Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

Students enter Hogwarts via various colorful house slides.

Although a war broke out in the neighboring village of Hogsmeade some time ago, Hogwarts remains as peaceful and serene as ever.

The shadow of war did not extend to this school.

Every student who enters Hogwarts feels like they've come home, and Lin Xia is no exception.

Unbeknownst to them, Hogwarts had become a very special place in their hearts.

At the start of the new term, students are greeted with a sumptuous dinner upon returning to Hogwarts.

Such meals are not available under normal circumstances.

The food served at Hufflepuff's school table is the most unique.

They not only have Western food, but also a lot of Chinese food, specially catering to the tastes of Lin Xia, a wizard who came from the East.

Looking at the plates of braised pork hock, braised prawns, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, steamed pork ribs with rice flour, Mapo tofu, and all sorts of other Chinese dishes, Lin Xia was somewhat surprised.

Did the house-elf in the kitchen get some Chinese cookbooks? How come it can make so many Chinese dishes?
"Wow, Lin Xia, the dishes on your Hufflepuff table are so novel! How come there are so many new dishes that I've never seen before? Did you go to the kitchen and say something to them?"

Ron, having eaten half his fill, made a special trip to other colleges to stroll around and chat with his friends.

When he arrived at Hufflepuff's table, he found that the food there was very different from that of the other three houses.

While other houses may have wizards from the East, they don't have nearly as many Chinese dishes on their tables as Hufflepuff.

Lin Xia shook her head and said with a smile, "After I got off the magic train, I went straight to the Great Hall and didn't go to the kitchen."

I have no idea how they arranged these dishes. I suspect the house-elves obtained some Chinese cookbooks and specially made them so I could try them out.

She had once gone to the kitchen and asked her house-elves to make her some Chinese dishes.

The recipes for those dishes were specially written by her for the little elf.

House-elves are very capable, especially in housekeeping. They seem to have a natural talent for it, and all of them are maxed out.

Based on the few not-so-detailed recipes she mentioned, she almost perfectly replicated the dishes she described.

At that time, she was thinking of bringing some Chinese cookbooks for her house-elves, but she was too busy at the time and forgot about it.

The abundance of Chinese dishes on the table this time suggests that the house-elves may have found other ways to prepare them.

Ron tried a dish of steamed pork ribs with rice flour and found it very suitable for his Western palate.

His eyes lit up, and he said, "Lin Xia, could you come with me to the kitchen? I'd like to have the house-elves serve some Chinese dishes at the Gryffindor table."

The other younger wizards' eyes lit up when they heard this.

Can they even go to the kitchen to order? Wow, that's amazing service!
Having nothing else to do, Lin Xia readily agreed and stood up to go to the kitchen with Ron.

After they left, the first-grade students chattered excitedly, wanting to go to the kitchen to order food as well.

"I want to eat the crystal shrimp dumplings. I think they're delicious, but unfortunately the portion is too small and they'll be gone in no time."

"The char siu bao was delicious too. I should have grabbed one in each hand. I only finished one, and the rest were gone!"

"I've never had such delicious ribs before. Whether steamed, fried, or with pineapple, they're all so tasty. I wish I could go to the kitchen and order all the different ways to cook ribs!"

The students were having a great time discussing their ideas when a female senior student passing by overheard them and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Do you really believe that if you go to the kitchen and make a meal request, the house-elves will cook for you?"

Although the house-elves are the school's cooks, not every house-elves will meet your requests. According to the school's rules, house-elves are not obligated to cook for you individually.

Some students asked curiously, "Then why can Senior Sister Lin Xia and Senior Brother Luo En order food?"

"Ron?"

The senior student thought for a moment and said, "I don't know which Ron you're talking about. If it's the Ron who hangs out with Harry all the time, he won't have any face in the house-elf community."

Of the trio, Hermione and Harry have some influence with the house-elves, but as for Lin Xia, you probably don't know how much the house-elves adore her.

They almost all mistook her for Lady Hufflepuff, and were extremely accommodating to Lin Xia, granting her every request.

Seeing that the students were really craving the freshly served Chinese food, the senior student kindly offered a reminder:
"If Lin Xia and Ron have just left, hurry up and follow them. Make your request after them, and maybe the house-elves will be in a good mood and help you complete it."

