Hogwarts starts with stealing power.

Harry took the lead and after him, Draco and Hermione jumped into the car like dumplings, leaving only Ron at the end.

At this moment, the train suddenly accelerated, as if it wanted to leave Hogsmeade station quickly.

The speed of the magic car could not keep up with the speed of the train and it lagged behind by about one carriage.

Ron couldn't help but shout in panic: "What should I do? Hurry up and drive the car over here!"

Lin Xia said calmly, "Ron, close your eyes and jump down. We will catch you. Your falling speed is not as fast as the speed of the car."

"But, but..." Ron's heart was gripped tightly.

Just now he saw Harry and the others jumping, and the cars were catching them below.

But he is now a long distance away from the car and he is scared!

Lin Xia urged, "Don't worry about it, jump quickly, or we will miss the Hogsmeade stop!"

Not only Lin Xia, but Harry and Hermione were also urging them.

Harry shouted, "Ron, close your eyes and jump down. Don't worry, we will catch you!"

Hermione shouted, "Ron, if you don't jump off now, you will be taken to another place by the train. How are you going to get out then?

You won't be able to find your way to Hogsmeade, and you'll be discovered by the professor for leaving the school without permission, and Snape will deduct points from Gryffindor again!"

Speaking of "scores", Ron shuddered all over. The painful experience of being deducted points stimulated him and made him close his eyes.

He said confidently: "I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid at all, I can do it.

Close your eyes and think of it as flat ground. I just need to jump lightly. Yes, just jump lightly..."

Ron took a few deep breaths and felt his rapidly beating heart calm down a little. At the urging of his friends, he no longer hesitated and jumped forward with all his strength.

A strong and impactful high-altitude air pressure swept over, and Ron felt his eardrum vibrating for a moment, and a tinnitus-like whistling sound rang in his mind.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

He closed his eyes tightly and recited silently in his heart. When he counted to five seconds, his body seemed to be pulled by some force and slowly floated to a place.

The pressure on him quickly dissipated, and suddenly, Ron felt his feet touch solid ground.

He must have never felt so at ease before.

Ron opened his eyes and found himself standing in the car. Lin Xia and others were smiling at him.

With the help of the magic car, they soon arrived at the main gate of Hogsmeade village.

There were not many wizards staying at the main gate at this time.

Lin Xia and others walked over stealthily and found that people were constantly leaving the queue.

Before leaving, these people whispered to each other.

Every wizard who heard the news had a solemn expression, with a look of struggle and hesitation on their faces, and finally they all walked out of the queue at the same time.

This cycle repeated itself over and over again, and Lin Xia discovered that as they followed the crowd forward, they had unknowingly arrived at a relatively forward position.

This speed is very abnormal, people in the queue ahead are constantly leaving.

Lin Xia whispered, "Let's wait a moment, go back to the back of the team, and listen to what those people are saying."

Ron also said: "I remember the scene I saw on the train before. There was a place with a lot of people. At that time, I thought it was the main entrance.

But now it seems that the place is actually at the back door, why are there so many people rushing to get out?"

Fewer and fewer people were going in, and more and more people were coming out. Something unusual must have happened in Hogsmeade village.

The group came to the back and happened to meet a few wizards who came to Hogsmeade village.

This group of wizards are all witches. They came to the village to purchase on Christmas Eve.

They were still a little unsure about whether they could enter Hogsmeade.

"I have submitted an application for an appointment to enter Hogsmeade, but have not received a response from the Ministry of Magic. I don't know if I have passed the qualification review and whether they will let me in."

"I also submitted an application, but also received no response. According to my relatives who work at the Ministry of Magic, the Ministry of Magic has recently mobilized many Aurors to be stationed at various tourist attractions.

Among them, Hogsmeade Village mobilized the most military forces, and they attached great importance to our safety during the festival. This kind of Ministry of Magic is a bit unfamiliar to me. I have never seen them so concerned before. "

"There are so few people in line, they should be able to let in more people, right?"

While the group of witches were talking, the wizard who had been standing outside without queuing or leaving couldn't help but interrupted:
"Haven't you heard the news yet? You're entering Hogsmeade at this time?"

The witch asked curiously, "What news?"

The invisible Lin Xia still stood there, snapped his fingers, and cast a silent and wandless extrasensory spell to enhance his hearing.

After a while, she heard the wizard's voice, which he tried to suppress but was still very clear in her ears -

"Not long ago, a villa collapsed in Hogsmeade, and several werewolves emerged from it. The Aurors of the Ministry of Magic failed to besiege it, and the werewolves escaped.

