A Taste of Magic

Chapter 16: 16th Course - Muddy Meddling

Harry did not know what hurt him more: the fall and the resulting developing bruise on his knee, or the cake that he had made strewn about the floor. He had worked hard on the cake and to see it on the ground in pieces instead of sitting prettily on the serving tray on the counter hurt him a lot, almost as physical as the fall.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?" Mrs. Mason asked. The crash had brought the Masons and the Dursleys into the kitchen to see what had happened.

Harry sighed inwardly. The Masons, the couple that Vernon was trying to impress to secure a deal for his drilling company, looked at him with mild concern whereas Vernon and Petunia looked at him with mounting displeasure and fury. Dudley seemed like he was enjoying the sight of Harry on the ground with the destroyed dessert.

"I'm fine," Harry said, a fake smile on his lips. "Tripped and fell as you see. Sorry about the cake."

"Oh that's not that important," Mr. Mason said soothingly.

More than you think, Harry thought, seeing Vernon slowly turning purple. "I can fix it. I have some other things on hand that I can whip together. If you don't mind waiting a few more minutes, I can bring out a different dessert."

"If you're sure-" Mrs. Mason began.

"He's sure," Vernon said, oily smile back on his face yet he continued to glare at Harry. "It was his own fault it got ruined, so he has to fix it. Come! Let's get back to eating and you were talking about your garden." He led them away and Harry was once again alone in the kitchen.

Or rather, he hoped he was alone.

The reason the cake was on the ground was due to a House Elf, one Harry had never met before. This House Elf, calling himself Dobby, showed up unannounced and was telling Harry that he should not go back to Hogwarts.

Harry, already slightly pressured by cooking and serving this very important dinner, was nonplussed. He loved Hogwarts and while he had kept busy by balancing his homework and all the cooking and meal prepping the Dursleys had him do for all their dinners and parties, he missed it there. He missed talking to his friends and exploring magic with Professor Flitwick and the other professors.

Granted, the so-called danger Dobby said he would be in did give him pause, but he reasoned that the school would be fine and the teachers responsible. The Headmaster and the professors had defended him against the trolls after all. That was not enough for Dobby though, and after admitting to hiding some of Harry's letters, he tried to get Harry into trouble by destroying the cake and disappearing.

Still, that was a later problem and fixing dessert was the current problem.

Harry looked through the refrigerator and at the ingredients on the table and the pantry. He had not bought anything extra, not having foreseen the cake catastrophe. As he looked at the scraps of cake that he had cut from the original to make a nice shape, he got an idea. He pulled out a package of ladyfinger biscuits and while there would not be enough to line the sides, there was more than enough to crush and make as layers and filling.

He hurriedly made a batch of instant custard, normally he would not but needs must. Sticking it into the freezer to get as cold as possible, he made a batch of whipped cream, arm beating furiously with whisk to get the peaks he wanted. He touched the pudding and while cool, it was not as chilled or cold as he wanted but again, needs must.