The days at Hogwarts

Facing Loren's puzzled gaze, Hermione raised her smooth chin and answered as a matter of course: "Today is my birthday!"

The reasons were sufficient and legitimate, so Loren accepted it.

Loren put some bacon and ham on a piece of bread and handed it to her. He asked in a very impatient tone: "Milk or juice?"

"Milk!" Hermione answered cutely, and then couldn't help asking curiously, "Where's my birthday present?"

"I'll give it to you later."

"Okay!" the girl said cheerfully.

During the whole breakfast time, Hermione kept her lips curled up and she was smiling while eating, as if today's food was more delicious than ever before.

Loren picked up a piece of steak with a fork, put it to his mouth and took a vicious bite. While chewing hard, he said, "Next time it's my birthday, I will make sure you feed me food."

Hermione had finished eating and was waiting nearby. She rested her hands on the stool, swung her calves under the table, and hummed a brisk melody. Every bit of her showed that she was very happy. She was not frightened by Loren's threats at all.

After finishing his steak, Loren said unhappily to the cheerful Hermione, "Come with me."

"Oh!" Hermione followed him obediently, "Where are we going?"

"Did you know? When young wizards enter the third grade, they can visit Hogsmeade village on certain weekends," Loren said.

Hermione immediately realized where he was going. Her heart began to beat violently and she exclaimed, "Hogsmeade!"

The little witch looked around nervously for a while, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she confirmed that there was no one around. She grabbed Loren's sleeve and said in a low voice: "But we are only in the second grade, and we don't have a parent's signature. This is against school rules."

"This week is activity week. Many students will go to Hogsmeade and no one will notice us." Loren had already calculated the date.

"But...but," Hermione was speechless. If it was the old Hermione, she would definitely stop this crazy behavior without hesitation, but now her heart was moved. She was actually moved!

On the 13th birthday, going on a unique adventure with Loren, sneaking into the senior students and visiting Hogsmeade...what a tempting choice.

Hermione felt very complicated: "We can't hide it from Filch and Mrs. Norris. Professor McGonagall will definitely not agree to let us go to Hogsmeade."

"Don't forget that we are in Hogwarts, a school full of magic and miracles." Loren led Hermione up the stairs. He took out a square piece of parchment from his pocket. It had obvious signs of wear and tear, indicating its age.

Hermione leaned forward and examined the worn parchment curiously.

Loren pulled out his wand and tapped the parchment gently. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The originally blank page of the yellowed, worn parchment began to change. The countless fiber traces on the paper changed and formed regular lines. A black ink dot first appeared in the middle of the paper, and hundreds of ink lines extended from it, crisscrossing like a spider web.

Large green cursive characters appeared on the paper:

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Gentlemen who are here to help magical mischief makers.

Introducing

Marauder's Map

Then the cursive words disappeared from the paper, and thin lines of ink flowed along the veins, drawing a detailed map of Hogwarts Castle. Not only were there details of all the rooms and grounds, but there were also many moving black dots, and next to the black dots there was a line of very small fonts.

Hermione leaned in closer to read the words carefully and read aloud: "Filch and Mrs. Norris, Peeves, Professor Flitwick -"

Combining the name with the terrain on the map, Hermione immediately understood the function of this map. She pointed at the black dot on it and said in disbelief, "It can check the location of everyone in the castle."

Loren smiled and nodded, pointing to the only two small black dots on the fourth floor corridor on the map: "That's us. George and Fred told me that there are seven secret passages in the school that lead directly to Hogsmeade, but Filch is guarding four of them, and the entrance to another one is under the roots of the Whomping Willow. These five secret passages are not convenient to use. The entrance to the remaining two secret passages, one of which is right here."

……

After half an hour.

Hermione stood in front of the rows of delicious and juicy candies, looking dazed.

The magical Marauder's Map, tapping the statue of the one-eyed hunchbacked witch with the magic wand will open the entrance to the secret passage, leading to a winding passage, walking through the cold and wet mud, climbing a long stone staircase, and lifting the trapdoor above the head, and the next moment you will appear in a brightly lit candy store.

What she had just experienced was like an illusion. She watched Loren study the new products of Honeydukes Candy Store with great interest, and heard the chatter of other senior wizards. She still felt that these scenes were unreal.

Under the big tasting sign, the introduction of the new product was so small that Loren had to get closer to read it clearly: "A new series of Bibiduo's strange-flavored beans, with eye booger, nose booger, earwax, and - dandruff flavors!"

