It's often recommended that you ripen the first few peppers/chillis OFF the plant, so that the plant will continue to fruit. If you leave them on the plant, it thinks it's done it's job of producing seed and stops flowering. If you pick them and put them on a bright windowsill and/or next to a banana, they'll soon ripen.

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Sarah

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”