"They shouldn't have followed." Luna let out a long breath and tucked a strand of sweaty hair behind her ear. "That was close!"
Seeing Luna's joyful expression, as if she had escaped a close call, Vizette smiled and nodded in agreement, "Yes, we were almost discovered by Mr. Filch."
"This is it!" Luna looked at the huge oil painting in front of her. "Let me think... Which fruit was Hannah talking about again?"
Like the other paintings in the Stone Gallery, this huge painting depicts a large silver bowl filled with various common fruits.
"It's this!" Luna's eyes lit up as she pointed to a large, bright green pear.
She scratched the pear, and the pear immediately trembled, as if it were very sensitive to being tickled, and let out a snickering laugh, instantly turning into a green doorknob.
Pulling the doorknob, a hidden world indeed unfolded inside. Looking through the entrance hall, there was a kitchen almost as big as the auditorium.
Looking around, Vizette realized the kitchen was a one-to-one replica of the auditorium's floor area.
All sorts of cooking pots and pans were piled up against the stone wall, polished to a spotless shine, gleaming with a metallic luster.
At the far end of the kitchen, there was a huge fireplace with burning flames, which dispelled the chill from the ground.
The most eye-catching features were the four long tables in the center of the kitchen, and the circular table in front of the fireplace.
The long tables were placed in the exact same positions as the long tables in the auditorium.
The long tables were laden with tableware, now polished to a gleaming shine, ready to be used again tomorrow.
Among "Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfigurations," the inability to directly produce food was the first exception.
Vizette had finally figured out where all those delicious foods that appeared instantly at Dumbledore's command came from.
The magical world holds countless secrets, which is what fascinates Vizette the most.
For example, this kitchen hidden in Hogwarts was not mentioned in "Hogwarts: A History".
As Vizette and Luna entered the kitchen, many house-elves simultaneously looked up at them.
As an ancient castle that has been passed down for thousands of years, it is quite reasonable for it to have so many house-elves.
The house-elves were wrapped in clean tea towels, which bore the Hogwarts crest.
They all crowded around, smiling and bowing to Vizette and Luna.
An elderly house-elf stepped forward and said respectfully in a deep, weathered voice, "Sir, is there anything we can do for you? We are all willing to serve you wholeheartedly!"
The other house-elves blinked, their eyes filled with goodwill and a hint of expectation, as if they could do anything for them.
Faced with such kindness, Vizette smiled and asked, "Could you please prepare some flour, water, salt, oil, tomatoes, and a few eggs for me?"
The older house-elf opened his eyes wide, a hint of doubt and hesitation in them. "Sir, are you planning to... make noodles?"
Having provided food for Hogwarts for so long, they could naturally guess what Vizette wanted to do by observing the ingredients.
"Yes, I want to make noodles." Vizette looked behind the older house-elves, where the other house-elves had already started to bring him the ingredients he needed.
The older house-elf bowed again. "Sir, if you need anything, we can do it for you."
"I'd like to do it myself, as a kind of…memorial," Vizette said. "I'd also like to borrow the cookware, is that alright?"
"Of course, no problem!" The house-elves were somewhat flattered. They stepped back into a circle, trying to lift their heads to see what Vizette was planning to do.
Seemingly worried that there wouldn't be enough, the house-elves were not stingy at all, directly providing bags and boxes of food.
"Excuse me, is it okay if I use them all?"
"Sir, of course it's alright! Are you sure you don't need any help?"
"Yes, thank you. I'd also like to use the kitchen..."
"Please don't say that, sir! Please feel free to use the kitchen!"
Vizette roughly counted the house-elves present, smiled, snapped his fingers, and skillfully cast a domestic magic spell.
Salt dissolved in water, then flour was added and kneaded into dough. With the help of the magic of home life, everything seemed to be in good order.
While the dough was resting, he set up a large pot, lit a fire, boiled a large pot of water, and then took another pot to make a topping with tomatoes and eggs.
With the aid of magic, the rising time was also much faster.
The Diffindo quickly cut the dough into strips, then mixed it with oil and flour, officially starting the noodle-making process.
Not only was Luna mesmerized, but even the house-elves, skilled in cooking, were wide-eyed, paying close attention to every magical detail of Vizette's performance.
House-elves could also make noodles, but they did it by kneading the dough, pressing it into thin sheets, and then cutting it into various shapes, without going through the "pulling" process.
If Vizette were to pull the noodles himself, he might end up in a mess and could very well break them.
But with magic, everything changed.
The dough strips quickly transformed into noodles thanks to the magic of home life.
As Vizette snapped his fingers, the noodles overlapped and danced in mid-air, stretching into long, even strands.
As Vizette pressed down on his finger, the strands of noodles seemed to swim into the sea, tumbling and cooking in the boiling water before flying into the bowl.
The tomato and egg topping was also ready, and it was poured into bowl after bowl.
"Scourgify!" Vizette took out his wand and waved it around, restoring the kitchen to its original cleanliness.
He said to the house-elves, "If I remember correctly… you should also be busy at night, cleaning Hogwarts Castle."
The older house-elf's voice grew hoarse, and tears welled in his eyes. "Merciful sir... those were things we should do."
Vizette said, "You've all worked hard tonight, so why don't you come and have some food?"
He picked up a small bowl and placed it in the older house-elf's hand, then picked up another bowl for himself and added a fried egg to it.
"This bowl is yours." He handed Luna another bowl, which also contained a fried egg.
Luna's eyes softened. "Today must be an important day."
Vizette smiled slightly. "It's a day when I want to eat noodles."
Luna blinked. "I will definitely remember this day. I will never forget it!"
"Hmm!" Vizette nodded.
Sometimes, they don't need to say much to understand each other.
Vizette took a bite of the poached egg; it was soft-boiled with a subtle sweetness.
He recalled the feeling of eating longevity noodles for the first time; the sweetness from the soft-boiled egg overlapped with the sweetness in his memory…