hotmtlnovel Chapter 2 Please try it, Professor.
Chapter 2 Please try it, Professor.
Lucas stopped.
He looked up at Professor Sprout, holding the letter. Then he looked down at the letter again, and looked up once more.
"Magic? Are you kidding me?"
Professor Sprout smiled, drew his wand, and tapped it lightly: "No, it's real magic."
Lucas opened his eyes wide and saw that the tools in the toolbox at his feet, such as shovels, scissors, and pliers, trembled slightly, floated up, and began to rotate around him!
He quickly reached out and swept his hands over the tools above and below them.
There are no transparent threads... This isn't magic!
In his shock, Lucas suddenly remembered many things, and those fragments, pieced together, became a sudden realization.
He didn't even realize his voice was trembling slightly: "So... what I have, isn't superpowers?"
Professor Sprout smiled. "For example?"
Lucas recalled those amazing experiences: "For example, when I was six years old, I was digging for wildflowers on the edge of a cliff and accidentally fell. I thought I was going to die, but I actually flew up and slowly landed on the ground!"
"And last winter, the barn caught fire, and I screamed in panic, and suddenly the flames shrank by half!"
"So all of this is... magic?"
"It's the beginnings of magic," Professor Sprout nodded. "You're a wizard, Lucas. In an emergency, intense emotional fluctuations triggered your magic."
Wizards...magic?!
Good heavens, I've actually come to such a world!
Lucas couldn't help but exclaim, "I thought I was a chef, but it turns out I'm a wizard?"
A chef? Professor Sprout laughed.
I saw the children playing house earlier; they acted so seriously, it was quite cute.
But how could an eleven-year-old child truly understand food appreciation? How could Lucas take this childish game so seriously?
"Lucas, can you cook? You know, even if you memorize those obscure words and act seriously and professionally, it doesn't mean you can cook."
Lucas was taken aback, and was about to speak when suddenly—
"Who's there?!"
A loud shout came from inside the house.
The door was flung open, and an old man rushed out. He was at least eighty years old, with thinning white hair and a face full of wrinkles, but his back was straight and his movements were swift. Most alarmingly, he was carrying a double-barreled shotgun.
The gun was pointed directly at Professor Sprout.
"Get out of my way! Stay away from my grandson!" the old man roared, his finger on the trigger. "I knew it! Ever since my Luca showed his superpowers, I knew this day would come! You all wanted to capture Luca and dissect him for research!"
"Grandpa!" Lucas quickly stepped between the two, separating them. "Put down the gun! This lady is—"
"What is it? It's the person who delivered those strange letters, isn't it?" The old man's eyes widened. "I intercepted three! One in the mailbox, one on the windowsill, and a damn owl tried to get in through the chimney! I knew something was wrong!"
Professor Sprout sighed. "Mr. McGregor, please calm down. I am a professor at Hogwarts, and I am here to—"
"Liar!" The old man's hands trembled with excitement. "Luca, I told you long ago that you would be used as a guinea pig by these people with ulterior motives. Now, come inside!"
"Professor, please go first—" Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Lucas hurriedly tried to get the professor to leave first, but she helplessly waved her wand lightly.
The metal barrel of the double-barreled shotgun suddenly went limp, drooping down like melted toffee. The bullet in the chamber slid down and fell to the ground, sprouting new shoots as soon as it touched the soil, quickly growing into a cluster of small blue flowers.
Lucas's eyes lit up, while the old man stared blankly at the rubber-like shotgun, then at the flower bushes that had suddenly sprouted on the ground. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"Mr. McGregor, Hogwarts is a school that specializes in teaching magic," Professor Sprout said gently. "Lucas is a natural wizard; what he displays is magical power, not some kind of superpower. Someone needs to teach him how to use this power, otherwise it could lead to danger. Hogwarts exists for that purpose."
"Now, may I come in for a cup of tea?"
Mr. Finley McGregor stared at her for a full ten seconds before his shoulders slumped.
"...Come in."
The farmhouse's dining room and kitchen are connected, and the space is very spacious and bright. The kettle on the stove is whirring, and the oven is filled with a rich aroma of milk.
Lucas greeted him warmly with a bright smile.
"Professor, please have a seat. I'll go make some tea. Grandpa, would you like a tablespoon of whiskey?"
"Add two spoonfuls," the old man muttered as he sat at the table, arms crossed, his face long and drawn.
Lucas didn't mind. He deftly picked up the tea set, his movements fluid and graceful. A stream of boiling water poured into the teapot, and a rich aroma of tea wafted up.
Then he heard a soft ding from the oven, and he skillfully took out the baked pastries, arranged them on a plate with the tea, and presented them to Professor Sprout.
It was a plate of hot, plump, golden scones, with a dish of fragrant butter and a dish of bright red jam on the side.
The aroma of grains wafted over, infused with the rich, creamy fragrance of melted butter. Professor Sprout instinctively exclaimed in admiration, then suddenly realized what was happening.
"Did you make this?"
Lucas nodded matter-of-factly: "Freshly baked scones, served with homemade clotted butter and raspberry jam. Oh, right, just one more thing..."
Lucas reached out and grabbed a bright yellow lemon. With a flick of his wrist, a gleaming peeler danced across his hand. The blade moved lightly across the lemon's surface at an extremely small angle, and with a gentle twist, the almost transparent, yellow peel fell off onto the cutting board.
Then, with a gentle press and a flick of the wrist, without even thinking, the blade flashed beneath the fingers. In the blink of an eye, the thin lemon peel transformed into fine, evenly distributed, bright yellow lemon shreds.
Lucas placed the tiny dish of extremely fine lemon zest next to the cream and jam, and smiled slightly.
"How can you serve scones without Clara lemon curd?"
Professor Sprout was completely dumbfounded and involuntarily rubbed his eyes.
This... Merlin! Is this real? A paring knife can be used like this? Is this magic?
Lucas, you really know how to cook? No, judging by your knife skills alone, "knows" is an understatement!
What I just saw, was it really not child's play?
Her gaze met Lucas's, and Lucas gestured expectantly.
"Please try it, Professor... my guest."
When Professor Sprout came to her senses, she was already holding a scones in her hands, gently snapping it in half. With a soft "rip," a burst of steam carrying a fragrant aroma escaped, revealing a warm, creamy yellow interior.
She took a deep breath, picked up her knife, and stirred the cream and raspberry jam, spreading a thick layer on the scones. Then, she carefully picked up the bright yellow lemon zest that seemed to have melted together and sprinkled it over the snow-like cream and ruby-red jam.
Suddenly, she felt very hungry. Perhaps the illusion spell that had lasted for so long had been too exhausting? In any case, the scones suddenly wrapped around her fingers, and she pulled them toward her mouth.
Well--
Professor Sprout's eyes widened suddenly.
The crisp outer shell bursts open, filling your mouth with a tender interior. Then, the aroma of hot wheat, silky cool cream, and vibrant berry sauce burst together in your mouth, followed by a refreshing citrus scent that elevates the scones' flavor once again.
This is Clara's lemon curd...
Professor Sprout squinted his eyes with satisfaction.
This is fantastic, absolutely perfect, and so delicious...
The entire scones vanished in a flash. By the time Professor Sprout realized what had happened, he hurriedly wiped the cream and jam from the corners of his mouth, his already rosy face turning even redder.
Merlin's beard! What have I done? Pomona, don't forget your job!