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Ten minutes later, at Erina's insistence, Hannah and Luna left the kitchen under the guidance of the Scamander couple and headed to the study on the second floor, leaving Erina and the sizzling oil pan alone in the empty living room on the first floor.

Now, the sense of happiness the two little lolis had gained from the wonderful dinner was rapidly fading...

According to Dumbledore and Erina's prior arrangement, after finishing their daily Quidditch training, they also needed to complete some interesting "Hogwarts Summer Life" under the supervision and guidance of the Scamander couple, such as consolidating the summer homework of the last school year and previewing the courses for the next year.

And when everything was on track, the culprit, the white-haired dumpling, would naturally not escape the pit she dug herself.

Of course, at least tonight, Erina only needed to face the sizzling oil pan, waiting for the clarified lard to slowly render in the pot, and the pork back fat to turn into crispy and delicious pork cracklings, becoming the raw material for stir-frying crispy pork.

Not having to think about trivial society and the future, cooking her favorite food at will, without being disturbed by anyone, focusing all her energy on the ingredients in front of her – this was the ultimate healing for a food lover.

In the empty kitchen, staring blankly at the oil pan, Erina hadn't had such a relaxing break in a long time.

Since coming to this world, she had spent most of her time struggling to survive in this strange world.

Before entering Hogwarts, Erina's energy was mainly focused on how to maintain the basic three meals a day for the orphanage children together with Benitez. After entering Hogwarts, the responsibility and expectations on her shoulders had been magnified countless times.

But Erina's rest didn't last long.

Soon, Tina Scamander's voice came from upstairs.

She was urging her husband to go downstairs to the kitchen to help. Although, in Tina's view, besides helping to wash the dishes and hand things over, Newt probably couldn't do anything, but it was at least better than standing in the study upstairs in a daze.

Then, the creaking sound of footsteps on the wooden spiral staircase came.

This was Newt Scamander's unique walking frequency, quick and light when landing, but with a few pauses in between. If it were in the wild, this could be said to be the most friendly signal that could easily make animals let down their guard.

Or rather – the way a top predator at the top of the food chain moves.

"Sorry, is there something on my face?" Newt scratched his cheek a little uncomfortably.

"It's nothing, I just turned my head subconsciously when I heard the footsteps."

Erina shook her head meaningfully, refocusing her gaze on the sizzling oil pan in front of her.

The magical world didn't have a master ball that was guaranteed to work. Behind Newt Scamander's extremely high success rate in "recovering" those magical creatures scattered all over the world, as a Magizoologist, there were too many things worth pondering.

Grindelwald once commented on Newt's class at Nurmengard: "No one knows how to hunt magical creatures better than Newt."

Erina knew very well that one of the reasons why the magical world valued Newt's opinion so much was because when uncontrollable magical creature disasters occurred, Newt was definitely a more trustworthy helper than Dumbledore.

The fact was indeed so. Under Newt's initiative, the progress of various associations was much smoother than Erina had imagined.

Newt Scamander was indeed a treasure wizard with infinite potential.

But…

Erina glanced at the pork back fat that had been fried to a golden brown in the pot, and raised her eyebrows thoughtfully.

Just like rendering pork back fat, it was important not to be too hasty in some things. Slowly simmering it patiently, little by little, would yield fragrant, milky white lard and crispy, delicious pork cracklings that could be used to make crispy pork.

Therefore, although the precious time alone for a daze was gone, Erina didn't feel too much disappointment.

"So, Erina…"

Newt Scamander walked down the stairs and stood at the edge of the open kitchen for a while.

Seeing that the girl didn't seem to have any intention of speaking first, Newt's eyes wandered between the sizzling oil pan and the pork belly, pork skin… that were neatly placed on the counter. After hesitating for a few seconds, he took the initiative to ask.

"Is there anything I can help with? Or do you want to talk to me about something?"

Although Erina had said before that she wanted him to help break down and cut the pork tissue, Newt knew very well that it was just a pretense – after Erina's Transfiguration, most of the tissues and organs had been perfectly separated, and there was not much need for him to re-process them.

In fact, by the time he returned to the kitchen again, even the dishes and cutlery in the sink had been cleaned.

Undoubtedly, there was no such thing as helping to clean the kitchen. All that awaited him was a private conversation from the underage little devil.

"Oh, I haven't thought about it yet," Erina's lips curled up slightly, and she winked mischievously. "As you can see, I've already finished most of the finishing work in advance. As for the content of the conversation – this question should be asked by you, not by me, right? If I'm not mistaken, you should have a lot of confusion in your mind right now."

Erina stared carefully at the iron pot in front of her, carefully adjusting the size of the fire below, turning it to a simmer.

If you want the lard to have the most perfect color, then adding clear water first and using a high fire to control the temperature is definitely an essential and important step, because after the oil boils, it is easy to turn yellow and burn. Adding water can keep the temperature at one hundred degrees.

Only when the water is about to burn dry does it really come to the stage of turning the heat to low and slowly extracting the oil.

And for Erina, the rendering of another "pork back fat" had only just begun.

"So!" Newt said with a strange expression, "you're actually helping me create an opportunity to ask questions separately?"

"Yes," Erina said.

"For a moment just now, I almost thought Professor Dumbledore was speaking," Newt was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile. "What problems do I need to ask you to verify separately? The Magical Creatures Association hasn't officially started yet, as for cooking skills and your past experiences – I'm not one of those young people with a strong curiosity."

"Oh? You have a point."

