Her favourite time of year really was the summer, and with the shop now constantly full of students, Galilea was glad to shut for just a few hours and get a look in on what was happening with all this cooking happening in the Alley. She was childless today, because her parents had taken Fitz with them out on their canal boat, so she was free to trial all the fun stuff from the food stands a little bit later on without worry. (Except for the fact she was going to have to go back to work when this was all over and unpack the latest delivery of flyers she had to hand out this week with new offers. Yay summer!)

She was one of the earliest there for the audience and was able to grab a GREAT spot to get watching from. And until they started cooking...she was going to snack on the egg mayo sandwich she had.

Please say the contestants were better at food creation than her mother was at making sandwiches.

Honestly, Frankie thought that this Taste of Wizarding London competition was the best thing to happen in Diagon Alley. Anyone that knew him even the tiniest bit knew that food was the key to his heart. So, naturally, he made sure that he was part of the audience today.

Even though he was beyond excited to be in attendance, the blond had a serious demeanour about him. He was there on Ministry business, there to protect the crowd should things go amok or beat up any weirdo who decided that today was a fine day to kidnap children. Blue eyes were gradually looking left and right and back again. So far so good. He gave a head nod at the woman that was already seated with a sandwich at hand. Egg mayo by the looks of it, right?

His eyes were also on the lookout for free food samples, whenever it was time for them to make their way out to them. That was the real reason why he was in this specific location to be honest.

It wasn't often Simon and his division were part of the watch outside of the Ministry building, especially when it wasn't ministry-related. But with the mysterious temporary kidnappings it was all hands on deck. The aurors had enough to deal with with normal summer craziness in Diagon Alley and the former auror-turned-security head was happy to lend a hand. He himself would certainly want the place extra safe if his own children were to be allowed in the area.

For the moment his footpaths focused on the audience area, his attentive gaze passing over the competitors behind their booths and the random occupants of the chairs seated in front of them. He tried to keep himself from appearing too official, a balance between worrying someone who noticed him and comforting them by the extra concern.

Of course this was an exciting day and that made Leon take extra time on his appearance for his fans audience. He had been chosen to be one of the judges for this cook-off and he was thrilled.

Heading to the seating area for the judges he of course stopped and waved at all the audience members. "What a wonderful day to eat and watch some cooking happen. I know all of you are just as excited as I am." Oh, yes they had to be because this was going to be a blast.

Stopping to look at the audience he placed his hands on his hips, "If you get to the food stands make sure you tell my partner in crime to give you ten percent off your order because I said so." He laughed and waved at them once more before sitting down.

Isley made her way to the judges seating area. She couldn't have been more excited to be chosen to judge the cook off for the Taste of Wizarding London. It was an extreme honor for her and she couldn't wait to try all of the amazing foods these contestants were going to make.

Soon she found one of her co-judges. They had met at the meetings that were held for the judges to go over the rules and things. "Hello, everyone. One free scoop at the Florean's stand when you use the code word Gourmet!" She said to the audience and waved before taking her seat.

She leaned over and patted Leon on the arm, "I'm excited to get this going! How about you?" She said with a grin.

This sort of thing wasn't Ruby's idea of a good time, to be honest. But she was here because Flynn had seen a flyer for it and had immediately insisted he wanted to go along. So she was sitting here in the audience with her almost eight year old fidgeting besides her. At least this wasn't the sort of thing she was likely to get recognized at. Probably not the kind of event where people who were familiar with her career would be.

"MUM did you hear that? Free ice cream! Whats gore-may though? Why is that a code?"Seriously a WHOLE FREE ICE CREAM? But only ONE scoop? How would he choose which flavour? Could it be one scoop but made up of lots of little spoons full of lots of different flavours?

..... yeah she had heard that THANKS so much to the random lady who had yelled that out and now her kid would be pestering her about it. How about handing out vouchers to give parents the option next time? Wow. "I heard. We'll have a look later." a LOOK. No guarantees. And besides, he wanted to watch this cook off so that was what they were here to do.

