Harry Potter and the Black Rose

Chapter 7 | The First Night

A little gold spoon was tapped against a glass goblet, making a tapping noise throughout the great hall. Professor McGonagall looked over the students in the room with a smile on her face.

"Your attention please," she said. The room quieted down, turning their attention towards the large table of professors and teachers. The headmaster pushed himself out of his seat to address the crowd of students.

"Let the feast begin," Professor Dumbedore announced while raising his hands into the air partially. The children in the room breathed an audible gasp as hundred of plates of food appeared in front of them.

The table tops were filled with layers of the most delicious food and drinks, garnered to make ones mouth water in hunger. There were pheasants and goose, a bowl of roasted root vegetables, creamy sauces with garden herbs and best of all there are fresh tomatoes. They had huge platters of fowl stuffed with savoury fruit and nuts. There was a countless amount of different types of cheeses stretched across the table. The drinks for the children arranged from pumpkin juice to candy apple flavored punch.

There were plates of deer with sprigs of rosemary threaded through its meat to give it more flavor. They had marinated chicken, grilled trout with lemon, smoked sausages and a pineapple glazed ham. There were mounds of fragrant wild rice, potatoes and diced pumpkin smeared with butter and spices baked on hot stones. There were baskets of cheese and crackers with bread rolls shaped like seashells on the side. There were all sorts of varieties of salads and side dishes. It was a grand feast for it celebrated the start of a new year at Hogwarts.

The children from each table took the food they wanted to eat, picking through some of their non favorite foods. Their filled their plates to the brim, but they didn't need to worry, there was plenty of food for seconds and thirds. And Ron grabbed as much chicken legs as he could, stuffing his face with the sweet flavoring. That boy was always hungry.

The little girl was more than obliged to fill her plate with various types of food she had never tried before. She seemed to ignore the gold utensils placed next to her plate. She grabbed a scoop of mashed potatoes only to be stopped by her dear friend.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked with a look of horror on her face. The little girl turned her head, shrugging her shoulders in defeat. In response. Hermione grabbed her friend's wrist, shaking her hand to get the mashed potatoes off her fingers. She grabbed a napkin, cleaning her digits from the mushy substance.

Hermione grabbed one of the gold spoons next to the girl's plate, placing it in her hand. Her fingers curled around the tool, gazing at it with curious eyes. Then Hermione turned to her plate, grabbing her spoon to demonstrate how to each properly. She scooped up some green peas with her spoon, popping it into her mouth.

"Like that," Hermione chirped with a smile on her face. The little girl looked between Hermione's spoon and plate as if contemplating how to put two and two together. She pushed her spoon into the pile of mashed potatoes, lazily bringing a scoop of it towards her mouth. She stuffed the spoon into her mouth, frowning upon tasting a bit of gold from the spoon.

In response, Hermione reached forward and pulled the spoon out of her friend's mouth. She raised her eyebrows in amusement, waiting to see her friend's reaction to the taste of potatoes. The little girl's tongue pressed the mushy substance the the roof of her mouth, moving it around to taste the actual flavor. She swallowed the weird texture, nodding her head slightly in agreement.

"Do you like it?"

The little girl grabbed her spoon from her friend, shoving her face full of the mashed potatoes. She hummed to herself as Hermione laughed at her silly behavior. The girl's taste buds danced happily as it enjoyed the salty taste of potatoes.