The Taste of Being Stabbed in the Back by the System

Ron's face cycled through expressions like a revolving lantern, from satisfaction to regret, every bit of it plain to see.

Harry was much simpler.

His face said just one thing—he was dumbstruck.

In all his life, he had never known anything like this existed.

Once, on Dudley's birthday, he had secretly tasted a little leftover frosting. Compared with the candy he had just eaten, that sweetness wasn't even in the same league.

Stranger still, after he swallowed the candy, a rush of happiness welled up from his chest out of nowhere.

His mind was empty. He couldn't think of a single happy thing, yet he was beside himself with joy.

Harry nearly drowned in it.

Hagrid had been the first to eat one and the first to come back to himself, but a lingering look of bliss still hung on his big, hairy face.

He couldn't pull himself free of the last traces of that delight.

The three of them stood there without a word.

Being ignored by them left Cedric Gray feeling distinctly uncomfortable.

Is it really that good? Did you three get together to play a trick on me? I didn't make this much of a fuss when I ate one.

Unconvinced, he took out another piece of Euphoria Honey Silk Candy, popped it into his mouth, and chewed twice.

The sweetness was still perfectly balanced, the texture was right, and his mood did lift a little.

But when he turned and saw the three faces beside him, they looked so enraptured they might ascend at any moment.

Cedric felt a weight settle in his chest.

What's this supposed to mean? Are you all ganging up on me?

Stubborn now, he pulled out another piece, intending to see whether sheer quantity would do the trick.

His hand reached his mouth before he stopped. He still had to save a sample from this batch for Hawke.

Cedric put the candy away and activated the Eye of Discernment.

This called for a professional approach.

At first, he hadn't thought a dessert made with Potions was worth examining closely. He hadn't even activated the Eye. Now he had no choice.

[Euphoria Honey Silk Candy] (Perfect)

Description: A work of art that perfectly combines Potions, candy, and craftsmanship. Peppermint, candy, the Draught of Euphoria, and the art of pulling sugar come together without a flaw.

Effect: Anyone who eats it experiences the height of happiness for five seconds, sweeping away all their troubles.

Note: No special ingredients were used, so the host gains no Enhancement Points or additional effects. The Gluttonous Stomach suppresses that peak happiness as an abnormal status.

Mystery solved.

Ron and the others weren't shutting him out. The system had stabbed him in the back.

Cedric's mouth turned down.

His eyes stayed fixed on the grade label, but he felt nothing about it.

The system's explanation had been clear enough: Perfect was about how ingredients worked together; Ultimate was about drawing out an ingredient's full potential.

Perfect was several ingredients playing in concert. Ultimate was one ingredient singing solo onstage.

Neither path was better than the other. They simply went in different directions.

Still, as Cedric saw it, the ceiling for a dish rated "Perfect" was higher, while the difficulty of making one rose by leaps and bounds.

Euphoria Honey Silk Candy merely brought ordinary ingredients together with Potions. But if he used two different special ingredients instead...

Cedric knew perfectly well that if he could combine two or more special ingredients into a Perfect-grade dish, the Enhancement Points it yielded would leave an Ultimate dish made from a single special ingredient far behind.

The catch was that the combination had to be perfect.

Which raised the question: which special ingredients could be combined to achieve that?

Cedric sank into thought.

When Hawke limped into the Leaky Cauldron, the first thing he saw was the three people standing behind the counter.

Among the crowd of wizards clutching and rubbing their backsides, Cedric and the other two stood out like lampposts. They were so conspicuous that Hawke couldn't help feeling the three of them were up to something strange.

Hawke shook his head to clear away the thought and dragged himself to the counter.

"What are you all doing here?" His voice finally broke the unnerving atmosphere.

Ron, Harry, and Hagrid were pulled out of the lingering afterglow of their happiness.

Cedric, meanwhile, had snapped out of his thoughts the moment Hawke looked his way.

"Er... just now?" Hagrid stumbled over the words, his gaze darting between Cedric and Harry. He looked both bewildered and at a loss.

Ron and Harry were no better. That feeling of being wildly happy for no reason was a little addictive, yet it left them feeling oddly hollow.

Their heads were a mess, and neither felt like talking.

Watching them, Cedric finally understood why the Gluttonous Stomach treated the candy's effect as an abnormal status.

There was something unsettling about it.

The Perfect-grade candy seemed to have pushed the Draught of Euphoria's effect to an unimaginable level. Perhaps every Perfect-grade dish had an effect this strange?

After a moment's thought, he set the question aside. He had nothing to compare it with, and he didn't want to get stuck on it like the other three.

He turned to Hawke. "You're here? I've written down the recipe you wanted. This is a finished sample I made for you. Give it a taste and see for yourself."

With that, he pressed the packet of Euphoria Honey Silk Candy samples into Hawke's hand.

Hawke looked down at the paper bag, then up at the faces of the others, who were still savoring the aftertaste. A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"There's... nothing wrong with this candy, is there?" he asked nervously.