The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 331 Kitchen
After sending away the twin brothers who took the blueprints from him and planned to make a fortune, Ryan was about to take a short lunch break when Hermione suddenly came in from outside the common room and stopped him.

"Ryan, can you come downstairs with me to do some research in the kitchen?"

"What investigation?" Ryan asked in confusion. He couldn't remember any professor assigning this kind of homework recently.

"About the investigation of house elves." Hermione explained. "Most of the work in the wizarding world is done by free slave labor of house elves, so I want to conduct a detailed investigation to determine the true situation of these house elves. After all, except for Dobby who has mental problems, I have never seen a house elf, so it is impossible to make a correct and comprehensive analysis in this case. Fortunately, Ginny told me where the house elves of Hogwarts are today, and I want to take this opportunity to take a look."

As long as it doesn't cause vomiting, Ryan nodded. After a little cleaning, he and Hermione came to a bright and wide corridor in the direction of the basement.

This corridor was different from the corridor leading to the Potions classroom that they often visited. Torches were installed densely and decorated with pleasant pictures everywhere, mainly depicting food. It was much warmer than the underground corridor leading to the Potions classroom.

When they were halfway down the corridor, they could see a pile of barrels at the end of the corridor. That should be the legendary Hufflepuff common room, but it was not their goal. When they came to a painting in the middle of the corridor with a huge silver bowl full of fruit, the two stopped.

"A silver bowl full of food? This is what Ginny is talking about. She said her brothers often come here for supper at night." Hermione walked up and tickled the big green pear. The pear began to wriggle, giggled, and suddenly turned into a big green doorknob. Hermione grabbed it, opened the door, and walked in with Ryan.

This is the kitchen of Hogwarts. Ryan has heard of this place for a long time but has never been here. The whole kitchen is a large room with a high ceiling, which is equivalent to the area of ​​the hall above. There are many glittering copper pots and basins piled up against the surrounding stone walls, and there is a large brick fireplace at the other end of the room. It is similar to the kitchen he imagined.

"Good afternoon, noble sir and lady, what are you doing here?" A house-elf who looked a little old came over and bowed and asked.

"We have been studying in Hogwarts for four years. We only found out yesterday that it is you house-elves who serve us in the school. Out of curiosity, we want to know how you work and live in the school. I just don't know if it will disturb you or cause you trouble?" Ryan stepped forward and said.

"Oh, sir, you are so polite. It's no trouble." The elderly-looking house elf bowed again and said, "You can look around at will. We will answer any questions you have."

Soon Hermione ran to the side and began to ask the house elves. The elves at Hogwarts looked pretty good. Each one was healthy and wore the same uniform: a tea towel with the Hogwarts crest printed on it. The elves wrapped the tea towels around themselves as robes. After taking a look at the two people, they lowered their heads and went back to their work. Only when Hermione went over to ask questions would the house elves stop what they were doing and answer her questions seriously.

Ryan looked curiously at the four long wooden tables in the huge kitchen. Now these tables were clean, but at mealtime these tables would be piled with food, which would then be transported to the corresponding tables above through magic.

After mastering alchemy, Ryan had observed and analyzed many things in Hogwarts, including the dining table. Unfortunately, he only looked at the dining tables in the hall at that time. He couldn't analyze what the teleportation spell on this thing was before he saw the corresponding dining table placed in the kitchen. So now that he had the opportunity to enter the kitchen, Ryan began to observe these tables. You know, these tables can teleport things on them over short distances in the Hogwarts Castle, which is said to be unable to Apparate. Ryan has always suspected that the principle behind this is probably the same as that of the Vanishing Cabinet. If he can figure this thing out, he probably will be able to master more knowledge in terms of space.

"Can you tell me the story about this table?" Ryan asked a house-elf next to him. The house-elf showed a proud look and introduced to Ryan: "Legend has it that this table was left by Hufflepuff, the founder of the school. It was already in use when our earliest ancestors came here."

"Hufflepuff! It's incredible that the things left behind by the school's founder can still be used normally after more than a thousand years." Ryan showed a surprised look.

After learning alchemy, he knew how difficult it was to make magic props that could maintain their effects for a thousand years. For example, the bracelet he made now could only maintain its effects for one or two hundred years, while Valyrian steel weapons could be preserved for a longer time due to the material advantages. However, the additional enchantments on it could only last for five or six hundred years. So Ryan was surprised when he saw that the magic effects of this table made of ordinary materials could be preserved for a thousand years.

"Of course, the great Hufflepuff made many wonderful things." The house-elf looked a little depressed. "It's a pity that we lost her favorite golden cup."

"Golden Cup?" Ryan thought of Voldemort's Horcrux. Seeing Ryan's interest in the golden cup, the house elf introduced it to him carefully.

Legend has it that the golden cup was specially used to hold drinks and beverages. It could hold drinks for the entire school and could keep the contents in the same state for a year. The only regret is that after Hufflepuff died, the elves could not find the cup.

They had always suspected that a descendant of the Hufflepuff family had taken away the item that Hufflepuff had designated to be left in the castle for the house-elves when they were packing up their belongings. Unfortunately, as house-elves, they could not enter and leave the castle at will, so they had no way to find the cup.

Ryan nodded after listening to it. After knowing the original function of the cup, it would be much easier to remove Voldemort's soul fragment once he got the cup. With this extra gain, he signaled the house elf next to him to do his work, and he began to analyze the magic on the table.

After more than half an hour, Hermione finished her data collection. Ryan also figured out the principle of these tables. He admired Hufflepuff for making the best use of the properties of those raw materials. At the same time, Hufflepuff connected the tables with the magic cycle of the entire castle, which is why these tables can be preserved for a thousand years.

After putting away the notebook, Ryan nodded to Hermione, who looked unhappy, and left the kitchen together. Of course, before leaving, they took a lot of snacks given by the house elves.

(End of this chapter)