Chapter 439 Looking up at the Stars
"Pay attention to the presentation! One last time, the soul of this dish lies in the presentation!"
In the Hogwarts kitchen, after Elena turned around and gave the last instructions to the elves, she glanced at the little witches around her who had strange faces and hesitated to speak, and said in a brisk tone.
"Come on, we should go to the auditorium."
Although some unpleasant episodes occurred, the Hogwarts Great Hall tonight was as grand as ever.
Hundreds of magic candles floated above the table, making the gold plates and goblets sparkle.
The four long college tables were already filled with chattering students, and most of them had a mixture of anxiety, confusion and excitement on their faces. From the mouths of friends and classmates, many people already knew what happened this afternoon.
Whether it is the three houses jointly stealing vegetables, or Hufflepuff cleaning up the staff vegetable garden, it is a big event like a milestone for these little wizards - any event, when the scope and influence are large enough When the time comes, the punishment for breaking the rules will no longer be so scary.
The students were discussing in low voices while curiously looking at the expressions of the professors on the faculty seats.
What is slightly different from usual is that there is an extra table next to the faculty and staff seats at the end of the auditorium, but there are no seats behind the table. It does not seem like there are guests visiting.
In addition, although the professors, especially the deans of the college, looked a little serious, in general, they were not as violent and angry as the students imagined, which made the little wizards a little less nervous.
In the middle of the headmaster's desk sat the headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore.
The old wizard's flowing silver-white hair and beard shone in the candlelight, and his luxurious dark green robes were embroidered with many stars and moons. The fingertips of Dumbledore's two slender hands touched together, his chin rested on the fingertips, and his eyes looked at the ceiling above the auditorium through half-moon lenses, as if he was lost in thought.
The ceiling has been enchanted and looks like the night sky outside. Countless stars are dotted in the deep night sky. The twinkling starlight brings a dreamy and mysterious atmosphere to the entire auditorium - just like today. The only dish on the menu has the same name.
"Looking up at the stars, it's such an intoxicating name."
Sybill Trelawney, the divination professor at Hogwarts, picked up the menu in her hand and took a look at it. She raised her head, looked at the starry sky above the auditorium with blurred eyes, and whispered in a voice similar to an aria.
"How rich the combination of ingredients and how poetic the appearance must be to be given this name?"
What a romantic experience it is to enjoy delicious dishes called "Looking up at the stars" in the auditorium under the deep starry sky.
"Ahem."
Just when Professor Trelawney was just beginning his reverie, Dumbledore's clear coughing sound came to his ears.
Professor Dumbledore suddenly stood up, and the hum of voices in the hall suddenly stopped. Everyone stopped talking and subconsciously turned their heads to look at Dumbledore.
"So." Dumbledore glanced at the white-haired dumpling who had just entered the auditorium, raised his eyebrows and said slightly seriously, "I think you all already know that some regrettable group garden thefts occurred in the afternoon. Therefore, in Before we start today’s dinner, I have a few announcements to make.”
"In view of the food theft incidents that occurred in four houses today, the Hogwarts kitchen will temporarily refuse to cook ingredients of unknown origin. In other words, tonight's vegetable and staple food cooking tasks will be completed by everyone here - for this reason, The Hogwarts kitchen has specially prepared cauldrons, frying pans, knives and various common condiments. You can flexibly adjust and choose according to your own taste."
Following Dumbledore's voice, steaming cauldrons, various styles of kitchen utensils, and dozens of unnamed spice jars appeared on the dining tables of the four colleges.
Immediately afterwards, piles of 'swag' with earthy fragrance from the student dormitories or vegetable gardens also appeared at the end of each college's long table, piled up in disorder, seemingly Extraordinarily green and pollution-free.
The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched a few times - he seemed to have seen the chaotic scene a few minutes later.
After a slight pause for a few seconds, Dumbledore continued.
"In addition, starting tomorrow, Hogwarts will implement the [Potato Exchange System]. Each college can pay a certain number of potatoes to determine the dishes that will appear on the table of the college in the next week. The specific payment amount will be determined by each college. The actual ingredients reserves of the college and the difficulty of cooking are determined.”
"At the same time, a college market is open every weekend. You can sell/purchase the ingredients and new menus you want from the kitchen or other colleges. Special note, the coverage will include all three meals including meat and drinks... "
"Awesome!" George blinked and nudged his twin brother with his elbow.
"That's right, just keep growing potatoes from now on." Fred nodded, with the same smile on his face.
