Hogwarts: Lacus doesn't want to be a witch who destroys nations.

The man and his Poro charged straight toward the oak door of Hogwarts Castle, the entrance to the kitchen, adorned with a still life painting of fruit.

Approaching the enormous oil painting depicting a silver bowl piled high with fresh fruit, Lux skillfully extended her finger and gently scratched the largest, juicy-looking green pear in the painting.

"Giggle giggle..." Green Pear let out a very realistic laugh, like a hen laying an egg, while wriggling her round body.

Then, as if coming to life, the entire painting slid open to the side, revealing a spacious, bright entrance filled with warm fragrance and lively sounds.

A warm breeze, a blend of the aromas of toasted bread, the richness of stewed meat, the freshness of herbs, and the scents of hundreds of ingredients, swept over Lux, instantly healing her wounded heart from the unofficial history.

Hogwarts kitchens are incredibly large, with dozens of huge stone fireplaces arranged under high vaulted ceilings, where flames leap merrily, and on top of them sit bubbling stew pots, sizzling frying pans, and rotating grills.

The long, narrow countertop was piled high with potatoes, carrots, onions, and all sorts of magical vegetables whose names I didn't know, along with glittering utensils.

House-elves flitted about in the kitchen.

They wore tea towels of various designs printed with the Hogwarts emblem, their pointed ears twitching excitedly as they busied themselves.

"Hurry! We need ten more baskets of baked potatoes for the Gryffindor table!"

"Ravenclaw lemon tarts should be drizzled with extra honey syrup!"

"Cut those dancing pumpkins into cubes!"

The kitchen was filled with sharp commands, the clanging of pots and pans, the sizzling of ingredients being added to the pan, and the chirping of little elves.

Lumi's eyes widened in disbelief, drool dripping from its mouth onto the gleaming stone floor. "My goodness! This is heaven! Absolutely heaven! It's even more magnificent than our King's kitchen!"

Lux's gaze instantly locked onto the dessert area deep in the kitchen. Huge multi-tiered cakes exuded the sweet aroma of cream and chocolate, freshly baked pies steamed, golden puddings trembled, and there were mountains of various cookies, cream puffs, macarons... It was as if the air was filled with frosting.

Lux licked her lips, a glint of light flashing in her eyes, "Poro Throw!"

She grabbed Lumi, who was still drooling, and threw her arm back in a standard throwing motion.

"Pop pop—!" Lumi transformed into a white shooting star, whistling through the air, and landed precisely on the head of a little elf who was carrying pumpkin pie.

Splat!

Lumi landed with a fluffy thud on its bottom, but it didn't care. It was immediately attracted by the aroma of raspberries that was right next to it, and it used its little paws to scratch at the edge of the bowl, trying to squeeze in.

At the same time, Lux's figure blurred in place, and the next second she had teleported to Lumi's side.

"Lumi, it has to be you again." Lux praised in a low voice, casually picking up a plump raspberry and popping it into her mouth, the sweet and sour juice instantly bursting in her mouth.

"start!"

She ignored the curious glances from the little elves around her, but felt more helpless at the thought of "another student stealing food," clearly this wasn't the first time it had happened.

Just as Lux was holding a cream puff in one hand and a waffle in the other, with a pie stuffed in her mouth, preparing for the next wave of scavenging, she caught a glimpse of something unusual in the food storage area next to the dessert section.

An ordinary-looking oak barrel was shaking violently at an extremely unnatural frequency.

The lid of the bucket rattled loudly, as if some ferocious wild beast was trapped inside.

"Hmm?" Lux's curiosity instantly overwhelmed her appetite. She held half a pie in her mouth and leaned closer.

The wooden bucket looked like an ordinary water storage bucket, but there seemed to be extremely faint magical fluctuations flowing around its surface.

Lux poked the side of the barrel with her finger; it was icy cold to the touch.

"Spatial Expansion?" Lux raised an eyebrow. This spell looked familiar; it was commonly used in the shops of Diagon Alley.

The lid of the bucket was shaken so badly it almost flew off, and the contents inside seemed very restless.

"Who's jumping around in there?" Lux muttered, clutching the snacks in her arms with one hand and gently tapping the rim of the lid with her wand with the other: "Alohomora!"

The lid of the bucket popped open with a click.

A strong, pungent steam, carrying the fishy smell of the lake and fresh fish, wafted towards us.

The interior of the bucket is much larger than it appears from the outside, resembling a small swimming pool filled with clear, gently rippling lake water, where many lively silver-scaled fish swim.

In the center of the bucket, a figure was frantically banging against the bucket wall!

That was... a mermaid?!

Her hair reached her waist and shimmered with a light blue sheen. Her skin was a pale silver with a pearly luster, and her ears were pointed, like translucent fish fins.

Her upper body was dressed in simple clothing woven from some kind of luminous seaweed, and her lower body was a strong fish tail covered with fine blue scales. At this moment, the fish tail was forcefully slapping against the barrel wall, making a dull "bang bang" sound.

Her face showed obvious fear and anger as she anxiously scanned the light shining from the bucket opening.

