The whole hall erupted.
Before the students could react, Professor Sprout raised her voice again.
"Based on four criteria-flavor, creativity, cultural representation, and potential for magical application-the competition's judges have selected an additional thirty contestants to enter the second stage-"
"The themed qualifying round!"
Before her words had faded.
An enormous scroll of parchment, shimmering with golden light, unfurled with a boom above the Great Hall.
Thirty names appeared on the parchment like stars.
The vast majority were the names of house-elves.
What shocked the students even more was that each name was followed by a title they had never heard before, personally certified by the judges.
[Binns-Master of classical French sauces and stocks]
[Tip-Expert in Nordic smoking magic and herb applications]
[Xiaomi-Pioneer in combining Chinese pastries with shaping charms]
[Gru-Inheritor of dwarven rock-roasting and earthfire control]
[Lilith-Elven chef of cold dishes and nectar magic]
One unfamiliar name after another, one mysterious skill after another.
That list was like a door suddenly thrown open.
Beyond it lay a mysterious world the students had never known, hidden deep within the Hogwarts Kitchens and populated by a group of unassuming masters.
At the Gryffindor table, Dean Thomas gaped.
"Merlin's beard... I always thought the house-elves in the kitchen could only make fish and chips..."
Over at Ravenclaw, some students had already begun frantically copying down the list.
"Combining shaping charms! Good heavens, this means they've developed an entirely new branch of applications for household charms! You could write a whole paper on this!"
At the Slytherin table, Blaise Zabini's brow was deeply furrowed.
He said quietly to Malfoy:
"My father spent five hundred Galleons buying an incomplete earthfire-control spell from a retired Auror. Now you're telling me there's an inheritor of that art right here in the Hogwarts Kitchens?"
The conversation