Harry Potter: Charlie's Candy Factory

Chapter 142 Tribute to Mr. Charlie Black (Happy Children's Day)
"and many more."

A Muggle who was about to take a sip of wine suddenly seemed to think of something, and his mind was faintly clear.

He put his glass of beer, which was still half full, back on the table, and looked at the slumped brow standing behind the bar counter with bulging drunken eyes that seemed a bit sleepy from drinking too much beer. Concentrated on wiping the glass, as if the bartender had nothing to do with all the noisy atmosphere around him.

He licked his lips, hesitated for a moment, and then said nervously

"I... don't seem to have any coins in your wizarding world... or do you accept pounds here?"

As soon as these words came out, there were a few Muggles who were drinking happily next to him, and they also woke up a little bit.

It was only then that I remembered that the currency issued by the British Muggle government seemed useless in this world full of wizards.

So they quickly stopped what they were doing, looked at Old Tom, and waited for the other party's answer.

Old Tom paused as he wiped his glass, and he didn't raise his head. Instead, he spoke in an unhurried voice with his seemingly innate hoarse voice.

"Drink it at ease! Charlie Black came to me specially yesterday, and he will pay for all the Muggles who come to the Leaky Cauldron to drink today."

It wasn't until the end of the sentence that Old Tom could vaguely see a somewhat happy expression on his wrinkled face.

You know, this can be regarded as a big business.

Since early this morning, the number of Muggles or Squibs who have come to the Leaky Cauldron, these new faces, has totaled more than 20 people.

These Muggles, who seem to have a high enthusiasm for things from the wizarding world, don't mind tasting these alcoholic drinks that are rougher than modern cities, and they can also meet some wizarding regulars in the Leaky Cauldron. They quickly became one, forming a very cheerful atmosphere.

After all, this is the Leaky Cauldron, and it mainly serves ordinary wizards in the middle and lower classes of the wizarding world. Most of them are Muggle wizards and half-blood wizards. The attitude shown is just surprise, and it will not be as disgusting and protesting as the upper-level leaders.

That's why Charlie would gather here those Muggles who probably haven't formally contacted the wizarding world in this life, and only heard about its existence from their children or partners...

Sure enough, after hearing Old Tom's words, everyone couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, and then, a wanton smile began to appear on their blushing faces.

"Salute to Mr. Charlie Black!!"

A Muggle who was clearly drunk stood up directly, raised the huge wine glass with one hand, and tore off the tie that was originally bound around his neck with the other hand, shouting loudly.

His words were quickly answered, one by one with the same purpose, the guys who completely let go of their minds raised the cups above their heads and collided in the air.

He ignored the amber hops that splashed from the starting point due to trembling movements, and sprinkled on the originally neat suit, leaving faint traces.

"Salute to Mr. Charlie Black!!!"

All of a sudden, such voices rang out one after another in this not-so-big bar. Even those wizards, in a state of drunkenness, their hearts were inspired, and they also cheered loudly.

There was a faint smile on Old Tom's face.He put the wiped cup back to its original position, raised his head, and looked around for a week. Instead of continuing to wipe the remaining things as in the past, he put his hands on his hips and quietly watched his tavern become A gathering of Charlie Blake followers.

I can't help but sigh in my heart... I remember when I saw that boy, how old was he?

His memory is not very good. If he hadn't sent it out of emotion, Old Tom wouldn't even be able to combine this name with the one in his long-term impression who was dressed in a Slytherin school uniform, combed his smooth black hair into a meticulous back, and had proud and rebellious eyes. Boys match numbers.

He only remembered that it was the time when Voldemort's power had not yet reached its peak, and the conflict between pure-blood wizards and Muggle wizards had never been so great...

It was around the time of summer vacation, on a day that couldn't be more ordinary, Charlie Black walked in with a little wizard who also had long black hair.

A stick in his hand...but not a wand. (Probably because of the summer vacation, so they have no way to use magic outside of school)
After entering, he overturned a round table without saying a word.Then, before everyone could react, he raised the stick in his hand high and waved it mercilessly at the four boys of the same age who were drunk at the round table.

After a severe beating, he and another little wizard quietly put away the murder weapon in their hands after confirming that all four of them were lying on the ground and could not get up again, and tidied themselves up leisurely under the eyes of everyone. expensive clothes.

Then squinting his eyes, he walked in front of old Tom quite formally, dropped a small bag of Garen, and said

"This is the money used to pay for that table and the things that were accidentally broken just now, plus the cost of cleaning up. If it's not enough, just go to Black's house and ask for it. Just give me my name, Charlie Black!"

After finishing speaking, he took his friend and walked out of the Leaky Cauldron without looking back, leaving only him and the customers looking at each other blankly.And the four little guys lying on the ground, still howling faintly...

Just when old Tom was thinking quietly in this long memory, a sudden sound from the door broke his thoughts again.

"Jingle Bell……"

The doorbell of the Leaky Cauldron rang, signaling that another guest was about to enter.

Immediately afterwards, the door opened, and a chubby figure slammed into it before everyone could react. Then, accompanied by a heavy muffled "plop", it slid a few meters and lay on the floor.

The originally noisy atmosphere was suddenly quiet for a moment because of the new guy.

But after the silence, there were even more noisy voices.

The wizards, who were already staggering from drinking, narrowed their eyes and grinned, shaking their heads and laughing unabashedly, "Look! Another Muggle friend has come here!!!"

"Welcome to the best wizarding pub in the world - the Leaky Cauldron!!"

"Hurry up! Newcomer, quickly order a glass of delicious beer from Old Tom, and then cheer for your future boss, Mr. Charlie Black!!"

