days at Hogwarts

Chapter 572 Lunch at the Hog's Head

"[Split into pieces]"

"boom!!"

The wooden back door of the Hog's Head Bar was blown open with a loud bang. Years of accumulated dirt and weathered gravel raised up clouds of dust. Two figures wearing cloaks and hoods jumped out, tumbling around a few times in a panic, dodging dozens of colorful magic beams, and stumbled towards the depths of the alley.

"【Whirlwind Sweep Clean】"

When Umbridge, who had chased after them, cleared her vision and saw only a black shadow that disappeared hastily, the artificial smile on her face slowly faded, and gradually became cold and stern, "A small team ambushed two people and allowed them to escape the encirclement. They are really a bunch of useless guys. I will definitely report to Minister Fudge and strictly investigate the responsibility of your Auror Office!"

The Auror team all looked unhappy. The team leader glanced at her and protested in a low voice: "Ms. Umbridge, these two are definitely not ordinary dark wizards. They cast the Killing Curse immediately... We..."

The other team members looked at Umbridge with some resentment. According to the Auror training manual, they should have taken advantage of the dark wizards' distraction when they were concentrating on getting information, and directly attacked them, controlled and arrested the two dark wizards, and brought them back to the Ministry of Magic for interrogation. However, in order to show off, this pink toad revealed everyone's identities in advance, causing the ambush to be exposed...

What's more, the two enraged dark wizards were ruthless and directly cast the Unforgivable Curse on them. They were also asked to leave some of them alive and were caught off guard facing them head-on. The fact that they were able to survive without losing any members was a result of their good cooperation and excellent personal strength.

"If you have anything to say, explain it back at the department. Now, catch up with him!"

Umbridge's sharp voice was slightly ferocious, "Even if it's two corpses, bring them back to the Ministry of Magic!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The Auror team members felt a chill in their hearts and chased in the direction where the two dark wizards disappeared.

"..."

Umbridge glanced back at the messy bar, snorted coldly, straightened her pink scarf, and walked away in her hard-soled leather shoes.

The guests in the bar had already slipped away when the two sides started fighting. I don’t know when the money owed for today’s drinks can be paid. The bartender slowly waved his wand to restore the back door to its original appearance. There were murmurs of discussion coming from the nearby streets. The shop assistants in the next door shop stretched their heads to look over here, and sighed with disappointment: Why not take the opportunity to renovate it...

Most of the candles in the tavern were extinguished by the strong wind caused by the spell, leaving only a lonely candle head flickering. Next to the tattered and dirty bar covered with sawdust, a rickety wooden staircase led to the upstairs. The landing was the living room with a worn carpet. Above the small fireplace hung a large magical portrait of a young blonde girl, looking into the house with a gentle smile.

"Ariana..."

Dumbledore stared at the blonde girl in the portrait, his deep blue eyes misty with tears. Just when he was about to say something, he heard heavy footsteps behind him.

"Oh, what brings you here, dear Headmaster Dumbledore... my dear brother!?"

The bar owner walked into the room, slammed the door roughly, glared at him angrily, walked to the portrait in front of the fireplace, stretched out his hand to pull up the curtain on the frame, looked at the girl with a slightly frown on the canvas, and said in a gentle voice, "Be good, you know where to find a quiet place to sleep for a while, it will be very noisy tonight."

The blonde girl looked at the two of them longingly for a few times, then slowly withdrew her gaze and walked along a tunnel painted behind her.

Dumbledore watched her slender figure walk farther and farther away, until she was completely hidden in the background of the portrait. He then took a deep breath, turned to look at the bar owner, his blood brother, and said softly, "Aberforth, long time no see..."

Aberforth looked very similar to him, his hair had not yet turned completely silver, but was a strand of gray like metallic wire. He wore old round-framed glasses, and the gaps in the frames were filled with dirt that could be found everywhere in the bar. The lenses were also dirty, with fingerprints from thumbs and stains left by lard, sweat and dust. But all of these could not hide his bright and sharp eyes, which were glowing with a deep blue light.