Otherwise, after they leave, when you go to the kitchen, the elves might not even have time to pay attention to you.

Upon hearing this, the first-graders immediately stood up and ran towards the kitchen.

Ron and Lin Xia are here.

Ron wanted to eat Chinese food, but he knew he didn't have that much influence at home with his elves.

If he were to go to Hermione, she might not agree to such a silly request and go with him.

Hermione wasn't very interested in Chinese food.

After thinking it over, I decided that it would be most reliable to go with Lin Xia.

As for Harry, he's too busy!
Upon arriving at the auditorium, he was immediately surrounded by enthusiastic lower-grade students. Their fervor was so great that even he couldn't squeeze in.

Even when it was mealtime, the students didn't leave; they sat next to Harry.

It felt like such an honor to dine with him.

On the way to the kitchen, Lin Xia took the initiative to talk to Ron about his plans for the winter break.

"I heard you say on the train that you and Harry both became testers for a trivia puzzle game. Is the game almost ready for testing?"

Ron knew that the initial concept and first version of this game were created by Lin Xia, so the confidentiality agreement did not apply to Lin Xia.

Ron can explain it to her in more detail.

"The testing should be almost done. Harry and I were mainly responsible for testing the content for grades 1-4, while the content for grades 5-7 was done by other senior assessors."

When we finished the tests, the professor mentioned that he would try to use this new teaching aid in the next semester.

Ron seemed to remember something and added, "The professor said that if used well, a portion of the final exam score will be allocated to the knowledge puzzle game, so that every wizard can learn how to use the knowledge puzzle game and study on their own."

Lin Xia understood.

It seems the wizarding world has discovered the effectiveness of knowledge-based puzzle games and is eager to begin testing them at Hogwarts.

If the experiment goes well, it will be gradually rolled out worldwide, targeting wizards of all ages.

Lin Xia, seemingly lost in thought, asked with considerable curiosity, "By the way, I overheard you telling Harry on the train that your relationship with Mikel has improved considerably this winter break, and you've come to regard him as a friend."

"Then why didn't Mikel come to patrol? He didn't seem to be at the Gryffindor table at dinner either." Ron said casually, "He took the honors test, passed it, and became an honors student in the school. The school also gave him some extra rewards."

He used his quota for reading banned books a few days ago to access the technology section.

Lin Xia wasn't surprised that Mike became an outstanding student. If she were to be surprised, it would be that Mike clearly had a cheat code, so why did he only become an outstanding student in the third year?

She thought that her achievement as an outstanding student in first grade would motivate Mikel to achieve the same in second grade.

He only really showed his strength in the third grade, which surprised her a bit.

Lin Xia was unsure whether Mikel's cheat code was simply not working.

Or perhaps he had other considerations and deliberately suppressed his chances of standing out, only emerging in the third grade to avoid appearing too abrupt.

"An extra reward?" Lin Xia asked.

Ron said, "Yes, there was an unexpected incident during his assessment test for outstanding students. He was only supposed to collect a common pollutant, but he encountered a high-level pollutant instead, and it was a near-death experience."

Two Aurors died in that mission, and he was the only survivor. The difficulty of the mission posted by the school was clearly inconsistent with reality, so the Ministry of Magic provided him with some compensation.

Lin Xia said calmly, "To find out that we encountered a high-level pollutant, that is indeed very dangerous. Two Aurors died, but Mikel was not harmed at all?"

Ron said uncertainly, "There should be. After he was rescued, he was transferred to St. Mungo's. I heard that he dragged his seriously ill body outside and sent a signal to the Ministry of Magic before collapsing."

Lin Xia raised an eyebrow: "If it was him who sent the signal to the Ministry of Magic, then it means that he survived the disaster with full consciousness."

That's really not easy. Each advanced pollutant has different capabilities, but those that reach the advanced level cause damage comparable to advanced infected individuals.

She smiled and said casually, "I think you and Harry could spend more time with Mikel. Although he's not as powerful as Harry, he's lucky and manages to overcome any crises he encounters."

