School Uniforms, Spices, and a Cross-Dimensional Fridge

When Hailey followed her mother into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, the scent of lavender mingled with the ringing of a bell. The wooden floor gleamed, and wizard robes of different sizes were stacked before the fitting mirror. One sleeve was even speckled with fluorescent powder-clearly some young wizard had secretly cast Lumos on the garment.

"Mrs. Leicester, Hailey." Hearing them, Madam Malkin poked her head out from a pile of fabric. A tiny Potions vial hung from her glasses chain, filled with silver powder that automatically adjusted sizes. "Come along, your young lady should try on her new school uniform."

Hailey had barely stepped onto the fitting platform when a familiar exclamation came from the doorway. "Merlin's beard! Hailey's wand is cedar?" Eileen Ronier practically charged into the shop, the butterfly clip in her pale golden curls askew and a small silk pouch embroidered with mandrake flowers clutched in her hand. "I smelled cedar outside Ollivander's. Quick, let me see!"

Mrs. Leicester smiled and stepped aside, brushing a fingertip lightly over her cuff to cast a Silencing Charm. Looking at Eileen's shining eyes, Hailey suddenly remembered how, when they were eight, they had secretly used a cauldron in the Leicester family cellar to make milk tea. They had mistaken Moonstone Powder for starch, turning the whole pot of tea a glowing fluorescent green and nearly scaring the House-elf Nini out of her wits.

"Careful, the core is Guizhou Red-Scaled Dragon." Hailey held out the wand in a deliberately serious tone, only to whisk it back when Eileen reached for it. "But if you promise to help me find rosemary, I'll let you touch it for three seconds."

Eileen stamped her foot in annoyance, and the gem on her butterfly clip suddenly glowed red—a magical reaction when she got worked up. "I brought something better!" She flung open the little silk pouch, and several rainbow-colored granules rolled out. "Indian Potions spices my dad just imported: bay leaves mixed with nutmeg, and..." She lowered her voice. "I'll let you in on a secret: I hid two slices of Chinese ginger in there!"

Hailey's eyes lit up. As a transmigrator with a Guangdong palate, ginger was practically a lifeline for her. She had just reached for it when she heard Madam Malkin cough. "Young ladies, how about trying on your uniforms first? I don't want your magical spices making the new robes smell like curry."

Eileen's freshly made trial uniform was clearly two sizes too big. The pale purple robe trailed on the floor, making her look just like a squashed lavender cake. Hailey fought back a laugh and helped her fold up the cuffs, only to see a sheet of parchment fall from a lining pocket. It showed the steps for cooking chicken soup in a cauldron, drawn in colored pencil, with notes beside them reading "three grams of rosemary" and "slice the ginger."

"Is this... a new Potions recipe?" Hailey raised an eyebrow and lifted the parchment with the tip of her wand.

Eileen's ears turned red all the way to their roots. "Of course not! It's... it's a recipe for an aromatic remedy for insomnia!" She snatched the parchment back in a fluster, but accidentally bumped Hailey's wand. The rainbow-colored spices suddenly rose into the air and arranged themselves on the fitting mirror to spell the English word "ginger" at a crooked angle.

Mrs. Leicester watched through the Silencing Charm, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. Hailey remembered the last time her mother and Eileen's mother had shared tea in the garden. Watching the girls stir milk tea with their wands, the two women had, quite in tune with each other, actually discussed the relationship between "wand rotation speed and milk foam density," then exchanged Muggle creamer pods and a wizard's Foaming Charm formula.

"Hailey," Eileen said suddenly, grabbing her wrist, her eyes sparkling, "do you think the Hogwarts Kitchen lets you cook things in cauldrons? That turmeric roast chicken you made last time..."

"Shh!" Hailey hastily covered her mouth, only to see Madam Malkin shaking her head in their direction-clearly the Silencing Charm hadn't completely blocked out the keywords. She quickly changed the subject, pointing at Eileen's butterfly clip. "You need a new Fixing Charm on your clip. Last time at the park, the wind nearly blew it onto the Whomping Willow."

After drinking and foraging for food at the Three Broomsticks at noon, Hailey finally met up with her father outside Flourish and Blotts. Mr. Leicester's bag was bulging, with copies of Basic Theory of Potions and Standard Book of Spells: Beginner sticking halfway out, but Hailey spotted the stainless-steel soup ladle tucked between the books at a glance. It was the "Muggle stirring tool" she had secretly put on the shopping list.

"I bought two cauldrons," her father said, giving the carved wooden box in his hand a shake, a sly look in his eyes behind his glasses. "And the 'stirring tool set' you mentioned. But I suggest you don't use these things to fry eggs in Professor Snape's class."

Hailey stuck out her tongue, remembering her mother's warning that morning. Just then, Eileen pointed at the magical pet shop on the corner and exclaimed, "Look! That owl has a chicken leg in its beak!" Everyone turned to see a silver-spotted owl swooping over the rooftops, clutching a greaseproof paper parcel. Sauce seeping through the paper traced a winding trail on the flagstones, looking just like the plating of the white-cut chicken Hailey had dreamed of the night before.

"Speaking of chicken legs..." Hailey leaned close to Eileen and pulled a small wooden box from her canvas backpack. "Look at this, the 'cross-dimensional fridge' Dad and I made." Muggle gear patterns and the markings of a wizard's Extension Charm were carved into its surface. Inside, it was divided into twelve small compartments, each glowing faintly blue.

"This is a Preservation Charm improved using Muggle thermodynamics," she explained proudly. "Nini has already put twelve prepared chickens in it, plus ginger, scallions, sand ginger sauce..."

"Wait." Eileen suddenly grabbed her wrist. "You're not planning to open an Eastern restaurant in the Hogwarts cellar, are you? If Filch finds out..."

"That's why I need your Potions spices as cover!" Hailey lowered her voice. "For example, we could disguise bay leaves as an ingredient for hallucinogens, and use star anise in place of a Veritaserum ingredient..."

The two exchanged a look, then burst out laughing. Mr. and Mrs. Leicester watched from beside them and exchanged a helpless yet indulgent glance. They had long known about their daughter's "cross-dimensional cooking plan" and had even secretly added an Anti-Sniffing Charm and a Silencing Charm to the bottom of the storage box.

The scent of baked Rock Cakes drifted through Diagon Alley that evening. Hailey touched the storage box in her arms and suddenly remembered eating white-cut chicken on the streets of Guangzhou in her previous life. Back then, she could never have imagined that one day she would be trying to make chicken soup with a wand in the magical world, and even with