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Hogwarts: King of Fiendfyre
Hogwarts: Too Evil
Hogwarts Bloodline Wizards
The Biting Cabbage’s properties were clear at a glance.
“Bitter” described the taste.
“Semi-plant” marked its nature as a magical ingredient.
“High activity” meant the magic inside it ran lively and dense.
No special abilities.
Swallowing it would yield only a handful of enhancement points.
Cedric weighed the cabbage in his palm and squeezed.
The texture was wrong—rubbery, springy, nothing like real vegetable.
“This is awful,” he muttered.
“No crispness at all.”
It kept twisting in his grip, jaws snapping whenever it found an opening.
He wasted no more time.
The small knife drove straight into its open mouth.
A quick twist and slice split the thing cleanly in two.
The remaining two cabbages went still, as if they understood what had just happened to their companion.
He cleaned the halves, stripped out the teeth and the digestive structures inside the mouth, then tore one half into thin, even slices by hand.
Oil heated in the pan.
When it shimmered he threw the slices in and stir-fried hard over high heat.
The rich scent of hot oil filled the room at once.
The two surviving cabbages trembled in their basin.
Seasoning went in with practiced speed.
A few minutes later the slices still held most of their original green.
Cedric hesitated, then plated them on experience alone.
A dish of emerald-green magic-fried biting cabbage sat ready.
Noir, perched on his shoulder, tilted its head and stared.
New information appeared before Cedric’s eyes.
[Magic-Fried Biting Cabbage]
Effect: Grants state [Magical Activity E-] upon consumption.
Host gains an additional 7 enhancement points.
Something new.
He had cooked countless meals in the wild and never once seen a dish produce a status window like this.
Special ingredients, it seemed, played by different rules.
The plate steamed in front of him.
The smell was decent.
He regretted not buying dried chili in Diagon Alley; a little heat would have helped the aroma.
He conjured a pair of chopsticks with a flick of the wand, picked up a slice, and put it in his mouth.
The stir-fried scent bloomed first.
His technique had not rusted.
Then he chewed.
“Gag—”
Bitter juice exploded across his tongue.
The texture lived down to every low expectation: neither the clean snap of a plant nor the chew of meat.
It was exactly like chewing a lump of bitter mud.
He forced the mouthful down with a grimace.
Fortunately one bite was enough.
Once it hit his stomach the bitterness turned into a mild warm current.
Magic inside him stirred faintly.
The Magical Activity effect was real, but E- was too weak to matter.
The texture, however, left a lasting impression.
It reminded him of the worst Brussels sprouts of his previous life—halved, salted, oiled, roasted for five minutes, then thrown away so the pan could be eaten instead.
Cedric delivered the verdict with cold finality.
“This thing is not fit for stir-frying.
With a texture like that it barely qualifies as food.”
In pure temper he lifted the entire plate, ready to dump it.
Seven enhancement points were not worth another bite of that sludge.
Noir hopped from his shoulder to the rim of the plate, considered for a second, then pecked.
One taste was enough.
Its eyes lit up.
It began devouring the cabbage with frantic, delighted speed and showed no sign of stopping.
Cedric scratched the back of his head.
Crows lacked human taste buds, so liking the dish was not strange.
The sheer enthusiasm still puzzled him.
While he watched, Eye of Insight reported a change: Noir’s Hunting Level had climbed from 5 to 6.
The dish could raise power?
Magical Activity, then.
He timed it.
Five minutes later the level dropped back to 5.
Confirmed.
The buff worked, but the grade was too low for him to notice.
Noir, sitting at a much lower baseline, felt it clearly.
The real reason the bird loved the food was probably simpler: it preferred anything rich in magical energy.
Cedric reached out, caught the now-stuffed and lazily preening Noir, and ran a full active scan.
The crow squirmed under the focused attention, cawed twice in protest, then gave up.
“Quiet.
Let me read you.”
[Crow]
Hunting Level: 5
Special Abilities: Solidified Tracking Charm C · Hatred A
Properties: Sour and Astringent · Avian · Magical Ingredient · Stealth
Noir was a magical crow.
Like mail owls it carried an innate Tracking Charm, allowing it to locate targets that were not actively hiding.
The rank was only C—noticeably lower than the B- he had seen on the Hogwarts owl that delivered his letter.
Its second ability was far more interesting.
Hatred, Grade A.
The skill had clearly evolved from a crow’s natural capacity for grudge.
It functioned as a superior form of tracking: once locked onto a person or creature, it continued to report location even through most concealment magic.
Shaking it off was difficult.
Cedric studied the data for a long moment, then released the bird.
Noir shook itself, gave him one last offended look, and returned to preening.
Hogwarts Bloodline Wizards