Aberforth had a blank expression on his face, but his slightly bulging masseter muscles proved that he had clenched his teeth tightly. "The following performance is very exciting, right? What great plan does Mr. Albus Dumbledore have? Is it for the greater good or something else..."

Dumbledore didn't care and even had a slight smile on his face. They were not completely cut off from each other and he still understood his brother's character. He seemed rude and weird on the surface, but his heart was full of twists and turns like a maze and even he himself couldn't figure it out.

He did not respond, but took out his wand and looked around, lighting the lamps in the room, then bent down to light the fire. When the room became bright and warm, he raised his head and rubbed his beard with his hands covered with ash: "Is there anything to eat here... Well, I'm a little hungry..."

Aberforth gave him a cold look, turned and walked out of the room, and came back a moment later with a tray of food. On the plate there was a large piece of bread, a few slices of cheese and a pot of mead.

"We don't take credit."

"certainly……"

The two sat down at a small table in front of the fireplace. Dumbledore ate and drank without caring about his posture. The sound of his chewing and swallowing was even a little rough.

Aberforth was unmoved. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and pushed it across the table. It was about the same size as the Chocolate Frog card, and it depicted a blond boy perched on the windowsill, his posture like a big bird. The boy looked up at him, and a joyful smile bloomed on his handsome face.

"It's very familiar, isn't it? The bartender just gave it to me..." Aberforth finally put away his thorny attacking posture and said in a relatively calm tone, "It's an old fellow from decades ago. There are only a few wizards in the world who have seen this face. They are either lying in coffins or too old to move. They all stay at home and don't go out. No wonder they can't find it..."

Dumbledore didn't say anything. He was concentrating on putting cheese between bread and stuffing a big mouthful into his mouth. He almost choked and had to drink half a glass of mead before he could swallow it.

Aberforth glanced at him and said, "I know that the rumors clarified in the newspapers are actually true. You are not senile yet. Voldemort has really been resurrected and is preparing to make a comeback. These two dark wizards were instigated by him... But I can't understand why they are looking for Green..."

Dumbledore swallowed the last piece of bread and let out a long breath: "Don't worry about this, Aberforth, I--"

"Can you solve all the problems?" Aberforth glared at him fiercely, his lips moving as if chewing on the words he held back, until the anger and dissatisfaction in his heart completely burst out, "You have always been like this! Self-righteous! You learned to keep secrets when you were on your mother's knee. You think you are taking care of me, right?"

The violent voice echoed in the living room on the second floor of the tavern. The two pairs of blue eyes were surprisingly similar, staring at each other. The sharp and oppressive gazes seemed to penetrate into people's hearts.

"Just like you thought you were taking care of Ariana decades ago, you always thought you were taking care of this family. In fact, Ariana is more worried about you as her brother!" Aberforth stood up, his tall figure casting a long shadow. His expression looked a little hideous because of the intense pain. "She saw clearly that you were unwilling to be trapped in Godric's Hollow, so she agreed to travel with you regardless of her own health. She feels sorry for you as a brother. What about you?" Dumbledore was obviously stunned for a moment, pursed his lips but said nothing.

Aberforth closed his eyes painfully, clenched his trembling hands into fists, turned and left, leaving only a sentence full of disappointment: "Selfish guy, it's always like this!"

"..."

Dumbledore was silent for a long time before he came to his senses. He slowly lowered his head, looked at the picture on the small table, and murmured softly.

"Gellert... Grindelwald..."

……

Hogwarts, deep in the Forbidden Forest.

An unusually flat open space appeared in the dense forest. The nearby tree trunks were broken in a brutal and rough manner, leaving only low tree stumps. The stones embedded in the soil were dug out, cleaned and built into a rough stone house. Although it was called a stone house, it was actually almost as big as a tower. There was no furniture in the house except for the thatched grass on the ground.

Smoke was curling in front of the stone house, and the aroma of barbecue floated in the breeze through the woods. The lamb bones were piled aside, and the tendons and meat were not cleaned cleanly, but the hound Yaya lying next to them could only look at the bones and whimper softly, his whimpering full of grievance.

Its stomach was already slightly bloated and painful from eating so much, and it really couldn't eat any more.

