"Right now, this shameless, handsome devil is starving. I went to the edge of the forest this afternoon and picked up a ton of herbs. It was like they were free; I just couldn't stop myself."
Changing the subject, Lynn grabbed a steak, happily cut off a large chunk, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Are you researching new dishes?"
The little foodie Harley blinked her eyes and tugged at Lynn's sleeve. "Does that mean we'll have something good to eat tomorrow?"
"Maybe I could invent some local snacks, like Stir-fried Leaping Mushrooms or Deep-fried Grass-bell Worms?"
"Would that be good?" Harley widened her eyes, looking a bit dazed and cute, biting her lip in hesitation.
"I can't vouch for the taste, but giving you the runs is a certainty." Lynn was amused by Harley's gluttonous look. "Both those things are mildly toxic; they have to be processed before being used in potions."
Seeing Lynn flanked by pretty girls on both sides, the boys witnessing this scene couldn't help but feel a bit sour. It was one thing to be close to Harley, the Gryffindor beauty—after all, rumors of them being childhood sweethearts were already flying everywhere—but to also snag a pretty Ravenclaw girl was just too much. How could all the good things in the world be hogged by one person?
Lynn showed faint signs of becoming public enemy number one among the boys, but they could only look on with envy. After all, when it comes to character modeling, that's something you're born with.
"What's so great about him?"
Ron, who had wanted to show off in front of Lynn earlier but was ignored, curled his lips and grumbled. But his words were overheard by Seamus next to him.
"Just because he's handsome, gets good grades, is liked by the professors, has a childhood sweetheart, and is liked by a pretty Ravenclaw girl... what's so great about that?"
Seamus nodded seriously, and it was unclear if he was agreeing with Ron or casually stabbing him in the heart.
But either way, hearing Seamus's words made Ron's face turn even darker. He grabbed two chicken legs, ready to chow down, but as soon as the chicken entered his mouth, he felt the taste was a bit off.
"Do today's chicken legs taste like beef stew?"
Ron looked suspiciously at the chicken leg, which now sported a bite mark. At that moment, his mouth was filled with the rich, meaty aroma of potato and beef stew. Actually, it wasn't bad; this stew was much tastier than the chicken leg.
"What nonsense are you talking about, Ron? Chicken legs are chicken legs. Fried chicken legs need ketchup."
Seamus spoke vaguely while cutting his steak and stuffing it into his mouth.
"You heretic!" Ron was immediately unhappy. He took two forceful bites of the chicken. "Fried chicken legs don't need any sauce, you just eat them... Why does it still taste like stew?"
"Fried chicken stew?"
Starting to question his reality, Ron didn't believe in curses and took another bite, but the taste was still wrong.
Just as he chewed a few times in bewilderment and prepared to swallow, suddenly, Ron grabbed his own throat with his greasy hand.
A smell of bloody, raw meat shot straight to his brain. It was quite a kick.
"Ron, what's wrong with you?"
Seamus looked at Ron oddly, not quite understanding what kind of performance art this was.
"Why is it raw..."
After struggling to swallow the meat stuck in his throat, Ron looked with horror at the chicken leg in his hand, which was missing two chunks of meat.
"How is that possible? The chicken leg is clearly cooked. How could that be wrong?"
Seamus glanced at the chicken leg Ron had thrown onto the table; he couldn't see any half-cooked bloody streaks at all.
"But clearly— retch~"
Suddenly dry-heaving, Ron was choked again by the bloody taste of raw meat filling his mouth. His face went pale, making him look like he had been poisoned.
Seeing this scene, Seamus quickly stood up, seemingly afraid of being infected by Ron, but he couldn't just run away—that would be too disloyal.
"Prefect! Prefect Percy!"
Seamus's brain worked pretty well; he suddenly remembered that Percy was Ron's brother, so he shouted hurriedly.
Hearing someone call for a prefect, Percy flashed over instantly. "What happened?"
"It's Ron! He seems to be poisoned, or maybe hit by some curse?"
Seamus hesitated before speaking: "Ron was just saying something about stew-flavored chicken legs, and saying the chicken legs weren't cooked or some other nonsense, and his face turned really pale..."
"Is... that so?"
Percy looked at Ron suspiciously. After the raw meat taste in his mouth passed, Ron's complexion had improved a lot. Right now, he was grabbing the bitten chicken leg, staring at it with wide eyes.
"Isn't he fine?" Percy leaned over to look at Ron and didn't notice anything amiss. "You're alright, aren't you, Ron? You just choked, right?"
"No, I—"
Ron himself couldn't describe the feeling he just had; it felt like a dream.
"So nothing's wrong, right." Percy's expression became a bit stern. "Don't clown around, and definitely don't copy Fred and George's pranks. It's mealtime; behave yourself."
Scolded by Percy, Ron opened his mouth, then lowered his head sullenly, grumbling words that only he could hear.
"Alright, Ron was just playing a prank earlier. It's nothing."
Percy patted Seamus on the shoulder. Although it was a misunderstanding, he still enjoyed being called 'Prefect' and the feeling of being needed.
"Was it a prank? Ron, what circus act are you performing?"
Seamus sat down dubiously. Seeing that Ron seemed fine now, he scooted his bottom over to get farther away from Ron. After all, the feeling of being tricked was never pleasant; Ron must have definitely played him for a fool just now.
This scene was witnessed by quite a few students, but the young wizards, failing to see any big drama unfold, soon shifted their gaze.
'That unwrapped gum only had half a stick left... did someone actually stuff it in their mouth?'
Lynn, who had seen Ron's scene, complained silently in his heart, somewhat speechless. 'Just how gluttonous is he... I'm really convinced...'
But seeing Ron start dual-wielding chicken legs again, Lynn seemed to understand. With the dedication to eating Ron was currently displaying, he really should have gone to Hufflepuff. But the recklessness to stuff something of unknown origin into his mouth... being sorted into Gryffindor wasn't a mistake either.
"Sigh... whatever, this isn't my business. I didn't make him eat it...
"But Fang..."
Thinking of this, Lynn felt a bit uneasy. "Fang wouldn't eat random things, right?"
"Forget it, never mind. It just transmits taste anyway; he won't actually eat it. It wears off after a day, so it won't last long."
After mourning for Ron for one second in his heart, Lynn quickly tossed the matter aside, considering it a lesson for him to remember. Anyway... even if Lynn wanted to help, he had no way to deactivate the gum's effect ahead of time.
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