"Good night, Madam Pince."
Having finished today's studies, Hermione packed up her books and greeted the librarian.
"Mm." Madam Pince nodded, though her tone was somewhat cold.
She had quite a deep impression of this young witch who came to the library to study every day, but this was just her nature. Being able to respond with an "mm" already meant she remembered this person.
For people she wasn't familiar with, she couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge them.
Not minding Madam Pince's attitude, Hermione hugged her books and left the library.
These days, she'd read some of Hufflepuff's recipes every night, but after reading for so many days without a single attempt at practice, she always felt something was missing.
So tonight, she'd deliberately skipped the Great Hall for dinner, planning to go to the school's kitchen for some practice after finishing her studies.
She'd learnt the kitchen's location from Fred and the others a few days ago. According to them, the house-elves in the kitchen were very friendly to students. Just by entering the kitchen, one could receive their warm hospitality.
Although she didn't need those elves to serve her, if they wouldn't stop her, she should be able to try Hufflepuff's recipes in the kitchen.
Thinking this, Hermione hugged her books and followed the stairs down to below the Great Hall.
Below Hogwarts' Great Hall sat the Hufflepuff common room. However, that common room's entry method was quite troublesome. One had to tap the pile of barrels in the corridor below the Great Hall in a special rhythm. Hermione hadn't learnt those rhythms, so she couldn't enter that common room.
But she wasn't heading to the Hufflepuff common room this time. Turning left at the barrel location and walking just a few steps, an enormous painting appeared before her.
It was an extremely large fruit painting, depicting bananas, apples, pears, and other common fruits. Following Fred's previous instructions, she gently tickled the surface of one of the pears.
Accompanied by giggling laughter, a door handle appeared by Hermione's hand.
Placing her hand on the handle and gently pulling it open, Hogwarts' kitchen appeared before her.
The kitchen was very large, almost matching the Great Hall's size. The room contained four long tables, arranged exactly like the Great Hall's layout. During each mealtime, house-elves would place prepared food on the tables below, then send it up to the Great Hall tables above through magic.
After roughly surveying the kitchen, Hermione was slightly stunned, looking toward a corner of the room.
There, a huge picnic blanket was spread out, with over a hundred grey-black Nifflers neatly arranged in a circle, heads down eating the food in plates before them, looking very content.
On the other side sat a young man surrounded by piles of plates. House-elves would occasionally appear beside him, delivering various delicious-looking desserts to his hands before twisting away and disappearing back into the kitchen's bustle.
"It's unnecessary, Pear. I already have more than I can finish..."
Evans was feeling somewhat helpless at the moment. Although he'd foreseen such results, these house-elves' service was still a bit too attentive.
He'd only been in the kitchen for less than half an hour, and dessert plates were nearly burying him.
"No need to mind, Professor Kahn!" Placing a plate of desserts beside Evans, the house-elf named Pear shrieked and disappeared. "Serving professors is the duty of us house-elves!"
"You did the same thing when I wasn't a professor." Looking at the house-elf that had returned to bustling in the kitchen, Evans shook his head.
Although none of these house-elves were willing to be friends with him, that was more due to the servility deeply embedded in house-elf bloodlines, preventing them from daring to establish equal friendships with wizards.
But aside from that, his talent was still taking effect. The house-elves' attitude toward him was very friendly. From the first time he'd discovered the kitchen until now, he was warmly received like this every visit.
Casually stuffing the dessert from his plate into his mouth, Evans chewed twice before hearing a tender voice call his name.
"Professor Kahn?" The voice carried confusion, as if uncertain whether it was really him.
Evans turned his head to see Hermione had somehow arrived at the kitchen entrance, staring at him in a daze.
Swallowing the dessert in his mouth, he asked somewhat strangely: "Hermione? What are you doing in the kitchen? Didn't you eat dinner?"
Seeing it was indeed Professor Kahn, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, her face showing a smile as she trotted over to Evans's side.
"I heard about the kitchen's location and entry method from Fred and the others. I planned to try Hufflepuff's recipes." She looked around at the bustling house-elves, asking timidly: "Is that okay?"
Perhaps hearing Hermione's question, several nearby house-elves stopped their work and looked over, faces showing delight.
"Lady Hufflepuff's recipes?"
"No problem! Hogwarts' kitchen is always available for use!"
Seeing those friendly house-elves around her, Hermione's face showed a happy smile.
"The elves here are all very kind, especially when you want to try something left by Lady Hufflepuff." Evans said softly: "Their ancestors all stayed at this school as cooks because of Lady Hufflepuff."
Having said this, he stood up, moved that pile of desserts aside, and brought Hermione to one of the stoves.
The magical world's stoves resembled mediaeval hearth styles but didn't require lighting fires manually and produced no smoke or dust when burning.
"What do you want to make?"
When Hermione speaks about what she wants to make, it should read: "I want to try Fire Salamander Tail Braised Cabbage with Spices first."
This was the simplest dish in Lady Hufflepuff's cookbook, and the required ingredients weren't very expensive.
Biting Cabbage, this magical plant, had quite abundant production. As long as it wasn't one of the few varieties specifically used for brewing potions, it didn't cost much.
She'd previously asked Hagrid to help obtain some of this plant, kept in the transparent box in her pocket, just for today.
Fire salamander tails, requiring over a month's growth period, were somewhat more precious than biting cabbage. But after that battle in the Forbidden Forest, those hundreds of fire salamanders had basically left their tails in the camp. As Professor Kahn said, "free for the taking", so they'd each taken some.
Now her box contained quite a bit of this material, enough for many attempts at this dish.
Today, she'd definitely succeed once!
However, unlike Hermione's confidence, Evans's expression became somewhat strange upon hearing this dish's name.
Regarding the fire salamander tail's flavour, Hermione might not know much, but he was very clear about it.
That thing was like an extremely spicy chilli pepper. Just a little bit would be incredibly hot.
Could Hermione really handle such spiciness?
Moreover, Fire Salamander Tail Braised Cabbage with Spices... this dish's flavour should be close to spiced braised cabbage?