Inspiration from Delicious Beef

As he spoke, Hagrid smiled at the Oak Fortress sitting inside the cabin—the broomstick wand Manus had made.

Incidentally, during one trip to Knockturn Alley, Hagrid had discovered by chance that this wand worked rather well as a bat... Well, it was also quite handy to swing directly.

When the beef reached medium-rare, Manus used scissors to cut the steak into strips. Rich juices spilled out with each cut, and the exposed interior had a tender pink hue.

"Crunch—"

He bit down, and juice burst forth. The beef... was completely unharmed.

Severus froze. Hesitantly, he moved his fork and took the beef from his mouth. The spot he had bitten had already sprung back, leaving only a faint indentation—not even a tooth mark.

At that moment, Severus began to doubt whether he was really eating medium-rare beef.

Looking beside him, Hagrid was still eating with gusto, nearly finishing an entire steak, while Manus...

Though he had bitten through the beef, he wore a thoughtful expression.

"Ah, Re'em muscle fibers are far too dense... I see. No wonder it specifically says to season it with figs. It's to use protease to break apart the long-chain protein structures."

Only then did Manus remember why books about Re'em specifically mentioned seasoning them with figs. He had originally assumed it was simply a local grilling custom of whichever wizard had written the book...

Wizards, after all. Emotional thinkers. Those who knew, knew.

And if protease was needed, wouldn't pineapple and kiwi usually work better?

Compared to them, fig protease was pitifully weak at breaking down large muscle fibers. It was only particularly effective on sinewy meat.

"...What?"

Severus did not understand, but that was fine.

"It means this beef still needs some processing before ordinary people can eat it normally."

Manus extended a finger