Meeting Ron's curious gaze, Lin Xia said, "What I mean is, if you encounter any troublesome situation, bringing Mikel along might help you turn misfortune into good fortune and make it easier to resolve, right?"

Ron thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "You're right."

Lin Xia knew that Mikel's cheat code was the system.

Judging from how often he gravitates towards Harry, one can guess that the system requires him to get close to Harry and the others, perhaps so that he can gain some benefits from them.

After three years of observation, Mikel, despite his power, did not cause any harm to Harry and Ron.

Moreover, with Dumbledore secretly observing, he would never stand idly by if anything were to happen to Harry.

Therefore, it's best to let Harry interact with Mikel, so he can discover more of Mikel's strangeness.

It can be used when necessary.

However, Lin Xia's decision to let Ron have more contact with Mikel was more based on an intuitive judgment.

Her intuition told her that this was the right thing to do.

The two chatted as they walked into the kitchen.

The house-elves in the kitchen are busy preparing food, and this time it won't end until almost curfew.

House-elves aren't afraid of working, they're afraid of having no work to do, or they'll be kicked out by their owners.

However, the house-elves employed by Hogwarts are different; the school almost never kicks them out.

Moreover, in addition to being responsible for the food in the kitchen, they are also responsible for the hygiene of the entire school. Otherwise, how could the students and professors manage this huge castle?
Of course, this doesn't mean that house-elves know every route and secret passage in the castle.

Their assigned work areas are fixed, and there are some places they can't even get into.

For example, the cleanliness of the classrooms where students have classes is not their responsibility; the elves are only responsible for the outside corridors and passageways.

Lin Xia had just arrived at the kitchen door and hadn't said a word when one of the house-elves inside seemed to sense something and poked its head out from the doorway.

Upon seeing Lin Xia, its eyes lit up, and it excitedly exclaimed, "Lin Xia from Hufflepuff is here! Ms. Lin Xia, the outstanding student from Hufflepuff, has arrived!"

It shrieked and flew out immediately, still wearing the work clothes given to it by Hogwarts.

The work clothes are white, and the house-elf is also wearing a white chef's hat.

But working in the kitchen, especially while cooking, makes it difficult to keep clothes clean, so his clothes have accumulated some stains of all sizes.

This made the little elf a little embarrassed, and he would occasionally cover the more conspicuous stains with his thin hands.

Besides it, several more house-elves flew out of the kitchen, looking at Lin Xia with excited expressions.

They are happy to serve Lin Xia!

Ron stared in astonishment at the scene, lamenting how different people can have different fates.

The house-elves didn't show him such respect; they only pretended to.

He could tell whether it was genuine respect or just superficial politeness.

Lin Xia looked at them and said with a smile, "I came to see you for no other reason than to ask you how you make so many Chinese dishes and snacks. I have never taught you how to make them."

The house-elves started chattering away instantly.

"I know this. It was contributed by the new house-elf. It is said that its previous owner gave it a lot of books and let it do whatever it wanted with them!"

Its owner is so generous and wonderful! I have never met such a good owner, it's so touching—”

As the house-elf spoke, he began to sob softly.

Other house-elves chimed in, "Some of them are cookbooks for Eastern cuisine. It gave them to us, so we'll try making them."

"We'd like to hear the opinions of Hufflepuff students about whether the Eastern dishes are good, but we don't dare ask you."

“Hufflepuff’s students are all good people. We must not disturb their meals, much less their studies. Any disturbance would be our fault…”

Lin Xia thought to herself, "They are such sentimental and emotionally sensitive little elves."

She hurriedly said, "Delicious, very delicious! I came here today hoping you would serve more Chinese dishes. Not only me, but all the other students also gave the dishes very positive reviews. I hope you can serve more!"

Lin Xia pulled Ron out: "This is a Gryffindor student. He came to me because he thought the food was too delicious and wanted the kitchen to serve more."

"By the way, I wonder who the new house-elf is? Can I meet it? I'm very curious about the Chinese recipes it provides. Could you please copy one for me?"

"of course can!"

As the house-elf spoke, he called out an elf.

"O'Connor, come out quickly, someone is looking for you!"

O'Connor?
Lin Xia's eyes flickered slightly; it was actually it! (End of Chapter)