Elena’s Culinary Conquest

When Dumbledore entered the kitchen, only busy house-elves were bustling back and forth in the spacious room.

"Deng... Mr. Dumbledore! Good heavens, is it Albus? Mr. Dumbledore!"

As the old man entered the kitchen, all the house-elves stopped their work and looked at the old wizard with white hair and silver beards standing in the doorway.

As the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Dumbledore is undoubtedly the most familiar and admired human wizard among all the house-elves. However, most of the time, they are in the headmaster's office or accept various work arrangements directly in accordance with the magical message. It is very rare to go directly to the kitchen as in this case.

According to the house-elves' experience, this situation usually represents...

"Calm down, I have no complaints or dissatisfaction".

Dumbledore smiled gently, and his eyes slowly scanned every corner of the kitchen as if he were scrutinizing.

In a messy kitchen corridor, several house-elves were cleaning up food scraps that had fallen to the floor, resembling poultry skeletons and meat bones, and the culprit responsible for all this had long since disappeared.

It seems I can ask two fewer questions. Dumbledore's eyes flickered and he said softly, "I only have a few small doubts, and I need your help to answer them."

Although he did not capture it with certainty, in Dumbledore's mind, the only one who could do such a bold and arrogant thing is probably the one with the infamous issue of silver hair who dares to secretly take over the school and mortgage it to the schoolchildren.

But what made Dumbledore even more curious is that, in his opinion, with Elina's current personal appeal, whether persuading the house-elves not to give any warning to the school's master or encouraging other first-year students to help "steal" the kitchen, to be honest, is even worse.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Dumbledore, it's all our negligence! We are not that bad! It's just a basic food supply, we weren't prepared".

At that moment, a house-elf closer to Dumbledore stood up excitedly, exclaiming, with a face full of guilt and self-blame, and his thin knuckles rubbed his napkin.

"Fools, we didn't even think of such an obvious reminder. The event planned by the great Mr. Dumbledore cannot be so simple! We didn't reserve a portion of ingredients and energy to reward students who break the conventional way of thinking. We especially prepared the eggs..."

The egg event he designed? A very obvious clue? The reward for breaking conventional thinking?

A flash of dismay passed over Dumbledore's face quickly.

In a trance, the face of the house-elf in front of him vaguely matched the commissioned goblin of the Gu Ling Pavilion, and a bad feeling of familiarity slowly seeped into the old wizard's mind.

"...The main thing is that we didn't expect to prepare so much food to take away," continued the house-elf.

Dumbledore shook his head in disapproval and said easily, "However, a group of just-turned-eleven-year-old children should not be able to do much. In summary, set the other students' dishes in the auditorium as soon as possible."

Although today's limited midday roast turkey is probably too late to roast again, at least some food must remain, Dumbledore tried to think in a more optimistic direction.

As for Elina's things, they can be dealt with later and she can be educated slowly, after all, this was originally due to the incompleteness of the rules he specified. Plus, she flexibly quoted Miss Ravenclaw's motto as a shield.

"Yes, thankfully there is Mr. Hagrid, who is the groundskeeper, otherwise the children alone certainly would not have been able to succeed."

Yes, thankfully, Hagrid...

Wait! Hagrid?!

Following the words of the house-elf, Dumbledore nodded with a smile, his expression suddenly changed, and a strong ominous hunch became clearer.

"Wait, that little demon took... oh no, what's left in the kitchen now?!"

"Are you talking about Miss Caslana? Apart from the cured salted meat in the cellar, including the grilled sausages, all the cooked meat was taken." The house-elf inclined his head respectfully, faithfully responding.

Good!

Suddenly Dumbledore felt everything darkening before him, and his heart began to twist again. This feeling was not unfamiliar to him. After all, this is the second time this year.

...

At the same time, the forest outside Hogwarts Castle was open.

Dozens of white tablecloths for the banquet were spread on the ground, and the little wizards who had just raided the kitchen gathered in groups of five or six, like on a picnic. Due to his physical problem, Hagrid was alone on a "picnic blanket".

In the center of each tablecloth were a variety of foods: minced meat pies, grilled sausages, French fries, grilled chicken thighs, French fries, boiled cabbage, and of course, Yorkshire pudding, grape tart, fruit cakes, and many other desserts.

"Is there really no problem? I always feel a bit uneasy..."

Hermione squeezed a minced meat pie between her hands, took a small bite, and murmured softly to the side.

Although so far the whole process has been exceptionally smooth, most of the situation aligns with Elena's account. But she still found some strange doubts.

For example, the almost intimate phenomenon of Elina in some cases, when she announced that all first-year students should leave the kitchen, she even used a bit of violence to "persuasively" force the greedy students to move, although Elina's explanation for this is to not delay the house-elves preparing food for the next group of students.

For example, it was clear that "Dumbledore's Easter Eggs" were meant to reward everyone. However, throughout the process, Professor Dumbledore did not appear in front of the little wizards to congratulate and praise them.

"You should focus on eating and not worry. Come and try this, it tastes quite good."

Elena calmly patted little Hermione's shoulder, skewered a piece of sausage on the golden-oiled grill, and placed it in front of the girl.

"Um, thank you."

Hermione, whose hands were not free, obediently opened her mouth, took a bite of the sausage, and vaguely said, "But why hasn't Professor Dumbledore shown up? Isn't this illogical?"

"Come on, don't overthink it. You just don't know much about Professor Dumbledore's character. He's not the kind of politician to give a long speech when everyone is hungry. He won't interrupt the meal..."

At this moment, from the direction of Hogwarts Castle in the distance, the "transmission" that had appeared before sounded again. However, this time, Dumbledore's voice was not as gentle, as if it were a mechanical sound without warmth.

"Emergency alert, emergency alert."

"Elena Caslana, first year in Hufflepuff House, come immediately to the headmaster's office!"

.....

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