Erina stir-fried the pork fat pieces in the pot a few times, re-covered the lid, and quietly looked at the old freckled man.

Pork skin will affect the efficiency of rendering oil, but this is not a very important factor. Compared with ordinary pork back fat, it just takes a little more time, and time is precisely the part that Erina is richest in at this time.

"Don't look at me with that kind of look!"

Newt Scamander's gaze shifted involuntarily, and he said with some annoyance, "Although I don't know who you learned it from, this way of communication is not suitable for a little girl like you who is eleven or twelve years old. You wouldn't really think... you wouldn't really think... I would reconsider your so-called devil plan, would I?"

"Well…"

Erina shrugged, the smile on her face becoming more and more vivid.

"In fact, as you can see, I didn't say anything just now…"

This was what Newt Scamander cared about, and it was easily revealed. As expected, old ginger is spicier. The "elder advice" that Grindelwald asked the reserve food to send over was still quite valuable for reference.

When facing a recluse like Newt, it's best to let the other person speak first, otherwise, no matter how much you say, it will be ignored.

"Okay, if there's really something I want to ask…"

After taking a look at Erina who was smiling noncommittally, Newt felt a sense of helplessness in his heart and sighed silently.

Was this the little fellow that Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore had cultivated together? She simply integrated the most unpleasant parts of those two old guys' personalities, especially when she was a Veela hybrid.

"Erina," Newt thought for a while and said, "Do you think that for so many years, we have been committed to hiding the existence of magical creatures from Muggles, erasing the traces left by magical creatures. Is this actually a mistake?"

"It's not a mistake, just a fork in the road," Erina said.

Then, she glanced at the somewhat bewildered Newt and felt that she should explain it in more detail. After all, compared to smarties like Grindelwald and Dumbledore, this nearly century-old old man obviously had an EQ that was a billion points lower.

"Whether it's for the magical world, the non-magical world, or the magical creature world, it's the same."

"All of them?" Newt frowned, "I don't intend to discuss the fusion of the non-magical world and the magical world here. The *International Statute of Secrecy* may have inhumane aspects, but it does maintain the stability of the two worlds. I originally thought that you were turning your attention to magical creatures in order to solve people's food problems."

"Oh, yes," Erina nodded, "Survival is the most basic demand of living beings. It seems that we have at least reached a consensus on this point, but perhaps you have a small misunderstanding…"

Erina narrowed her eyes and raised her index finger, saying softly.

"This is not one of the reasons. On the contrary, in my opinion, it should be the end point that most behaviors and thoughts ultimately lead to. Magical creatures are an integral part of the natural ecology. Artificially separating them as wizarding attributes is a very strange behavior in itself - the food chain is just the easiest way for everyone to understand."

"I understand," Newt said, "Miss Kaslana, you think that eating magical creatures can solve the food problem in human society, well, I mean, if the situation you describe is common in the non-magical world - "

"Uh…"

Erina turned off the stove and carefully poured the lard into a pre-prepared basin. She poked the pork cracklings in the pot that were still a bit soft with chopsticks. Because of the lack of a pre-marinating process, it would be difficult to make them into standard crispy pork.

But if you add cooking wine, salt, soy sauce, brown sugar, and spice powder at this time, put it in an iron pot and continue to stir-fry until these pork cracklings start to turn from golden yellow to dark red, and then add a little cold water to chase out the remaining oil hidden in the meat, although it won't be as flavorful and crispy as authentic crispy pork, it can be considered a delicious dish on the qualified line.

"I can only say that this is a possibility... Exploring the edible value of magical creatures is indeed a road that no one has traveled before in a strict sense, but at the same time, it is not a completely new thing without reference in human civilization."

Erina glanced at Newt, simply cleaned up the oil residue left over from the pork back fat in the pot, picked up the pork neck that was on the side table, and took out the cute little black cross and gently poked it.

*Vera Verto* - Nox Hecate, unfold!

In the next second, the piece of pork neck in the girl's hand instantly disintegrated, turning into square small meat pieces with sides of one centimeter and falling into the iron pot below. The cross in her hand was finally shaped into a black metal spatula.

"As long as we can verify that a part of it is feasible, then we can trace it back to some earlier points in time and try. For example, for the production of 'crispy pork', that is, replacing the ingredients from pork back fat to pork neck that is more suitable for meat, changing the amount of oil rendered from the original 90% to 60%, and then starting to add cooking wine, light soy sauce, aged vinegar... and all kinds of prepared spices, constantly stir-frying... *rua*!"

In the increasingly rich aroma of meat, Erina skillfully pulled the handle of the pot with her right hand.

The brightly colored, salty, fragrant, and refreshing crispy pork pieces rose into the air with the girl's tossing action, and then fell back into the pot like a waterfall, rustling and rolling. Newt, who had just finished dinner, swallowed subconsciously.

Damn, he was actually a little hungry again.

This magical way of giving examples was beyond Newt's imagination, and it had to be admitted that, accompanied by the girl's skillful cooking techniques and the rich aroma of meat lingering in the kitchen, the persuasive ability seemed to be quite effective.

In any case, Erina's description, although a bit clever, did answer Newt's doubts.

"Regarding the food shortage you mentioned, I will go to Russia tomorrow. When fighting Grindelwald decades ago, I still had many old friends I knew there - and then, we will continue to discuss the magical creature issue. Hmm?"

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You wouldn't think Fat Chicken is going to *gu* again, would you? No way? No way?

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