All kinds of voices with different accents and different dialects flooded into Dursley's ears like this, making him who was already caught off guard, and his mind was a little dizzy, even more confused.

Confused, he slowly raised his head, opened his eyes subconsciously, and began to look around at everything around him.

An unexplained sense of panic surged into his heart again, making his heart beat a little faster.

Wizards, all of them are wizards... All of them are like those in TV dramas, wearing weird cloaks, with weird and evil smiles on their faces, staring at themselves with malicious intentions, as if watching a Experimental mice...

Out of the fear in his heart, the bloated body lying on the ground bounced up with a "swoosh".

Before he had time to slap the dust that had just been stained on his body, he quickly took two steps back, subconsciously put his hands in front of his body, sat in a defensive posture, and watched those "no!" Well-intentioned wizards.

"Don't...don't be nervous, brother. They are all our friends!"

Just when Dursley stepped forward to retreat towards the door while being alert to everything around him, a voice suddenly came from the crowd.

A man in a suit like him wobbly held a wine glass, walked through the round tables full of wizards, and squeezed in front of Dursley.

Before he could say anything, he hooked his shoulders first, and said vaguely with that mouth full of alcohol

"It's my first meeting... Nice to meet you! My name is Andrew."

Dursley was choked by the smell of alcohol in his mouth, and moved his head back calmly.

Although he didn't want to talk to the other party, but out of politeness and the fact that the other party might be his future companion, Dursley responded patiently and indifferently.

"Nice to meet you, Vernon Dursley."

"Look... this is Louis, that's Jaina, friends, hiccups, friends!"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand reluctantly, and pointed to the few wizards who were chatting with him just now.

Those wizards were also very face-saving, grinning, and although they didn't say anything, they raised the wine glasses in their hands and greeted the two of them.

"Are you crazy?" Dursley listened to his words, his eyebrows almost raised above his head, and he asked in disbelief

"You made friends with those wizards?"

His voice is not low, in this bar, no matter upstairs or downstairs, as long as you want to hear, you can hear everything clearly.

But no one cared about these things, and after hearing it, they just laughed it off, whispered something else to their companions, and then ignored it.

After all, since the very beginning, quite a few Muggles have walked in here... Although most of them expressed their kindness immediately because of their relatives, there are also very few who are just like Dursley. , There are still many stereotypes about the first impression of wizards.

But so what?It took almost less than 10 minutes for them to collapse in front of the counter. Like others, they joined today's special carnival, drinking and smoking, and truly integrated into this society that is completely opposite to Muggle society. wizarding world.

"Pfft!" Andrew, who was leaning against Dursley, couldn't help but sneered, then slowly raised his head, and squinted his eyes to look up and down Dursley's fat face.

"Then you still came here? Why, the British pound is not easy to earn in London, England. I really have no choice but to come to Charlie's Candy Factory to earn some Galleons?"

Facing the other party's questioning, Dursley's face flushed a little.

"Well, that's different! I'm here to..."

His tone was a bit tough, as if he wanted to justify something.But before he could speak, he was interrupted by Andrew again.

He waved his hand indiscriminately to stop Dursley from continuing, then turned his head and shouted loudly to Old Tom who was watching the scene on the counter

"Mr. Bartender! This guy is so drunk he's talking nonsense! Come on, he needs a pint of beer to clear himself up!!"

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere that had been somewhat quiet because Dursley came in turned into a climax again.

Not only Andrew, but also several Muggles who had drunk a lot came out of the crowd, and before Dursley refused, they grabbed his clothes and led him towards the bar counter.

The kindness is hard to turn down. Although Dursley still resisted in his heart, he finally did not show any strong refusal.Looking at the bustling crowd around him, and the muggles and wizards chatting happily, he felt a strange feeling in his heart for some reason.

"Okay, okay! I'll go with you! But be careful, don't pull my tie, this tie is my wedding anniversary gift from my wife, if it wasn't for the interview, I would never bring it here A place like a bar!"

While talking, Dursley gradually took a few steps reluctantly, and finally came to the counter with half-push.

At this moment, Old Tom had already picked up a glass of beer and placed it in front of him.He didn't say anything, just smiled and raised his chin, indicating that it was for him.

"...Okay, thank you." Dursley licked his lips, looking at the amber liquor in the large wooden beer glass, which still had a little white foam.Even before entering the mouth, one can guess that it is really cool.

No middle-aged man could refuse a glass of cold beer in such an atmosphere, even if the glass of beer came from a wizard, but at this moment, it didn't matter so much.

Taking a deep breath, Dursley stretched out his fat palm and grabbed the handle of the beer mug.

And just this simple action instantly caused a wave of cheers from the crowd.

"drink!!"

"drink!!"

"drink!!"

The rising and falling sounds became unified and rhythmic.At this moment, Dursley was the protagonist of them all.

As if he didn't even realize it, an uncontrollable smile hung on his fat face.

"Alright alright!"

He raised his glass, turned around, and gestured to everyone.

Immediately afterwards, under the eyes of everyone, he raised his head, opened his mouth, and let the beer pour down into his mouth.

"Gu dong... gu dong..."

As Dursley's Adam's apple began to rise and fall, the huge glass of beer also began to dwindle.

Finally, under the gaze of everyone, the last drop of wine in the beer glass entered his mouth.

With a sound of "Peng!!!", the beer mug was slammed on the counter with such force that Old Tom couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for his antiques.

"Hicc!!!!" A loud and long hiccup gushed out of Dursley's mouth, resounding throughout the bar.

Until then, his vigilant eyes had disappeared completely, and his eyes seemed brighter than ever before.

"It's delicious! Let's have another drink!!!"

(End of this chapter)