Malfoy's whole mood was off.
Before arriving at school, he had thought this year would start off wonderfully: his father had managed to acquire a Founder's relic as a birthday gift for him, and every classmate who had seen the magical qualities of those golden goblets had looked at him with envy.
Even better, he had heard that Potter fainted on the train.
He could already picture himself holding up a goblet and mocking Potter.
But Professor White's little performance just now had hit him like a slap to the face: the goblet in front of him—wasn't its function a little too similar to those three golden goblets he had?
Malfoy felt like the way his housemates looked at him had changed. The attention he usually craved now made him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.
Trying to appear calm, he downed the pumpkin juice in his cup, then refilled it with clear water. A strange thing happened: the instant the water filled the cup, it turned back into pumpkin juice.
Malfoy: "…"
The sweet pumpkin juice turned bitter in his mouth. Lost and frustrated, he decided he'd send his father a letter after dinner and tell him to confront that damn Borgin properly.
In truth, the "attention" Malfoy thought he felt was all in his head—right now, all the young witches and wizards in the Great Hall were completely dazzled by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. No one had the time to laugh at Draco Malfoy.
Rhys was also amazed by Helga—wasn't that magical display a bit too outrageous?
Conjuring goblets and filling them with hot mulled wine for hundreds of students wasn't too difficult, but simultaneously casting Transfiguration on hundreds of cups?
That was bordering on absurd.
And then turning all the water in them into pumpkin juice, with the added ability to refill on command—that was practically supernatural.
Even Rhys couldn't do that; he didn't have Helga's level of mastery over food magic.
Still, Rhys refused to believe Helga had truly transformed water into pumpkin juice directly. She definitely used some kind of misdirection.
Raising his goblet, Rhys examined it carefully—and quickly discovered the trick Helga had played: these conjured cups had been duplicated using the Doubling Charm.
Helga had prepared a special copper goblet in advance, then used the Doubling Charm to produce hundreds of copies. These duplicated cups functioned exactly like the original, though how long they lasted would depend on how much magic Helga had infused into them.
As for what drink they could transform into—it was probably preset from the beginning.
Even if no one had shouted "pumpkin juice," Helga would have chosen it anyway.
That explained everything. The level of magic needed for this display was still terrifyingly high, but at least it was within the realm of reason.
If Helga really had been capable of casting such advanced food-related magic on hundreds of cups at once, Rhys figured she wouldn't need to be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at all—she should be teaching food magic instead.
After that dazzling opening, Helga returned to her seat and began chatting with her future colleagues.
"What would you all like to drink? I can make anything." Helga Hufflepuff smiled cheerfully at her colleagues, granting the professors the privilege of "placing orders."
She had caught up on modern knowledge and was familiar with most contemporary food and drink.
Seeing they could actually order freely, several professors grew eager to try. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and asked if Helga could get her a lemon-flavored Perrier.
"Of course. Here you go." Helga tapped McGonagall's cup with her wand, and bubbling water surged up from the bottom, filling the goblet. A faint scent of lemon wafted into the air.
"Thank you!" Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow, brought the goblet to her lips, and took a careful sip—it was indeed the exact drink she had ordered.
"Aye! Me me too! I'd like mead, and if possible, give me a bigger cup," said Hagrid, quickly making his request after seeing McGonagall get what she asked for.
He was in an especially good mood today and felt like having a couple drinks.
"No problem—but there's no need to change cups. Just pour it out into another container," Helga said, tapping Hagrid's goblet twice. The liquid in his cup instantly turned into a rich, amber-colored mead.
Hagrid picked up the goblet and began pouring it into a large goblet beside him. The tall glass quickly filled to the brim—yet the small copper cup still wasn't empty.
Hagrid: "!!"
Judging by its size, ten of those little cups wouldn't have been enough to fill the tall glass, and yet, surprisingly, it had.
"Amazing! How did you.."
"This is magic," Helga Hufflepuff said as she looked around at the rest of the professors, wondering if any of them had requests of their own.
Professor Flitwick spoke up a little sheepishly, "Could I have a sherry-juice and soda mix, with ice, please?"
Professor McGonagall shot him a glare: Are you trying to stir things up? Do you think this is a bar?
Flitwick gave an awkward laugh—just a stress test, he explained. He wanted to see what the limits of Professor White's magic were, but meant no offense.
Such a request was hardly a challenge for Helga. She simply conjured the sherry juice, then added soda water, and the ice cubes were a matter of course.
Dumbledore ordered a glass of syrupy icewine and enjoyed it contentedly.
Professor Sprout of Hufflepuff House watched the whole scene, completely entranced. It wasn't until Professor McGonagall nudged her that she snapped out of it and asked Professor White for a cup of black tea.
When the steaming tea appeared before her, Sprout couldn't help but ask, "You seem exceptionally skilled in food magic?"
Helga nodded. She truly was the greatest food magic practitioner in the past thousand years. Her abilities weren't limited to conjuring drinks or using visual tricks to enhance flavor—she could also imbue food with special effects.
"Unheard of, unseen before," Professor Sprout marveled.
"Perhaps it's been lost over time," Helga Hufflepuff sighed. None of her students had fully inherited her food magic.
But in truth, what she'd used just now wasn't food magic at all. She had simply stocked up on a large variety of drinks in advance, and when the other professors asked for something, she summoned it directly from her own supply.
Thinking of this, Helga glanced at Hagrid, who had already downed three cups of mead, and silently ended the enchantment on his goblet. If he kept drinking, she'd run out of stock!
Thanks to all the drinks, the atmosphere at the staff table grew cheerful and warm. Everyone had developed an excellent impression of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
The feast itself was a great success—the house-elves in the kitchens had gone all out, making sure the young witches and wizards, who had traveled from afar and arrived soaked from the rain, could enjoy a rich and satisfying start-of-term banquet.
When the last bite of caramel pudding vanished from its dish, Dumbledore gave the signal, and the start-of-term feast officially came to an end. The young students stood up one after another and began heading out of the Great Hall, returning to their common rooms.
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