"Ah..." Ron let out a sigh of relief, lay down on a flat stone, and patted his bulging belly, "I'm so full..."

The giant Grawp, who was not far away, understood what was said. He scratched his head, lay down properly, patted his belly and made a thunderous sound, "Eat... eat..."

Harry rubbed his ears which were stiff from the shock, his expression a little stiff. This giant brother of Hagrid seemed different from what he had expected. He was not easy to get along with, but much better than the dragon. He didn't know how to persuade Hagrid.

Hagrid was cleaning the grill and seasonings, his hands moving quickly. He looked at Harry, then at Grawp, his mouth grinning the whole time.

Loren didn't really care about their thoughts. Anyway, Headmaster Dumbledore had approved it, so he didn't want to meddle in other people's business. He stretched lazily, found a comfortable position, and rested his head on Hermione's legs. He didn't sleep, but just looked up at the little witch.

Hermione felt a little embarrassed and put her hand over his eyes to block his gaze.

"..."

It's tender, soft and smooth.

Loren slowly closed his eyes, and the dim light gradually sank through the girl's fingers. He asked casually, "Harry, Ron, how were the results of your Quidditch tryouts yesterday?"

Ron perked up at the mention of Quidditch, and replied cheerfully, "I'm already the vice-captain of the team, so why can't I be chosen as the goalkeeper? I tell you, that McLaggen missed five goals, which is far worse than me!"

"The gap between you two wasn't that obvious in the third year. It's probably because he didn't practice for a year, so his Quidditch skills have become rusty." Harry shook his head, very much like a starting seeker. "This time, not only are we selecting a goalkeeper to fill the vacancy left by Wood's graduation, we're also recruiting a lot of substitutes, because Angelina, George, Fred and other main players are graduating this year. We need to prepare in advance so we don't have to rush next year..."

"Time flies..." Loren didn't pay attention to what he was saying.

……

The Ministry of Magic building was not as busy as usual on the weekend. About half of the staff were on vacation. The empty hallway seemed a little deserted. Umbridge stepped out of the green flames, stepped into the golden elevator, and came to the Minister's office on the top floor with the sound of chains rustling.

Standing in front of the door and just about to raise her hand to knock, Umbridge suddenly realized that the sleeves of her expensive pink coat were a little dull. She looked at the wool on the cuffs and found that it was stained with some ash. A hint of displeasure flashed under her drooping eyelids.

Umbridge took out a small mirror from her handbag and spent a few minutes tidying up her appearance. Then she forced out an exaggerated smile and knocked on the door.

Pushing the door open, I saw a familiar figure sitting at the desk. Minister Cornelius Fudge raised his head and asked directly without any politeness, "How is the investigation going? Have you found out the identities of those people?"

Umbridge first glanced at the corner of the room. In the brightly lit room, the figure of Minister's Assistant Bertha Jorkins had nowhere to hide. She lowered her head and scratched on the cracks of the floor with her toes. It seemed that she not only had a bad memory, but also had some problems with her IQ.

Umbridge's eyes flashed with a hint of mockery. She pretended to hesitate for a few seconds, then replied in a sweet voice, "The negligence of the Auror team led to their escape. We are not sure whether they have any relationship with Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore?" Fudge was visibly stunned.

"Yes, Dumbledore." Umbridge looked at him secretly. "A dark wizard with suspicious behavior and ruthless means appeared near Hogwarts. How can we be sure that this has nothing to do with Dumbledore? Moreover, Hogwarts rejected the supervision reform of the Ministry of Magic. Who knows what...conspiracy they are planning?"

"This...this..." Fudge hesitated. Even though Dumbledore was against him, he knew clearly that Dumbledore would definitely not associate with dark wizards.

"Don't worry, Minister. We won't wrongly accuse any good person, nor will we let any dark wizard go..." Umbridge slowed down her speech, with a tone of bewitching induction, "It's just that this requires a thorough investigation, an investigation of Hogwarts..."

In front of the desk in the minister's office, a candle burned quietly, and the faint light from the fireplace illuminated Minister Fudge's slightly widened eyes.

(End of this chapter)