Dietary Needs at Hogwarts.

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 12627

> Speaking of food at Hogwarts, in PS/SS Chapter 10 (Halloween), at 
the
> evening's dinner (before the troll was discovered) it says "The 
feast
> appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the 
start-of-term
> banquet."  Which implies that the food does not appear suddenly the 
rest of
> the time.  

In the food descriptions (you're right, there are a lot) JKR sometimes 
shows the trio helping themselves/each other from serving dishes.  I 
picture a family-style arrangement:  each table has serving dishes 
along it with various foods, people help themselves, as opposed to 
cafeteria-style.  The contrast at the abovementioned feasts is that 
the food appears magically on the individual plates, rather than in 
the serving bowls as it usually does.

Amy Z

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Ron peered into Harry's teacup, his forehead
wrinkled with effort.  "There's a blob a bit
like a bowler hat," he said.  "Maybe you're 
going to work for the Ministry of Magic. . . ."
               -HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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