"Okay." Yessss he had time to work on getting a free ice cream and planning out how the flavour would be. But for now he was looking at the brochure thing trying to figure out who the judge people were. Were they famous? They had to be really famous to be the bosses of all the food, but Flynn didn't know who they were. Maybe they were just nice people who liked food? But it wouldn't be special to win a competition that was just nice people saying you did good, would it? Also, HE was a nice people who liked food, maybe he could judge a food contest one day. MAYBE HE AND TAVIE COULD HAVE A FOOD CONTEST! Ohhhh the judges would get to eat everything wouldn't they? That would be the perfect fun job!

And SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING! Flynn leaned forward and watched in awe as some random man started making an ice cream thing. WOW. OH SAMPLE!?? COULD HE TRY IT? YEAH!

No..... NOOOooo he could not try it. Ruby had SEEN how much sugar was going into whatever that concoction was and she smiled and politely declined a sample for herself, as well as intervening and deflecting to make sure Flynn didn't get his hands on one either. No way. Hopefully they would all be alcoholic so that she had an easy explanation as to why Flynn couldn't try them.

"That's an adults only drink, Flynn, its pretty though isn't it?"

Anna had always been a fan of Diagon Alley and really enjoyed it when she got to go there. That day, however, she was LOVING it. A Food Fest of sorts!!! Anna really liked her food and the fact she was an athlete-in-the-making - heehee - was the perfect excuse to always stuff her face with all of the FOOD!

They'd get to taste everything the contestants made, right? She hoped so!

The thirteen year-old - SHE WAS NOW OFFICIALLY A TEENAGER, HUZZAAAAH - quickly made her way to the where she could watch the competition and was pleased to see there were nice comfy seats there.

Before taking a seat herself, she couldn't help but look at those who were already there. She'd never seen any of them, which was a shame, and the only young person there was a VERY young boy, so meh.

Her eyes landed on the tall - from her point of view at least - blond bloke (Frankie) with blue eyes for way longer than just a second. Oooohhhhh. Heehee.

Handsome. She was going to sit where she could keep looking at him. Heehee. Was she too young for him? Maybe. Probably. Okay, fine, she was, but soooooo what? He was still handsooooome.

Hadleigh had decided last minute to go to this cook-off thing that was happening today. She had to go into Diagon Alley anyhow to pick up a few things for the girls so it wasn't like it would be out of the way. Plus she knew that her husband would be there. If food was involved that man would always be in attendance.

It looked like she had arrived just in time too. All the contestants were already at their cooking stations and the judge was speaking. Best find a seat. Hazel eyes scanned the entire area for the blonde she was more than positive was somewhere. It didn't take long either, he wasn't hard to miss. Her hand tightened gently around the small toddlers hand that was walking at her side. Hady was well aware of the situation that was happening lately and there was noway her little ones were going anywhere.

"Look Nova, there's daddy," she told her daughter pointing in front of them into the stands. Right away the little one started off towards her daddy, Hady still gripping her hand, her younger daughter asleep in her arms.

"She insisted on coming along and wearing her butterfly wings," the brunette told Frankie as she helped Nova onto his lap so she could sit down beside him adjusting Melody in her arms as she slept.

The thing about being a third year was that there wasn't a whole lot in change of supplies that one needed. There were a couple new classes and elective options, but for the most part, anything used in your first two years was pretty much good to go. Which meant more free time for Maeve to go exploring around Diagon Alley and what better place to do it then when there was a FOOD FEST of sorts going on?!?

Scanning the audience for a familiar face, she grinned when she saw one of her dormmates. One whom she conveniently happened to have a flower crown for in her bag, because it wasn't every day where one of your roomies became a TEENAGER. Okay, so Anna was probably the last of them to turn thirteen, but didn't make it any less special.

Sliding the flower crown (homemade! Thanks to Rylee's help!) from her bag and onto her friend's head, she grinned at her. "Happy birthday, Annnaaaaaaa!" Oops, was that too loud?

