

The most striking feature was his enormous eyes, which occupied a third of his face, and he was looking at Ian with a fawning expression.

"Respected little wizard, what can Sasha do for you?"

Looking at the house-elf, whose tone was filled with humility and sincerity, Ian actually felt quite sympathetic towards these intelligent beings.

But he doesn't intend to change anything; everything happens inevitably, so he has no intention of becoming a so-called saint.

"I need a large quantity of food that can be stored for a long time, and I can pay for it with Galleons."

"Oh no, no, Sasha can't take money from the little wizard. Sasha can provide the little wizard with ingredients."

"...But if there are too many, the principal's signature is required, and no one can change that, bad Sasha, bad Sasha! You can't satisfy the little wizard's request."

Seeing that the house-elf was about to begin its characteristic self-harm mode, Ian had to stop it immediately. After all, no one with any mental issues would enjoy watching such a scene.

"You can go and ask the headmaster right now, just tell him about Ian Titus's needs. Don't be afraid, I won't leave, I'll be here waiting for you to come back."

"Okay, Sasha will go now." The elves who can teleport at Hogwarts are incredibly efficient.

In just a few minutes, with a bang, the vanished house-elf returned to Ian.

"Sasa has obtained permission from the great headmaster to meet all of Mr. Ian Titus's needs and provide you with food that can be stored in large quantities for a long time."

As the house-elf named Sasha spoke, she snapped her fingers, and bags of potatoes, corn, onions, wheat flour, carrots, eggs, and various other foods instantly appeared around her.

Ian did not show any greed towards the mountain of food piled up in front of him, after all, it was only a month, and he would return to Hogwarts in the next 30 days.

So he took only a little of each kind of food, enough for two people for a month, along with the corresponding seasonings such as salt and peppercorns.

After packing everything into his infinitely expandable backpack, Ian left the kitchen cleanly and efficiently.

"Now everything is ready, except for the final push."

Looking at the backpack full of food, various potions, and the flying broom that he had bought long ago, Ian checked for any missing items while silently glancing at the countdown hourglass in his mind.

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(End of this chapter)