Harry Potter The Life Of A Chef

The door opened and the laughter faded when Pansy and Millicent came in. They stopped and stared at the others who stopped and stared back. "I hope we aren't interrupting anything," Pansy said coolly.

"Not at all," Harry said with a smile that was a touch too broad due to nerves. "Come in, we've been waiting for you. That's Sue Li, we've just been formally introduced, and you know Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom, right?"

Pansy nodded, smiling thinly while Millicent waved shyly. The silence thickened noticeably, everyone standing around and not sure where to look or what to say.

"What are we doing first?" Lavender asked brightly, her voice puncturing the balloon of awkwardness and letting the air out.

"I figured we can start with Potions," Harry said, grateful for her breaking the proverbial ice, "while I prep the ingredients for our dinner. The knife cuts are the same essentially and we can quiz each other on the potential potions and stuff like that."

"They're the same?" Neville asked.

"Oh yeah. Julienning for long thin cuts, dicing, chopping, shaving is a little different but not too much so. A lot of the roots you peel like you would a carrot or a potato or a tuber."

"What are you making by the way?" Pansy asked.

"I'm going to make a Bolognese sauce," Harry said.

"Ooooh I love spaghetti Bolognese," Hermione said, brightening. "I didn't think I'd ever have it here!"

"What's Bolognese?" Millicent asked.

"It's an Italian meat sauce. You actually gave me the inspiration the other day. A good Bolognese simmers for hours to make the sauce nice and rich."

"Wow, not something to make when you're already hungry then," Parvati said.

Lavender helped Harry clean the waiting vegetables and things while the others set up their books and took out their notes. After a moment of hesitation, Pansy started helping to clean the cooking things too, giving a giggling Millicent a dirty look and firmly pressed lips.

"No wonder you get good results in Potions," Hermione said as she watched Harry finely dice onions, carrots, and celery. "Those are some very small and even cuts." She tilted her head and stared at Harry's hands as he chopped. "You must have practiced a lot."

"I did," Harry said.

"Did you ever cut yourself?" Neville asked.

"I did," Harry said without any reservation. "It can still happen but I'm a lot better at it now."

"How do you get the groceries and things to cook with?" Sue asked.

"The club has a small budget for things. I've also traded with the kitchens for things too," Harry explained. "But other times, like when we cook outside of club, I order things myself."

"And you pay for it, for everyone?" Pansy said, looking shocked.

"I can afford it," Harry said without care. "Lavender and Padma and Parvati have gotten things from home too. It's fine with me." He missed the look Millicent and Pansy gave each other, as well as the surprise on the other first-comers to the club. "Besides, Hedwig gets bored."

"I'm asking a lot of questions that aren't related to studying," Sue said with a small smile, "but who's Hedwig?" She jumped when Hedwig barked loudly from behind where Sue was standing.

"Hedwig," Harry chided when Lavender and the Patils laughed loudly. Hedwig wriggled her way out of the cabinet and flew past Sue to land on the table beside Harry, fluffing up and looking smug.

"Oh my goodness she's adorable," Millicent breathed. "And she has a ribbon!"

"It was her Christmas gift," Harry said proudly as Hedwig puffed up even more, her crimson ribbon bow proudly on display. "She's my owl and my friend. She gets a lot of the food deliveries for me."

"How much can she carry?" Hermione asked.

"We haven't found a limit yet and she can carry a pretty packed box full of vegetables and meat," Harry said seriously. "She's also very proud of herself," he smiled when Hedwig flexed her wings, striking poses.

They quizzed each other on potential potions questions as well as procedures and steps from the three potions that they might be asked to make for their term final test. While they did, Harry browned minced beef and set it aside.

Then he started slowly cooking the onion, celery, and carrot in the same pan, scraping up the fond with a wooden spatula. He then added bacon cut into thin strips, after giving Hedwig her due rashers first of course, and once the bacon was cooked, he added some tomato paste and a mixture of spices.

"Wow, that smells really good," Padma said. "And it's barely close to ready?"

"Still got a while yet," Harry nodded.

"I thought your aunt and uncle didn't like foreign food," Parvati said.

"They don't count some Italian things for some reason," Harry shrugged. "I've never really been able to figure out what they think is acceptable and what isn't. They got so upset when they learned that a kebab isn't technically British."

"What?!" Hermione looked gobsmacked. "How could they possibly think that a kebab is British?!"

"Like I said, I have no idea," Harry said weakly. "They tried to save face and say it wasn't something 'proper people' should eat after being told and they couldn't prove otherwise."

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