Also, what was she looking at? She followed her gaze over to a pretty older blond boy. Who ... had kids? And a wife? "Psst, he's taken." So like, they should stare at other boys instead? Or just go for that free ice cream someone had just announced?

Lorraine was running late! She got caught up giving her son some last-minute instructions, and it took a lot longer than expected. Merlin, she loved him, but he hadn't an ounce of focus! Hopefully he wouldn't have any problems running the stand until she was done here.

She made her way to the seating area, waving shyly to the audience as she went. "Bonjour! Hello, everyone! Get a free beverage with the purchase of any crepe at La Belle Boulangerie's stand!" The blonde Frenchwoman was looking forward to the cook off. Getting the invitation to judge came as a huge surprise - she didn't think she was that well-known outside of France! But she was excited to be here. She couldn't wait to taste whatever culinary creations the contestants presented!

She saw that the other judges had already arrived and joined them. "Hello! It's such an honor to be here!" she said. Then the cook off started, and she couldn't help but smile as Leon started things off. This one certainly had a flair for the dramatic! Just like her brother... He was going to be quite a tough act to follow.

SPOILER!!: Gryffindor girls

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey Ju

Anna had always been a fan of Diagon Alley and really enjoyed it when she got to go there. That day, however, she was LOVING it. A Food Fest of sorts!!! Anna really liked her food and the fact she was an athlete-in-the-making - heehee - was the perfect excuse to always stuff her face with all of the FOOD!

They'd get to taste everything the contestants made, right? She hoped so!

The thirteen year-old - SHE WAS NOW OFFICIALLY A TEENAGER, HUZZAAAAH - quickly made her way to the where she could watch the competition and was pleased to see there were nice comfy seats there.

Before taking a seat herself, she couldn't help but look at those who were already there. She'd never seen any of them, which was a shame, and the only young person there was a VERY young boy, so meh.

Her eyes landed on the tall - from her point of view at least - blond bloke (Frankie) with blue eyes for way longer than just a second. Oooohhhhh. Heehee.

Handsome. She was going to sit where she could keep looking at him. Heehee. Was she too young for him? Maybe. Probably. Okay, fine, she was, but soooooo what? He was still handsooooome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

The thing about being a third year was that there wasn't a whole lot in change of supplies that one needed. There were a couple new classes and elective options, but for the most part, anything used in your first two years was pretty much good to go. Which meant more free time for Maeve to go exploring around Diagon Alley and what better place to do it then when there was a FOOD FEST of sorts going on?!?

Scanning the audience for a familiar face, she grinned when she saw one of her dormmates. One whom she conveniently happened to have a flower crown for in her bag, because it wasn't every day where one of your roomies became a TEENAGER. Okay, so Anna was probably the last of them to turn thirteen, but didn't make it any less special.

Sliding the flower crown (homemade! Thanks to Rylee's help!) from her bag and onto her friend's head, she grinned at her. "Happy birthday, Annnaaaaaaa!" Oops, was that too loud?

Also, what was she looking at? She followed her gaze over to a pretty older blond boy. Who ... had kids? And a wife? "Psst, he's taken." So like, they should stare at other boys instead? Or just go for that free ice cream someone had just announced?

Emma simply loved summer, short shorts, crop tops, and the most important part no school but still getting to spend time with your friends. That was the plan for today. Though the blonde wasn’t quite sure which of her friends she would run into today. She liked running into her friends at Diagon Alley. The last time she was here she had ran into Eivan. That had been less than pleasant. That boy was so annoying. She got annoyed just thinking about him.

Hopefully she would not have to see his ugly face until they headed back to school.

Anyway she had heard about this cook off thing. It seems interesting enough for her to want to go. As she was looking for a place to seat down and watch she heard a very loud voice. Hey she knew that loud voice. She looked around to find her. "ANNA! Maeve!" She smiled as she joined them.

Wait did Maeve said that it was Anna’s birthday…. Wait a minute what was today? Oh right it was Anna’s birthday. ”Happy Birthday, Anna. Ohhh I love your flower crown, Maeve.” She wanted one too. Her sister used to make them for her all the time when she was little. Also who was the guy Anna was looking at?