Today is the night of the full moon. If we encounter a werewolf and are scratched by it, we will have a 60% chance of being infected with wolfsbane. If we are bitten, we will be % infected with wolfsbane. Can you bear it?

In addition, it is said that some wizards have seen the mark of the Dark Lord in it..."

The wizard spoke the last few words very softly, but the witch heard them keenly.

Everyone's face changed, their eyes widened, they looked at each other, and a pale look appeared at the corners of their lips.

Werewolf!

Dark Lord's Mark!
One of the witches had a changing expression. She tried her best to remain calm and asked in a suppressed voice, "Why did they come here?"

The wizard shook his head solemnly: "I don't know. If we knew they would come, Hogsmeade Village wouldn't be as lively as it is today."

The wizard kindly reminded: "You are still thinking about going in. The people inside can't get out even if they want to."

Lin Xia's robe was pulled a few times, and she walked out following the pulling force and came to a more remote corner.

As soon as they stopped, Ron's nervous voice came: "Lin Xia, why don't we not go in? There are werewolves and Death Eaters in there, and maybe even the Dark Lord is there!"

Without waiting for Lin Xia to speak, Harry said in a firm voice: “Don’t go in, I’ll go in alone.

It was I who had to come to Hogsmeade to see if I could get any news about my parents from the Death Eaters. There was no need for you to put yourself in such danger!"

Hermione denied without a second thought: "No, it's too dangerous for you to go in alone. I'm worried. Either you go in together, or no one goes in."

Draco thought of a solution: "How about we keep the invisibility spell on? If a fight really breaks out, they won't be able to find us."

Lin Xia shook her head. "Our invisibility spell can only fool ordinary wizards. If we really get involved in a fight between them, they will definitely find us."

She thought for a moment and then said, "We will use the invisibility spell to sneak into Hogsmeade first, then find a high point and use the extrasensory spell to observe remotely and see if there is any chance to intervene."

Lin Xia looked in the direction where Harry's voice came from, "Harry, you want to find a Death Eater this time and learn the truth about your parents' death, right?"

Harry nodded subconsciously: "I want to ask them in person, but I'm not sure if they know the truth of that year."

Lin Xia made a decision: "Then let's find a few more Death Eaters. The more people we find, the more likely someone will know."

Ron couldn't help but ask, "Even if we do find them, how can we ask them? They won't easily reveal the news to us." Hermione said, "I have a truth serum that I exchanged through the laboratory channel. If that doesn't work, I can give them the truth serum."

Ron:…

Now, even if I don't want to go in, I have no other reason.

Ron thought that Lin Xia and Draco, two Hufflepuffs, were more like Gryffindors than he was in that they were determined to move forward courageously in the face of difficulties and dangers.

Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder, did the Sorting Hat really not assign them to the wrong house?
……

Few people enter Hogsmeade, so supervision becomes relatively simple.

The wizard in charge of guarding didn't even bother to check whether the wizards who came had passed the appointment review. He just glanced at them casually and waved his hand to let them in.

In the minds of the guards, knowing that there were werewolves and Death Eaters inside, yet still entering Hogsmeade at this time, he must be a powerful wizard who is very confident in his own strength and is not afraid of being affected at all.

If not, then you are a fool.

He admired the former, but as for the latter, he had no need to be responsible for the dangers of fools.

As the guarding became more relaxed, Lin Xia and others were able to sneak in smoothly.

There were many pedestrians walking on the street, but most of them were in a hurry and everyone looked serious.

The news of "the appearance of werewolves and Death Eaters" ultimately affected the mood of many people for the holiday.

But compared to most of the serious people, there are still a small number of wizards laughing and joking on the streets, completely ignoring the serious atmosphere around them.

These wizards gathered together to laugh and play, and in turn laughed at those wizards with stern faces, saying that they were timid and cowardly.

"The Ministry of Magic sent so many Aurors here, what are you worried about?"

"With Dumbledore here, the Death Eaters can't cause any trouble. Even if the Dark Lord appears, Dumbledore can suppress him!"

"Trust the Ministry of Magic, trust Dumbledore. The Death Eaters are just the remnants of the Dark Lord and will soon be eliminated by Dumbledore!"

When Lin Xia heard the cheers of these people, she was the first to move away from them.

If danger really happens, these people are often the ones who die the fastest.