"Wow!" Lumi exclaimed, peeking out from a pile of raspberries. "Mermaid, what's with this bucket? Are they giving away freebies with catching fish?"

Lux was also stunned.

This is clearly not a regular ingredient from Hogwarts kitchens. It seems that the house-elves responsible for purchasing the ingredients accidentally brought back this lake resident along with the fish they were catching in the lake.

"Hey! Calm down!" Lux quickly shouted into the bucket, trying to soothe the frightened mermaid. "Don't bump into it! I let you out, not to make fish soup."

The mermaid paused, raising her delicate yet angry face to look at Lux.

Her gaze swept over the dessert in Lux's arms, then looked at Lux herself. The fear in her eyes seemed to have subsided a little, but her vigilance remained.

Lux, on a sudden inspiration, held up the half-eaten éclair in her hand: "Look! It's delicious! Sweet! It's not bait!" She forced a friendly smile.

The mermaid's gaze lingered on the cream puff for a few seconds, then looked at Lux, her anger seemingly replaced by a hint of confusion and curiosity.

"OK, it seems the communication was effective."

Lux quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, pointed her wand at the bucket, and shouted, "Yugadilemevisa!"

A gentle spell enveloped the mermaid in the bucket.

To her surprise, she found herself being lifted by an invisible force, slowly leaving the small bucket and floating in mid-air above the kitchen. Cool lake water dripped from her, forming a small puddle on the floor.

The kitchen fell silent instantly. All the busy little elves stopped what they were doing and stared wide-eyed at the ingredients that had suddenly appeared in mid-air.

"My God! It's a mermaid from the lake!"

"The cast grabbed the wrong thing!"

"Quickly! Go report to Mr. Pringle, the administrator!"

"Clark! Go get the net! Don't let her get away!"

The little elves were thrown into chaos, screaming and running around frantically.

The mermaid, suspended in mid-air by the levitation spell, seemed stunned.

She looked down at her suspended body, then at the messy little elves and the blonde human girl below.

Then, her gaze was once again drawn to the pile of freshly baked desserts that Lux had placed on the counter next to her.

The mermaid, who had just been terrified and angry, suddenly twisted her body in mid-air, her strong fish tail contracting like a spring, and then she kicked off with great force.

She flew towards the dessert area like a cannonball, her target the waffles covered in thick chocolate sauce.

Mermaid Thrust!

The mermaid made a perfect diving move and landed directly in the pile of waffles, splattering chocolate sauce everywhere.

The mermaid seemed to have been starving for a long time. She completely ignored the chaos around her and didn't care that she was covered in chocolate sauce and cream.

She used both hands to grab a waffle and stuff it into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out at a visible speed!

"My cream puffs!"

"Waffles!"

"The cookie mountain has collapsed!"

"Good heavens! She eats everything!"

The screams of the little elves rose and fell as they tried to stop them, but the mermaid's powerful tail swept several of the approaching elves away like bowling pins with a casual flick.

The scene was extremely chaotic at one point; flour sacks were overturned, icing sugar flew everywhere, and freshly chopped fruit pieces collapsed on the ground.

Lux was stunned: "...Did I mess up again? Since things have come to this, let's try to get something first."

She quickly protected the last half-eaten pie in her hand, and then grabbed a box of lemon tarts and stuffed it into her arms.

"What are you all doing?! Quiet!" A furious roar, like sandpaper scraping against glass, rang out at the kitchen entrance.

Castle steward Apollon Pringle burst in, carrying a huge mop in his hand.

The sight before him made Pringle's already dark face even darker. Flour and icing sugar were flying everywhere like a blizzard, and the overturned ingredients and utensils were in a mess. The little elves cried out and ran away with their heads in their hands.

The culprit, a mermaid covered in chocolate sauce, cream, and cookie crumbs, was frantically devouring a three-tiered cake, oblivious to everyone around her.

"Why are there mermaids here?" Pringle was so angry that his beard was trembling. His gaze instantly locked onto the only wizard in the room wearing a school robe, and the box of lemon tarts she was holding.

"Lux!" Pringle's voice was as cold as ice. "Ever since you blew up the banquet hall, you've also trespassed into the kitchen! Disrupted order! Damaged public property! And...and even stole school property!"

"No, that was dried mermaid, look..." Lux was about to point out the culprit in the kitchen when she discovered that the mermaid had disappeared.

Lux suddenly realized that her blood pressure was a little high.

"Flickering Light! Disorientation! Translucent Singularity!" Lux unleashed a barrage of spells like a worm being crushed, successfully escaping the chaotic kitchen.

Behind her, she could still faintly hear the angry roars of the warden, Pringle, and the wailing of the house-elves cleaning up the mess. She ran all the way until she rushed into the warm and noisy common room in the Gryffindor Tower, where she dared to stop and catch her breath.

"Phew... Phew... That was close! I almost lost even Lemon Tart!" Lux patted her chest with lingering fear. The lemon tart in her arms emitted an enticing fragrance, which slightly soothed her wounded heart.