Basement: Kitchen

[Wilber Winterbottom]

Once you've tickled the pear and turned the knob, the Hogwarts kitchen will be revealed to you. Located directly beneath the Great Hall, the kitchen is a high-ceilinged room with five identical tables to the ones in the dining room above. Unlike the room situated above however, heaped around the walls are large quantities of pots and pans. On one end of the room are shelves of plates and utensils, stoves, sinks, and a large brick fireplace.

Here numerous house-elves are working on the castle's next meal when they aren't tending to their other duties as employees of the school. The team of house-elves have specific assignments to accomplish inside the kitchen, whether it is to cook, wash the plates and cutlery, keep the pantry stocked, place more wood into the fire, or set the tables before everything is summoned to its exact replicas overhead. Though the house-elves are incredibly busy, they will surely serve you a snack ... if you aren't asking Algamus. Or you can, of course, make your own food. Just don't leave a mess behind!

OOC: Please do not role-play for the House-Elves.

[Zoe]

"Glad we've got a plan," he replied, his mouth still half-full of sandwich. He took another bite, savouring the juicy ham and crisp lettuce, before swallowing.

His brows rose slightly at the mention of Logan, a former Gryffindor who had just graduated last term. "So Logan's your brother, huh? I guess I see the similar features now. Must make you ... Bryony then?" he replied, wiping a crumb from his chin with the back of his hand. "Exactly! All that training must take a lot out of you, but it sounds like a blast." He then chuckled. "Maybe we should start a school club—gather a group of pals eager to fill the bottomless pit that is our stomachs!"

As she reached for a turkey sandwich, Beauden grinned. "Turkey? Good choice! Can't go wrong with a classic. I'd say the house elves deserve a gold star for this feast," he remarked, his eyes scanning the spread once more. "I mean, just look at all this! It's like they knew we were coming."

Beauden took another massive bite of his ham sandwich, relishing in the mix of flavours. "What do you reckon—do you think the elves have a secret stash of recipes we don't know about? I'd be all for finding out!" He gestured animatedly, nearly spilling some sandwich filling, but he didn't mind. The carefree nature that defined him always took precedence over formality.

[Kolyander]

Nod, nod, nod. Yes, yes, they did. Having a plan was always a good thing... But NOT having a plan, that could be just as fun. Either way,this wasn't something drastic sooooo, not much planning needed to be done anyhow. Which meant there was more time for feeding her face with this fantastic sandwich.

Bryony giggled and nodded her head yet again. "Yep! That's me! I'm the cutest though." She grinned widely, her tone playfully cheeky. "Sometimes it can get a bit tiring but I LOOOOOOVE it! Have you ever given it a go before?" There was a slight tilt of her head as she eyed him curiously, he looked like he could pull off some of what she did for her training. "Now that sounds like fun! I'm sure I could find a few people that would join."

"Simple, yet delicious." Bry nodded in agreement. "Maybe they know when students are more likely to come down here? They have been working here for years so they probably do see a pattern or something." She could be totally wrong but it made sense to her.

Bry considered this question as she chewed a large bite of her own sandwich. "Of course they do! How else could their food be this amazing and they cook so much if they didn't?" They had to have loads upon loads of secret recipes.

[Zoe]

Beauden laughed, the sound hearty and warm, as he took in Bryony's playful self-introduction. "The cutest? If you say so," he replied with a grin, winking playfully. "And yeah, I'd say the Defence drills are the closest I get to any ninja warrior training. Or when I was running around the dragon reserve when I lived in New Zealand. But I've got to give it to you—it sounds like you take it to the next level."

At her agreement to the school club idea, his grin widened. "Alright then, we've got to do it! Imagine: The Hungry, Hungry Hogwarts Hooligans," he said with a laugh. "We'd be legends, raiding the kitchen, testing out all the recipes the house-elves have in their mysterious arsenal. Who wouldn't want in on that?"

He polished off the last bite of his ham sandwich, wiping his hands on the side of his pants as he listened to her theory. "Makes sense. If anyone's got the brains to predict a crowd, it's the house-elves. Probably got this whole kitchen down to a science." With an approving nod, he scanned the spread once more. "And I'm telling you, there's got to be a book somewhere. Secrets of the House-Elves: Top-Secret Recipes from the Hogwarts Kitchens, or something like that. I'd trade a whole stack of Chocolate Frogs for that book, no question."

Pausing, Beauden grabbed another snack—a pumpkin pasty this time—and took a satisfied bite. "If we're right about their recipe stash, where d'you think they're hiding them all?" He casually glanced around the kitchen, trying to see from where they were standing if there were any areas worth investigating further.

[Kolyander]

"Absolutely! Who did you think would be the cutest, Logan?" Bry grinned widely, giggling. She liked Beauden's jokes and his energy, he made her laugh. Now before she could open her mouth to comment on that, the older boy went and said something that had this little blondies eyes going wide. "You lived on a dragon reserve?!" Sorry not sorry if she literally flailed at him. "My boyfriend lives on one too! Well.. it's a dragon and hippogriff reserve buuuuuut yeah." Squeeeeeee!

His laugh was met with more laughter from her and nodding. "Don't tempt me, I will." It didn't matter that she already had a bunch of stuff on her list of things going on this term already. "That's got to be the best name every for it too!" It reminded her of that muggle kids game with the hippos that made so much noise, it was perfect.

Bry was hardly halfway through her sandwich at this point but happily enjoying it. "'Course they all do. They've been here for ages.. since at least my mama and papa went here, probably long before that." That's a long time to get things in order. Books? Hmm, this was a good question. And it was enough for a moments pause and very thoughtful expression.

"Well.. what if they don't actually need a book? Maybe they have it all memorized.. up here." Bry tapped a finger to the side of her head. Preparing and cooking three meals a day, everyday for so many students and staff, not including snacks, desserts and when anyone went down to the kitchen was enough for anyone to memorize a recipe. Especially over so many years time.