Hermione glanced at the surrounding buildings, combined with the impressions in her memory, and said quickly:
"Go straight ahead in the southeast direction. There is a very tall tower. It is the tallest of all the buildings in Hogsmeade. Should we go up?"

"No."

Before Lin Xia could speak, Draco said presciently: "When the Aurors fight the Death Eaters, they will definitely occupy the highest point and observe the surrounding situation."

"So once we reach the highest point, even if we don't run into them now, we will definitely run into one of them later. Our tracks will be untraceable, so we have to find a third high point."

As for the first and second commanding heights, they will definitely be fought over, and will also be places where wars may break out at any time.

Draco convinced Hermione, and Hermione thought about it again and quickly found the third vantage point.

Coincidentally, this place is right behind the Honeydukes store, which is a four-story building.

Apart from the two pointed towers, this is the only building that is relatively tall.

In addition to this building, there are two or three similar places.

Hermione found the one closest to them so she didn't have to run any further.

To celebrate Christmas, Honeydukes has placed a chocolate fountain in front of the door for people to taste.

The unique sweet aroma of chocolate floated in the street, and Lin Xia and others also smelled the fragrance of cookies.

A clerk stood at the door, dutifully calling out, "The singing and dancing chocolate frogs and the holiday specials wearing Santa Claus' red capes will no longer be sold after Christmas.

The store has newly added mini snowmen that can spray rainbow icing, Zizi Bee Candy has new flavors, and jumping mint candy can dye your mouth...

The store also has a new product called Magic Tattoo Candy. After eating it, a magic tattoo pattern will be randomly generated on the body, which can last for a day! "

Lin Xia paused and turned to look at the new product called "Magic Tattoo Candy" from Honeydukes.

Everyone was under an invisibility spell and couldn't see each other. In order to know each other's location, everyone grabbed an invisible rope together.

As soon as Lin Xia stopped, everyone else stopped too.

Harry asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Lin Xia said calmly: "No, I was just a little surprised when I heard about the new product 'Magic Tattoo Candy'."

Draco continued, "I know this candy. It is a candy developed by the Malfoy family this year. It is sold in all major channels."

Lin Xia was not surprised to hear that it was developed by the Malfoy family. She could even speculate from it what kind of backup plan the Malfoy family would have.

She thought for a moment and continued walking forward.

She couldn't get involved in the candy matter, but she believed the Ministry of Magic should have noticed something.

Although the wizards on the streets outside were in a hurry, the wizards in the major stores were still very busy and were enthusiastic about buying goods.

And because of the sense of crisis, the "bargaining" process that people are very keen on in daily life is omitted.

No matter what price the clerk offered, the wizards did not bargain and bought it readily.

They wanted to complete their shopping mission as quickly as possible so that they could leave.

Because the store was crowded, Lin Xia and others split up.

"Give me 100 copies of the Joke Book, and 100 toys that make clowns appear when you whistle. I remember the toys came with the Joke Book!"

"Yes, a copy of 'Collection of Jokes' costs three silver Sickles." The clerk responded loudly amid the noisy voices.

The customer was very dissatisfied and said, "Wasn't it only two silver Sickles before? Why did the price go up during Christmas? I didn't even ask you for a discount for the large quantity!"

The clerk smiled bitterly and said, "Because the toys included with the Joke Collection this time are all Christmas special editions, the unit price has increased, resulting in the price rising to three silver Sickles."

The clerk had already prepared to bargain down to 2.5 silver Sickles, with the total price being 250 silver Sickles. However, the wizard who was buying the item cursed and did not bargain, but agreed to the price.

The clerk immediately hurried to the second floor warehouse to pack the goods.

Lin Xia seized the opportunity and followed him up to the second floor.

The second floor is divided into two areas, one is the warehouse of the joke shop below, and the other is the potion shop.

Compared to the good business of the joke shop on the first floor, the business of the potion shop on the second floor seemed a little deserted.

This is not surprising, because the potions sold on the second floor are all common potions. There are no intermediate or advanced potions, let alone rare potions.

Purchasing in stores will increase costs, so wizards will choose to purchase the raw materials and make them themselves.

This type of store usually caters to large business, and once someone decides to purchase, it is often several hundred bottles.

I'm really too busy, so I come here to buy.

Lin Xia took a quick look and found that there was a staircase on the second floor leading directly to the third floor. The location was easy to find, unlike the joke shop where the stairs leading to the second floor were occupied by the shop assistants.

Lin Xia felt that the reason why the magic potion shop on the second floor was so quiet was probably because it was inconvenient to go to the second floor. (End of this chapter)