The Hogwarts Special Meals Plan

The Three Little Ones headed back, thoroughly satisfied, eagerly discussing what they would do if they had the Philosopher's Stone.

"Turning things into gold! If I had it, I'd make a whole mountain of gold and rub Malfoy's nose in it!" Ron's face glowed, his eyes dreamy, as though he could already see a mountain of gold behind him and a dejected Malfoy wiping away tears in front of him.

"As for me, I think I'd give it to Professor Dumbledore. Isn't he an important figure who keeps the wizarding world peaceful? If he lived forever, surely the wizarding world would flourish even more?"

Harry pondered for a while. He felt he already had plenty of gold in his vault, and he was still too young to be thinking about death. That was the only use he could come up with.

"Don't be stupid, Harry. Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel are friends. Surely he already has loads of the Elixir of Life?"

Ron mercilessly pointed out the flaw in his friend's reasoning.

"That's true." Harry nodded. "But I can't think of any other use for it."

"I'm more interested in how the Philosopher's Stone is made," Hermione chimed in. "The process must be really, really, really difficult! Oh, I'd love to learn about it!"

"What about you, Zhang? What would you do if you had the Philosopher's Stone?" After indulging in his fantasies for a while, Ron turned to Zhang Xiao.

Me? Zhang Xiao had never really considered that question. He wasn't short of money. As his dad put it, the Daoist Order had so much money they didn't know how to spend it. Besides, he had serious doubts about the Philosopher's Stone's ability to turn things into gold.

Either there were restrictions, or its output was pitiful. If it could produce unlimited gold, the wizarding world would probably have suffered rampant inflation long ago.

As for immortality... he thought of his parents. They looked young, but they were actually almost sixty. Members of the Daoist Order generally lived longer, and quite a few chose to forgo children and devote themselves entirely to pursuing the Dao. Having a child at fifty was perfectly normal.

Dumbledore was over a hundred himself. If nothing killed him, judging by his vigor, living to two hundred hardly seemed out of the question.

Besides, Zhang Xiao suspected that the Elixir of Life made with the Philosopher's Stone must also have considerable limitations. For one thing, the couple had no children, despite being deeply in love.

For another, they had lived lonely lives for over six hundred years. If there were no restrictions, someone like Nicolas Flamel surely wouldn't begrudge sharing the Elixir of Life with others. How many partings and deaths would he have witnessed in more than six hundred years?

That sort of loneliness and pain was not something most people would willingly endure.

So a Philosopher's Stone that came at such a steep price would only appeal to someone like Voldemort, who was desperate enough to grasp at any remedy.

Zhang Xiao firmly agreed with one saying: everything in this world was an equivalent exchange. Often, you simply didn't know what you had traded away.

He raised his head and gazed up at the countless stars, as though trying to take the entire galaxy into his eyes.

"Me? I'd probably put it under a glass dome, stick a label on it, and display it at home as a collectible."

All three expressed their contempt for Zhang Xiao's outrageous waste of a priceless treasure and decided to exclude him from their fascinating discussion.

Listening to the cheerful laughter of the Three Little Ones and their increasingly absurd ideas, Zhang Xiao felt it would be rather wonderful if time could stop right there.

It was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go back. Zhang Xiao had originally thought he could hold out a little longer, but after making pork and cabbage stew at Hagrid's, he could no longer stomach the potatoes and endless varieties of roast meat.

At last, Zhang Xiao decided to launch a plan he had been plotting for a long time: the Hogwarts Special Meals Plan!

Cedric truly lived up to his reputation as Hufflepuff's pride. When he learned that Zhang Xiao wanted to visit the Hogwarts kitchens, he enthusiastically showed him the way and thoughtfully shared plenty of tips for getting along with house-elves.

For instance, the key phrases were "please," "thank you," and "help me." He should avoid subjects such as "rest," "weekends," and "wages."

They liked talking about their "hard work" and "contributions."

Being busy and being needed were their greatest joys.

Zhang Xiao cheerfully said goodbye to Cedric and slipped a figurine into his hand-a bikini-clad Bulma.

He had forgotten where he had read that Cedric was a geek who liked figurines, but that wasn't important.

Cedric was so pleased that his face flushed red.

Zhang Xiao followed the tower stairs all the way down until he reached a wooden door at the very bottom.

Beyond the wooden door lay a flight of stone steps. Below them was not a gloomy, sinister underground passage like the one leading to Snape's dungeon classroom.

Instead, Zhang Xiao found himself in a broad stone corridor, brightly lit by torches and decorated with cheerful paintings, most of which depicted food.

This place was unfamiliar to him, too. Although the game he had played in his previous life had recreated the setting quite faithfully, there were still many differences.

Besides, he had spent most of his gaming time learning dark magic from "Professor Sebastian" and happily casting Avada Kedavra out in the wilderness. He really hadn't spent much time exploring the school.

Still, Zhang Xiao quickly found the entrance, because the painting was simply too conspicuous.

It was an enormous painting, a full two meters tall, depicting a huge silver bowl piled with fruit.

He extended his index finger and gently tickled the large green pear. The pear squirmed and giggled, then suddenly turned into a large green door handle.

Zhang Xiao pulled the door open and entered the kitchen. It was a vast room with a high ceiling, as large as the Great Hall above. Gleaming copper pots and basins were piled along the stone walls, and a large brick fireplace stood at the far end.

Four enormous long tables stood in the room, exactly like those in the Great Hall above. The house-elves used these four enchanted tables to send food upstairs.

Before Zhang Xiao could get a proper look around, the patter of bare feet against the floor sounded all around him.

A group of house-elves hurried over. They stopped two meters in front of Zhang Xiao and bowed deeply, gazing at him expectantly with their huge, bright eyes as they called out eagerly:

"Hello, honored sir! Is there anything we can help you with? Are you hungry?"

Several house-elves balanced enormous silver trays on their heads, laden with Pumpkin Pasties, beef pies, and assorted treats. There were also two beautiful, gleaming silver jugs, presumably containing Pumpkin Juice and milk.

Zhang Xiao carefully considered his wording, then said slowly:

"Hello, house-elves. There's something I'd like to ask you to help me with."

The house-elves immediately grew even more excited. They blinked their large eyes, their faces filled with delight, as though being needed was the greatest reward they could receive.

The oldest-looking house-elf drowned out all the others with his shrill voice. Holding both hands before his chest, he called loudly:

"Please tell us, honored sir! We would gladly solve your troubles!"

"All right..." Zhang Xiao felt rather uncomfortable. Even in his previous life, when he had visited clubs that boasted first-class service, he had never received such an enthusiastic welcome.

"I'm an international student from China. The food back home tastes very different from the food here, and I've been having a hard time getting used to it..."

Before Zhang Xiao could finish, the house-elves interrupted him with piercing shrieks.

He stared, dumbfounded, as the house-elves covered their faces and sobbed loudly. Their leader even began pounding his chest as he wailed:

"A disgrace! This is an utter disgrace!"

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