The three of them walked out of the Transfiguration classroom without pausing for a moment, then dashed towards the Great Hall, only to discover something embarrassing...
The long table in the Great Hall was so smooth it could be used as a mirror.
Kayson sighed, reached out and touched it, and felt a chill run down his spine from the cold.
"There's not even a crumb left," Lily said, sitting in her chair. "We're going to starve to death, aren't we? Maybe we'll be the first people in Hogwarts history to starve to death."
"We have a second option," Kayson said.
"The kitchen," Snape said succinctly, flicking the hem of his robe as he rushed towards the basement. His large robe made him look like a bat as he ran.
"Wait for us! Do you even know which way the kitchen door opens without me?!" Kayson shouted as he chased after them!
Soon the three arrived at the entrance to the basement kitchen, where the huge fruit basket painting stood.
Kayson reached out and scratched the plump pear.
The pear on the kitchen door was twisting and grimacing. Kayson reached out and scratched it again, and the pear twisted even more, but the door didn't open.
"What's going on?" he poked again.
Pear yawned loudly, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, and mumbled indistinctly, "Ingredients are scarce, the kitchen is temporarily... closed." A strong smell of stale onions wafted over.
Lily covered her nose and backed away. "Is the Hogwarts purchasing department on strike?"
"This pear sounds like it's had too much to drink," Snape murmured, staring at the slightly broken door frame.
Kayson sighed and snapped his fingers. Instantly, three floating pixelated breads appeared in the air, sharp and angular, complete with a steaming 2D animation effect.
"Just something to eat?"
Lily picked one up, and the bread in her hand had a strange pixelated texture. "... Kayson, the last time I ate this, the texture was so weird that it felt like there was a piece of peppercorn stuck to my upper teeth."
Snape flicked his fingertip in disgust. "Texture? This stuff has a texture? Eating this stuff makes me itch from the inside out."
Kayson took a big bite, his cheeks puffed out like a hamster's, and mumbled, "It's filling, bros! You know what energy density is, right?"
"I'd rather go hungry." Snape stuffed the bread into Kayson's arms, sighed, and his hair, which he hadn't had time to wash because he'd gotten up so early, shone with an oily sheen once again.
Lily carefully placed the bread into Kayson's pocket, as if planting a bomb. "Perhaps... we can try a different approach?"
Three pairs of eyes glanced at each other in the dim light.
" Filch's office?" Lily suggested quietly.
"I don't recommend eating that. Cat meat is acidic, and cannibalism could lead to prions," Snape sneered.
"Stealing Mandrake from a greenhouse?"
"We might not be able to out-dry the Mandrake, and even if we are lucky enough to succeed, Professor Sprout will most likely bury it in a flowerpot as fertilizer."
Kayson suddenly slapped his thigh, scattering pixelated bread all over the floor. " The Forbidden Forest!" his eyes gleamed in the darkness. "Walking steaks everywhere! Flying chicken wings! Purely natural and pollution-free!"
Snape's face looked even more grotesque against his hair. "Chicken wings? You mean that Hagrid somehow pulled out, the Thunderbird whose weight is about the same as his?"
"Couldn't you find some less reckless prey?" Kayson rubbed his hands together, and the phantom images of pixelated Stone Sword and arrows began to crackle and flash in the air. "Damn it, the cowardly starve while the bold feast!"
Lily stared at the pixelated bread that had rolled on the ground without leaving a trace, then rubbed her rumbling stomach and gritted her teeth. "... Lead the way! But first, if I see the Acromantula, I'll set the forest on fire!"
"That stuff is amazing, it has six times the protein of beef!" Kayson said nonchalantly.
Snape watched the two figures crouching low as they slipped towards the back gate of the castle, and wiped his face in despair. "Those two sandbars are blocked!" he muttered under his breath, and followed them in a daze.
The cold wind from the edge of the Forbidden Forest, carrying the smell of rotting leaves, smeared their faces. Snape sneezed.
"Look!" Kayson excitedly pointed to two glittering green spots in the bushes, "Midnight snack!"
The two eerie green lights flickered, accompanied by a low, threatening growl.
Snape silently drew his wand, the tip trembling more violently than his voice. "... You call that thing... a midnight snack? Who's whose midnight snack?"
The bushes rustled open.
Moonlight illuminated the horse's scaly face and bat wings. The Thestral flicked its bony tail, its hollow eye sockets sweeping over the three frozen figures.
"Cool!" Kayson's pixel bow was instantly fully drawn. "How much jerky can this make!"
Lily pressed down on his bow. "What are you doing, using the void to search for enemies?"
Before he could finish speaking, the shadow behind Thestral suddenly split open, revealing countless red compound eyes.
Snape grabbed the two by the back of their collars and retreated hastily. "Although I don't know what happened, I feel a sense of crisis!"
His only response was the sickening scraping sound of pincers rubbing together from deep within the forest. Kayson pulled Snape, causing his Stone Sword sword to clatter to the ground, crushing the army ant squad that was carrying away the insect carcasses.
As the three of them tumbled and crawled out of the Forbidden Forest— Kayson, of course, was forced to do so—a dark figure was sitting leisurely on the steps of the castle's back gate.
Professor Heath slowly put down his steaming teacup. "Night roaming, trespassing into the Forbidden Forest, disturbing the Thestral," he said, pointing to Kayson's robe, which was covered in decaying leaves. "These aren't just ordinary rotten leaves; they're Professor Sprout's personal experiment. If she finds out, you're in big trouble."
Kayson quickly brushed the rotten leaves off his body. "Nobody knows now."
Professor Heath suddenly laughed, revealing his gleaming teeth. "Well done." He pulled out a sizzling grill from behind him. "The charcoal is burning brightly, cumin or chili powder?"
Under the moonlight, two enormous Thestral legs glistened with oil and turned red on the grill. Kayson poked the tempting-looking Maillard egg. "Professor... is this considered instigating a crime?"
"This is called a wilderness survival practice class," Heath said, sprinkling some chili powder, the smoke making Lily cough.
"By the way, I plan to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest tomorrow to hunt a centaur for roasting."
Kayson ignored Heath's words, quickly forged an Iron Sword, sliced off a piece of meat from the roasted Thestral's leg, chewed it, and swallowed it down.
"Holy crap! I've never eaten such delicious meat in my life!"
Snape and Lily, who should have been even hungrier, awkwardly raised their hands and asked, "Centaurs... are they horses or people?"