[HPforGrownups] Theory of magic food

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 11361

Amy wrote:

> > 3. How come some wizards can conjure up platters of food, while
> poor old Mrs. Weasley has to cook with her wand?
>
> Ah, the burning Wizard Economics question.  My theory: cooking is a
> mixture of muggle-type work and conjuring.  (Cream sauce does come
> pouring out of her wand, after all.)  An optional or additional
> possibility:  you can only conjure what you've got "in the bank," so
> to speak.  Dumbledore can conjure up anything that Hogwarts' riches
> can afford; Mrs. W can conjure up only what the Weasleys can
> afford.  ???

Okay, here's my take on it. Magic seems to me to involve two things;
either the manipulation of Real Matter, which must of necessity be
limited to the Real Matter you have access to, or illusion, limited only
by the skill of the spellcaster.

Cooking involves the manipulation of Real Stuff, physical, tangible
stuff. Wizards, like other folk, buy their food, and store it in their
equivalent of the pantry. When Mrs. Weasley made white sauce, she was
using a spell that drew on the supplies she had, the milk, flour, butter,
etc., at the house, mixed them correctly, and poured them out the end of
her wand. The food at Hogwarts is generally prepared by house elves and
somehow magically appears on the plates, but again, it's Real Food
prepared by someone. I imagine there's some "store" of prepared stuff
held in a magical limbo for occasions when Dumbledore's entertaining and
offers refreshments with a wave of the wand--i.e., tea and cakes in
Hagrid's hut, or perhaps it appeared a la drawing on the Hogwarts pantry
and his skill was such that it got prepared real fast.

Illusory food, like illusory leprechaun gold, can presumably be picked up
and handled. I imagine it can be eaten. But it won't do to feed a family
on, it's not real, and will not provide nutrients to the body or sustain
life [this has led to some wonderful ideas for marketing wizard diets to
the world]. This is why the Weasleys have to stretch their (real) gold to
feed their family with (real) food. I imagine they could have the
illusion of a grander house with grander fittings, but it's not their
style.

How was that?

--Amanda