According to the new regulations promulgated by Dumbledore, the large potato field planted by Gryffindor College instantly changed from the worst choice that no one cared about to a treasure land for growing "gold" - think about it, no matter what the future, Whatever they wanted to eat, they could buy it with endless potatoes.
"Why, I always feel like something is wrong."
Hermione frowned in confusion, turned her head to look at Elena sitting next to her, and asked in a low voice.
"Elena, why does it sound like you are rewarding Gryffindor? Logically speaking, we should be the most likely to be punished after violating school rules several times in a row..."
There is no doubt that if there is anyone in the entire Hogwarts who can better understand the meaning of the new rules, then Elena Kaslana, who was directly involved in the formulation, is definitely the most suitable person.
"This is already punishment..."
Elena glanced at the Gryffindor boys who were in ecstasy with a little pity, shook her head and said softly.
"Don't forget, the power of pricing lies with the Hogwarts kitchen and other houses. Potatoes as the base currency measure means that the unit value of crops grown in Gryffindor House fields is at the bottom of the entire system. ——To put it simply, if they want to eat an apple in the future, they may need to exchange it for a dozen potatoes.”
Although Hogwarts' [Potato Standard] sounds somewhat similar to the [Gold Standard], there is actually a very essential difference, that is, in this system, potatoes also exist as the base monetary unit.
On the other hand, "commodity" is extremely irreplaceable in Slytherin House. Although it theoretically has the highest trade pricing ceiling, scarcity does not mean expensive. Only when "Slytherin specialties" are widely demanded After that, the prices of the crops they grow will slowly begin to increase.
Of course, there are more complex logics involved.
Although the entire [Potato Trading System] seems fair and open at first glance, the Hogwarts Kitchen, as a market mastermind, can actually interfere with the "asset value" of all colleges by adjusting pricing power at any time.
This kind of dimensionality reduction attack on economics majors, let alone this group of children who are generally no more than 18 years old, even experienced Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and others will be difficult to reduce all the dimensions in a short time. I figured it all out in a twist and turn.
"...specific details will be posted on the bulletin boards of each college later."
Dumbledore looked at the many students in front of him with a smile and said - the students were like wasps that exploded their nest, so that he had to raise his voice to ensure that his words could be heard by everyone.
There is no doubt that most of the children's attention was obviously attracted by the subsequent "potato trading market".
Everyone was excitedly thinking about what they would eat next week and how the crops grown by their college would be sold to other colleges.
In desperation, Dumbledore had to clear his throat forcefully again.
"Oh - you still have a whole week to understand and discuss this matter... there is no need to rush..." Dumbledore said, "Now let us return our attention to today's dinner. As punishment, today In the evening, except for the [Looking at the Stars] fish dish provided by the kitchen, all the rest of the cooking needs to be done by yourself."
Following Dumbledore's reminder, the young wizards' attention was finally drawn back and they returned to the dining table in front of them.
"Looking up at the stars? Do you know what that is?"
"I don't know, but the name sounds wonderful. It's definitely a dreamy dish like the starry sky above."
"I didn't expect that after getting into such a big trouble, I could still eat delicious food. I'm so lucky!"
"It seems that the faculty and staff seats are also the same as ours. We don't have to worry this time."
“I don’t know what kind of cuisine it is, but the authentic Scottish flavor is really nostalgic.”
"Tsk, what a bunch of innocent guys. That little girl was obviously angry when she left..."
All the teachers and students looked curiously at the empty plates in front of them, looking forward to the appearance of [Looking at the Starry Sky], while thinking about how to cook a delicious dish full of creativity and imagination.
No one realized what would happen next.
"If there are no problems, let's start, right?"
Dumbledore looked around the auditorium with a smile, raised his hands and clapped softly.
The next moment, countless plates of famous British dishes [Looking at the Starry Sky] appeared in front of everyone in the auditorium. (picture)
Inside the traditional pie baked golden brown, fish heads and tails were cut out. Under Elena's repeated instructions, the house elves carefully adjusted the presentation of each plate of "Looking Up at the Starry Sky". The shape ensures that every fish head faces the sky, and every pair of dead fish eyes flashes with a strange light.
"..."
Slowly lowering his head and staring blankly at the dozens of pairs of protruding fish eyes staring at him, Albus Dumbledore's cheeks twitched - is this the legendary and authentic Scottish fish cooking method? !
at the same time……
The entire auditorium seemed to have been cast by silencing magic. Everyone silently stared at the fish eyes in front of them, falling into a long and complicated thought about life. Many people were destined to have nightmares this night...