Once Cedric openly declared that Alistair could eat the vegetables while he handled the meat, whatever sentimental thoughts Alistair had been entertaining immediately disappeared.
He grabbed his fork and started competing for every good piece still cooking in the cauldron.
It wasn’t that Alistair was genuinely stingy; somehow, food cooked in the middle of the table simply tasted better when everyone was trying to claim their favorite ingredients before someone else could.
Cedric clearly felt the same way, because the polite and considerate upperclassman Alistair had met at King’s Cross quickly became extremely focused whenever a new batch of beef entered the broth.
The two were laughing, arguing, and occasionally accusing each other of taking too much when the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room suddenly opened.
A figure rushed inside and immediately stopped.
“Merlin!
What’s with all this smoke?
Is something on fire?” The constantly boiling broth had filled the common room with warm steam despite Cedric occasionally using small spells to clear the air.
From the entrance, the haze apparently made the entire room look far more alarming than it actually was.
Neither Alistair nor Cedric could immediately see the newcomer clearly, but the person hurried toward them after spotting the source of the steam.
“You two aren’t brewing Potions in the common room, are you?” he demanded.
Then he got close enough to see Cedric’s flushed face and the bubbling cauldron and became even more alarmed.
“Cedric, are you feeling sick?” the newcomer asked.
“If something’s wrong, you should go straight to Madam Pomfrey instead of trying to make your own medicine.
You’re only a second-year, and Alistair hasn’t even attended his first Potions class yet!” Alistair and Cedric finally recognized him as Grimm, one of Hufflepuff’s fifth-year prefects.
Grimm looked from Cedric to the cauldron and back again as though trying to determine which irresponsible decision had led to this scene.
His genuine concern made the misunderstanding even funnier.
Alistair and Cedric exchanged glances before both burst out laughing.
Grimm stared at them.
“What’s so funny?” Cedric struggled to calm himself before asking, “Prefect Grimm, why did you come back?
Weren’t you eating lunch in the Great Hall?” Alistair pulled out another chair and placed it near the table, silently inviting him to sit.
Grimm looked increasingly certain that there was no actual emergency and finally relaxed enough to answer.
“Don’t remind me.
Fred and George Weasley got their hands on some ridiculous enchanted toy, and somehow my robes ended up filthy.
I came back to change before those two found another excuse to test something on me.” He glanced down at the marks on his robes, then toward the food covering the table.
“But that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing.” Alistair immediately pushed one of the prepared sauces toward him, while Cedric enthusiastically used his fork to retrieve several pieces of meat and mushrooms from the broth.
“Since you’re already here, try some,” Alistair said.
Grimm looked down at the plate with renewed suspicion.
“You actually expect me to eat something cooked in a school cauldron?” Cedric hurriedly shook his head.
“It’s brand-new.
Alistair bought it for first year, and we’ve never brewed anything in it.” “Exactly,” Alistair added.
“We’re only using it as a cooking pot.” He gestured toward the steaming broth.
“It’s a Muggle-style tabletop boil.
You cook whatever you want in the broth and eat it with one of the dipping sauces.” Grimm’s expression immediately relaxed.
“You could’ve said that before I started imagining the two of you accidentally poisoning yourselves.” Then, unlike Cedric’s first attempt, Grimm showed absolutely no hesitation.
He picked up a slice of beef, dipped it into the sauce Alistair had placed before him, and put it straight into his mouth.
Grimm paused.
Then he nodded slowly.
“That’s excellent.” He immediately reached for another piece.
“No, really, this is very good.” Before long, Grimm had stopped behaving like a prefect investigating suspicious activity and begun adding fresh ingredients to the cauldron himself.
He even shifted his chair closer to the table so Cedric couldn’t easily reach everything before him.
Alistair watched the transformation with amusement.
Apparently, Hufflepuff’s appreciation for food really did transcend age.
Cedric looked at Grimm with open admiration.
“Prefect Grimm, I finally understand why you’re one of our prefects.” Grimm raised an eyebrow while chewing.
Cedric continued, “It took me ages to convince myself to try the first bite, but you sat down and ate it immediately without asking anything except whether the cauldron was clean.” Grimm tried to answer with his mouth still full, nearly choked, and hurriedly swallowed before speaking.
“That’s because I grew up eating Muggle food.” Cedric looked surprised, and Grimm smiled.
“My father is a Muggle.
I’m not one of those people who thinks being connected to Muggles is somehow embarrassing.” He leaned back slightly, his expression becoming nostalgic.
