Zhou Tian, Ethan, with a vial of Barfy Brain Tonic in hand, was talking about sales with the twins when they introduced him to Cedric.
They suggested that Cedric could be responsible for sales in Hufflepuff.
Unlike the twins who were famous for their pranks in Gryffindor, Cedric was popular in Hufflepuff because of his solid character and excellent knowledge.
After trying the Barfy Brain Tonic, Cedric patted his chest and assured Ethan:
"Hufflepuff is on me, you wouldn't believe how anxious some fifth-year seniors are, they can't even eat.
For Hufflepuffs, not being able to eat is a huge deal.
Five Galleons is a bit expensive, but many Hufflepuffs can afford it. Potions are expensive anyway, you can't expect people to sell them at a loss!
"Cedric, we've introduced you to a good business, shouldn't you treat us to a good meal?"
Fred put his arm around Cedric's shoulder, a sly smile on his face.
The four Hogwarts houses usually ate in the Great Hall, the food was decent, not fancy but not bad either. However, Hufflepuffs, with the kitchens right behind them and their good relationship with the house-elves, could get special meals.
However, many Hufflepuffs didn't like this, thinking it would be too much trouble for the house-elves. They only chose to have special meals in the common room on special occasions, such as a celebration or someone's birthday.
Now, the twins wanted to use their connection with Cedric to get some good food.
"Sure, today I met Ethan, it's definitely worth celebrating.
Cedric nodded readily in agreement.
"Can we prepare the ingredients and cook ourselves?"
Ethan asked, compared to the usual fried steaks, lamb chops, etc., Ethan preferred something like hotpot. The temperature was only about ten degrees during the day, so hotpot would be suitable.
Before entering the wizarding world, Ethan often had hotpot at home during winter.
Before coming to Hogwarts, he also brought some hotpot base, which he bought at an authentic Chinese restaurant in London's Chinatown. Unlike those that were modified to suit the local taste, his hotpot was authentic.
He originally planned to wait until it got colder and gather some mushrooms and wild game from the Forbidden Forest to enjoy with hotpot, but he wouldn't miss this opportunity.
"The house-elves in the Hogwarts kitchen make really good dishes, we don't need to do it ourselves."
George didn't believe in Ethan's culinary skills and started to dissuade him.
"Hotpot, a muggle delicacy from China, I'll write down the ingredients for Cedric and let him get them from the kitchen. You'll know after you've tasted it."
Ethan knew he couldn't explain it clearly. Even in the muggle world, China at this time was considered backward in Britain, so there wasn't much understanding of China.
Let alone the closed wizarding world, they probably didn't even know where China was.
There were eleven wizarding schools in this world, two in Asia: Japan and the Middle East. There was no mention of China. (Perhaps they were all learning in Taoist temples.)
"Okay, you write, I'll get ready, just that not all the ingredients are available in the kitchen."
Cedric scratched his head, not understanding what Ethan was talking about hotpot, but he didn't want to spoil the fun of his new friend.
George and Fred were also curious and naturally didn't refuse.
Ethan didn't write down much, thin slices of beef and lamb, shrimps, then vegetables, wild mushrooms, lettuce, radishes, potatoes, and some chili oil and sesame seeds.
After handing the note to Cedric, Ethan returned to his dormitory to get the hotpot base and also grabbed some Butterbeer.
…
The way to enter the Hufflepuff common room was to knock on the wooden barrel in a specific rhythm. Under Cedric's lead, the group entered.
It was lunchtime, and there was no one else inside, just the four of them.
"The house-elves will bring the dishes later, what do we do next?"
"I'll do it, it's quick."
As he spoke, Ethan set up the cleaned cauldron, turned the alcohol lamp underneath to the maximum, first stir-fried the hotpot base, then poured in enough clear spring water.
"That's it, when the dishes arrive, just put them in and you can eat."
"Is that a potion?"
Fred swallowed, asking incredulously.
He felt like it would be spicy, but the smell made him salivate, could this really be food?
"It's a muggle way of eating, it has nothing to do with potions."
As he answered Fred, Ethan used the Freezing Charm to cool the Butterbeer.
Soon, the house-elves delivered the dishes, and the water in the cauldron was already boiling.
Ethan gave each of them a simple dipping sauce with chili oil and sesame seeds, then started adding the dishes, using the Transfiguration spell to transform a pair of tongs to clip dishes inside the cauldron, as they wouldn't be using chopsticks.
Limited by the ingredients here, he couldn't make other dipping sauces. Anyway, they'd all be prepared for local fiery pain tomorrow.
Cedric, George, and Fred, seeing Ethan dipping beef and lamb in chili oil and eating it in big mouthfuls, finally couldn't resist the temptation and tried a piece of meat in their dipping sauce with a fork. After one bite, they couldn't stop.
They were all looking for ingredients with shiny eyes, "Slurp"ing as they ate.
"I said, can you slow down a bit, and eat some vegetables, all meat is bad for your stomach."
Ethan felt the pressure, these three were gluttons incarnate, not only did they eat quickly, but they specifically targeted the meat.
Burp!
After taking a sip of Butterbeer, George夹肉 while saying to Ethan, "My stomach is fine, you can eat more vegetables if your stomach is not good."
"Neville, can you prepare some more beef and lamb for us?"
Seeing that the meat in the dish was running low, but Cedric felt he could still eat, he immediately requested more food from the house-elf.