Oh was that free ice cream?

Wait, HUH!?

Anna's eyes widened when she saw a girl - she wasn't THAT old looking - come around with not one, but TWO kids and have the toddler climb over the handsome blond guy she was watching. Wow, was he THAT old?? Old enough to be married and have TWO kids? That was old.

Anna was mind-blown.

She turned her head when she felt somehting be placed on it and heard a familiar voice wish her a happy birthdaaay! "Thanks!! And thanks!" The Gryffindor beamed, taking her hand up to her head to feel what Maeve had just placed there. Whatever it was, it felt like it looked pretty enough, so she was happy with that! She trusted her friend like that.

The THIRTEEN - yaaaaaaas! - year-old laughed when her friend pointed out the bloke Anna had been watching was 'taken'. "I figured. It doesn't make him any less handsome, though!" She added in a whisper before she shrugged and grinned. "It only shows he's really old." Like, REALLY old. Two kids! Merlin.

She was still mind-blown.

Another 'happy birthday, Anna' made her look around again to see Emma. "Thanks!!! I'M A TEENAGER!!!" The girl exclaimed happily. That status meant SO MUCH. So many NEW things were going to happen now that she was a TEENAGEEEER. Anna was so excited she could explode, but it seemed like the competition was starting so she turned that way to watch that man create an interesting looking drink.

Anna perked up as samples were given out and she reached out to get herself one. "Wow, these are nice!" She said, studying her shiny blue drink.

Taste of London? Now this sounded interesting so Chase had to check it out. He was sure he would end up with free food from the event. Right? Was that a thing? He'd find out soon enough. Hopefully his stomach wouldn't rumble away and end up distracting the crowd. No. He would stay strong.

Plus fellow house mate Ronan Carter was participating so the younger boy had to support his fellow housemate. It was only right of him to do. As he weaved through the crowds of people, he spotted some of his fellow year mates. Emma, Maeve, and Anna? He didn't know that those girls would be attending. If he had been any other boy in his year, he would have darted away for fear of infectious cooties that they could spread but Chase had already passed that phase a long time ago. A good handful of his friends were of the opposite gender so the whole cootie thing didn't apply to him really. Besides he thought it was pretty childish of them to worry about that.

After all he was a teenager. Duh. A sophisticated teen and all that jazz. Fashionable too in his Levi jeans and dark red sweater that he wore with Ray Ban sunglasses resting on his hand. "Anna! Maeve! Emma!" he called out, waving to them as he carefully navigated the crowd. He paused for a moment on the way over towards them as a thought crossed his mind. Wasn't it..... Wasn't it Anna's birthday today? He reached into his bag pulling out the pgymy puff and then hiding it in his hands. Now he just had to sneak through the crowd with her present.

Almost there....

And with another step, he ended up tripping over someone's foot and the pygmy puff went flying over to the birthday girl herself. Uh oh.... "ANNA! Watch out!" he cried, scrambling to his feet and chasing after the puff.

His head definitely perked up when some bloke mentioned getting ten percent off their order if they wound up at the food stands. It was tempting, even the free scoop of ice cream that was being announced. Though the FREE samples outweighed both of those offers. For once in his life, the blond was being patient. And keeping an eye on things, since he was on duty and everything.

Those baby blues of his did manage to make contact with a duo of teens. One in particular was starting at him too much in his honest opinion. Of course, the adult simply broke eye contact. Internally, however, he was smirking. Yes, he may be twenty-two and had a wife and two children, but he still had it.

Speaking of his wife and kids, there they all were. "Didn't take you long to find me," he grinned, placing his hands around Nova's waist as he adjusted her onto his lap. A butterfly wing may or may not have whacked him in the face.

"And how's the little one been?" he asked Hady, a little surprised that Melody was sound asleep considering the hustle and bustle of the alley, the loud teenagers nearby, and all the aromas in the air.

Ah she should have known that her voice would have attracted others - but the blonde looked over and grinned when she saw it was none other than Emma. Emma J. All they needed was other Emma and Alanna and they'd be practically back at Hogwarts, without all the stairs.