“When I was younger, Dad used to cook different meals for me all the time.
Some were simple, some were strange, and occasionally he burned things badly enough that even Mum complained, but I loved those meals.” Grimm looked toward the bubbling cauldron again.
“This tabletop boil is new to me, though.” He took another piece of meat and smiled at Alistair.
“Thanks for introducing me to it.
If you ever need help with anything in Hufflepuff, come find me.” Alistair quickly shook his head.
“Prefect Grimm, you’re being too generous.
I only invited Cedric because I wanted to repay him for giving me his steak last night.” Grimm waved dismissively.
“Doesn’t matter.
Good food deserves gratitude.” He dipped another slice into the sauce and continued, “I’ve always thought the Wizarding World is too eager to reject anything Muggle-related.
Some pure-blood families act as though touching a Muggle invention will somehow make their magic disappear.” Alistair nodded immediately.
“Exactly.
The Muggle world changes incredibly quickly.
Even without magic, people keep creating new technology, transportation, food, entertainment, and all kinds of other things.” Grimm grinned.
“At the very least, wizards should stop pretending Muggle cooking has nothing worth stealing.” The three of them became increasingly absorbed in the conversation, and Grimm completely forgot that he’d returned to change his dirty robes.
The tabletop boil continued bubbling as they added more ingredients, argued about sauces, and occasionally fought over the same pieces.
None of them paid any attention to the passing time.
Back in the Great Hall, however, the Hufflepuffs sitting near Grimm’s abandoned seat were beginning to notice that their prefect had been gone much longer than expected.
At first, they assumed changing robes had simply taken a little time.
Eventually, one student frowned and asked, “Has Grimm come back yet?” Nobody nearby had seen him.
Since Hufflepuff students tended to keep an eye on one another, his unexplained absence quickly attracted more attention.
Two older students eventually volunteered to check the common room and make sure nothing had happened.
They left their lunch behind, expecting to return within a few minutes.
Instead, when they reached the common room and discovered Grimm, Cedric, Alistair, and the steaming cauldron, they too were persuaded to sit down and try a bite.
Neither of them returned to the Great Hall.
That was when the situation started becoming genuinely suspicious.
The Hufflepuff common room was closer to the Great Hall than any of the other Houses, and there were no moving staircases or complicated riddles standing between the two locations.
Grimm had gone downstairs and vanished, then two students had gone looking for him and disappeared as well.
At first, the remaining Hufflepuffs tried to joke about it, but after enough time passed, their amusement faded.
Whispers spread from one end of the House table to the other until nearly everyone knew that three students had returned to the common room and none had come back.
Several younger students immediately suggested finding Professor Sprout, but some upperclassmen hesitated.
It was entirely possible that there was a harmless explanation, and reporting the situation to the staff without checking first might turn Hufflepuff into the joke of the school.
The Gryffindors would probably never stop talking about how Hufflepuff had panicked because a prefect took too long changing clothes.
After a brief discussion, the older students decided they would investigate themselves.
A few stood up.
Then several more joined them.
Before long, nearly the entire Hufflepuff table had decided to go.
Someone suggested bringing their wands just in case Grimm and the others had encountered something dangerous.
Once the first students drew theirs, everyone else decided the precaution was reasonable, and suddenly dozens of Hufflepuffs were walking out of the Great Hall armed.
The unusual movement immediately attracted attention from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
Conversations began fading as students turned to watch the House usually regarded as cheerful, patient, and harmless march toward the doors looking disturbingly organized.
Students in their path moved aside almost instinctively.
A few Gryffindors looked tempted to follow, but the sight of nearly an entire House carrying wands made curiosity lose some of its appeal.
Ravenclaws began whispering theories about what might have happened, while several Slytherins simply watched with narrowed eyes.
Nobody could remember the last time Hufflepuff had moved through the castle like a group preparing for battle.
The stranger the scene looked, the faster rumors began spreading.
A handful of students slipped away from the Great Hall in another direction.
They were clearly going to find professors.
The Hufflepuffs themselves continued toward the lower corridors, growing more serious the closer they came to their common room.
Several upperclassmen moved to the front and exchanged careful looks.
Nobody knew whether they would find Grimm laughing at a misunderstanding, unconscious on the floor, or dealing with something genuinely dangerous.
Wands remained raised as they finally reached the entrance.
The students at the front silently nodded to one another.
Inside, Alistair was laughing as Grimm tried to steal another piece of beef from Cedric.
The two missing students were eating beside them.
None of the five had any idea that almost the entire Hufflepuff House was standing outside with wands ready.