I know there's candies and whatnot, but what if you're hungry at 3pm? If you go into the great hall and sit down, would food appear? How would I get a snack at 9am? Do they have like... Wizard Goldfish crackers? Like maybe giant squid crackers, lol. I'm rarely hungry at "meal times" so Hogwarts might be a problem for me.
Based on Fred and George having to sneak food from the house elves it makes me think no, you either have food saved from hogsmead or sent as gifts or you save from meals?
Fred and George going to the kitchens is what prompted this question, lol! I was wondering if they had to sneak into the kitchens to get food, or if they could have gotten it in the hall, but they just liked being sneaky.
They likely had to sneak into the kitchens. Kids probably did save things from meals for later though. We also know that some kids (Draco at least) got care packages from home. Dracos had snacks and such in it.
The food in the great hall isn't magically created. It's normal food cooked in a normal kitchen. Immediately under the great hall there's another room with tables aligned in the same position. The food is piled on those tables and magically teleported to the great hall at meal times.
I know how it works for meals. I'm asking if the elves in the kitchen can tell if someone is in the hall wanting to eat when it's not breakfast, lunch, or dinner time. Can you get food from the hall any time of day, or do you have to get it yourself somehow (stocking up at hogsmeade, having parents send you stuff, taking some from dinner for later, etc).
I'm sure there has to be more to snacking than just sneaking into the kitchens. There's probably did storage in the dorms that we never heard about. I'm sure with magic there's ways to ensure that food doesn't spoil as easily so you sure food without refrigeration and then just heat it up with a spell.
Or maybe some entrepreneurial wizard or witch has made self-cooking ramen noodles. The potential is unlimited