Different Reactions Triggered by a Cold (2)

"My neighbor is a Muggle chef who runs a Chinese restaurant. He makes this kind of soup too," he said. His voice was still a little hoarse, but much better than that morning. "He said people in the United Kingdom don't know how to drive out dampness, which is why they catch colds so easily. Every time I caught a cold, he made a huge pot of it, and Mum would bring it home and force me to drink it. It worked better than any potion."

Hannah Abbott nodded beside him. Her bowl held a different soup, made with white fungus and lotus seeds. It tasted like dessert, soft and glutinous, and left her throat feeling much better after she drank it.

"My grandmother used to say that soup is something you can drink straight into your bones." She cradled her bowl and took small sips. The flush on her face might have been from the heat, or from the steam.

The common room was filled with the fragrance of soup, mixed with dampness, warmth, and Hufflepuff's particular atmosphere of lively comfort.

Some leaned against the fireplace with bowls in hand, drinking slowly. Some squeezed onto sofas to share a single pot of soup. Others held empty bowls as they queued up for seconds. A few boys had been stubborn at first, saying, "What good can soup possibly do?" But after being forced to drink a bowl, they obediently sat in a corner holding their bowls.

The real show happened the next day. Lin Peishan and Lin Peiyao spent the entire morning fussing about in the kitchen, preparing a new batch of soup specifically for stubborn colds that had lingered for several days. The House-Elves gathered around to watch, occasionally passing them a bottle of seasoning, their eyes full of