"Anna's flower crown," Maeve corrected casually, pointing to the fact that it was now on her friend's head. That she made for her, because EVERY birthday girl deserved a crown. She giggled at her friend who seemed still stuck on how handsome the OLDER blond dude was. "True. But like probably way out of our league. Heyyyy and like now that we're ALL teenagers, that means we're all getting older too. Does that mean --" Oops, she was cut off from her full-blown girl talk that she was ABOUT to get started on when a boy decided to call their names.

Squinting through the crowds, she grimaced because it was just one of their year-mates. Well, so much for the girl talk because she couldn't very well talk about dates and kissing and boys when CHASE was around.

"Chase!!! I loveeeee the sunglasses!!!" She waved over at him and then looked back to Anna. "I wonder if you can get AN EXTRA scoop of ice cream for it being your birthday and all!" Also, Chase better look out, cause she might be tempted to swap his fancy designer sunglasses out with her cheap no-name brand ones.

Well, she might have been tempted, until he tripped and a pygmy puff (?!!?!!!) was on the loose?? "Uh.....Why?"

OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH this was exciting!

Leon paid close attention to all the contestants as they started with their liquid luck. His own drink in hand he hoped the audience was having as much fun as he was and excited to have the samples. The creativity of them all was so exciting too, he just couldn't get enough and soon Leon was up and moving around the area of the contestants to get a better look at everything. He strutted around looking at everything. Stopping at the teenager and giving impressed looks, the boy was only at Hogwarts and was working his moves, next he headed to the designer girl, yes he knew who she was. It looked like her dresses weren't the only thing she could design.

The next boy (Logan) looked to have some smoothie looking drink, oh did it look good. The older woman had something splendid that looked so refreshing it took everything in Leon not to snatch it up and drink it all. Patience, he needed that when it came to his excitement. Now the Goblin was interesting and he couldn't help but stare, though he was a judge so it was allowed for this. Now was the Jeremy fellow he watched and nodded taking down notes, yes good, very good.

Ocean Butterbeer? That sounded splendid and he watched as the man got to work. Jumping as he yelped Leon almost ran to his aid, but he seemed alright. Giving a dramatic hand over the chest sigh of relief he continued watching. Now there was a teenage girl, man did these kids know their way around a kitchen it seemed.


When it was all over he turned to the crowd, "My oh my wasn't that splendid and we are just getting started!" Falling into his chair and waving his hand like he worked up a sweat watching the first round he clapped as the samples all came towards them. Taking a few he began trying each of them.

Oh yes this was such a good time.

If Frankie was indeed hit upon the face with a the wing of a his daughters butterfly costume it had gone unnoticed by Hady. Her attention at the moment was fully focused in on making sure that Nova remained on her fathers lap, which she was doing while she managed to get herself comfortable beside him.

"An angel thus far. How she woken up yet is beyond me," Hady laughed softly adjusting the little hat that was on Melody's head to keep the sunlight out of the sleeping baby's eyes. "My guess is she's used to all the noise from our large family." There's was always people around. Creatures as well. Not to mention that she still played the guitar and drums when she had the time. Her children were used to noise.

"How is everything going so far? Nothing worth worrying about?" Her tone was a curious one but she wasn't specific on her wording due to all the people sitting close by. Oh, and hello young teens that just so happened to be looking there way! Yes, we saw you all!

Was Leon the only one at the edge of his seat? He really couldn't sit still, no he was up and down and walking around. A judges job is never done and this judge was crazy enthusiastic about looking at the food, and any of the cute guys in the audience, hello boys . He tasted everything and when he thought he might burst he rubbed his belly and looked at the other judges to leave and get scoring everything.

After what seemed like ages the judges were back and it was time to select the winner though they weren't going to go empty handed, no, no one would go home empty-handed. The audience had full bellies if they tried all the samples and they had some fantastic deals with the food vendors that were present for the day and above all they got to see him be a judge, you were welcome audience.