Even Loren, who thought he was well-informed, had to admit that the candy store's product development concept was very advanced. It was hard to imagine how they made these flavors, and Loren felt that the mental state of the candy store owner Ambrosio Frum was questionable.

He turned to look at Hermione who was still thinking about life, and his eager little hand reached out for the strange-flavored beans that smelled like booger. When he was about to touch them, Loren hesitated and turned to the pickled cucumber flavored beans next to him.

He picked up a strange-tasting bean between his thumb and index finger and slowly and calmly fed it to Hermione's mouth.

Snapped!

Hermione slapped the restless hand away and said speechlessly: "What do you want to do?"

The plan failed. Loren was a little disappointed and regretful: "I didn't do anything, I just wanted to see what the strange-tasting beans tasted like."

"Then why don't you eat it yourself?"

“I don’t think these flavors taste good.”

"you……"

This man's self-righteous look was a bit hateful. Hermione clenched her fist and wanted to hit him.

Anyway, they were already in Hogsmeade. Hermione finally used the most powerful reason of "I'm already here" to convince herself to accept reality and started shopping in Honeydukes.

This week is Hogwarts' activity week. Most of the senior wizards have come to Hogsmeade, and their figures fill the candy store. Patient students are selecting and packing candies to take back to the castle, while some impatient ones buy them on the spot and start enjoying them.

Loren and his friends had ordered candy by owl, which was the main way to shop in the castle. They would send Galleons and a shopping list to the store, and the owner would pack the candy according to the list and send it back by owl.

Before that, they were on the Hogwarts Express, where they tried all sorts of new magical candies.

But no other way to shop for candy in the previous two weeks was as stunning as entering the world of candy now, with rows and rows of juicy candies, chunks of creamy yellow almond candy, sparkling pink coconut sorbet, and honey-colored toffee.

Looking at these candies, it seemed that the air was filled with a sweet smell. There were samples for tasting in front of the candy shelf. Loren pulled Hermione over and started to try each candy. The sweet syrup covered the teeth and tongue, which made people feel happy.

"I like coconut ice cream!" Hermione's eyes sparkled, with coconut icing powder at the corners of her mouth, like a satisfied little cat after stealing something.

Loren used his index finger to smear the icing powder on her, held it up in front of his eyes and teased, "We can buy a box when we leave. No need to take it out."

"Ouch!" Hermione pretended to bite his finger, but he dodged it nimbly.

As he ate from one shelf to the other, Loren saw a sign hanging on the next shelf: Special Effect Candy.

George and Fred were standing right under the sign, working on a toad-shaped ice cream. Loren, holding Hermione's hand, quietly walked behind them.

"How do they make the ice cream dance in my stomach? It's incredible!" George held the toad ice cream up to his eyes.

"If we can crack it, we can make vomiting candy!" Fred said expectantly.

"Then Professor McGonagall will expel you and you can skip classes forever." Loren suddenly spoke up.

George was startled and put the toad ice cream back on the shelf, smiling and responding, "Ha, of course not. Even though we always make trouble, Professor McGonagall still likes us very much."

"Hey! Happy birthday Hermione!" Fred winked at Hermione behind him and teased, "So Loren borrowed the Marauder's Map to prepare a special birthday gift. Don't forget that we contributed a lot here!"

"Thank you." After being teased by the two so many times, Hermione was no longer as shy as before.

George pulled Fred by the collar and walked out: "Let's go, we still have to go to Zog's Joke Shop to see the new products, let's not disturb their world of two."

"Have fun!" Fred's voice trailed off.

I originally had 2k left, but the manuscript was lost due to computer problems. I will finish it as soon as possible.

Chapter 180 The Three Broomsticks

"Blowing Super Bubble Gum can fill the room with bluebell-colored bubbles."

Loren put down the candy label and looked at the decorative bubbles floating on the ceiling of the candy store with interest. Not only bluebell colors, but also oleander, tuberose and violet, all kinds of flower colors.

"Are these candies made using Potions or Alchemy?"

Hermione asked, stuffing a candy stick quill into Loren's mouth. She had just ordered a bunch of quills, parchment, and book-shaped candies from the next shelf. Not only did they look exactly the same, but their functions were also perfectly replicated.

There are real text contents in the books, and even the pictures on them can move. The quill pens also have real ink and can write.

Before Loren could answer, the sugar shell of the candy stick quill pen melted in his mouth, and the strange-tasting octopus ink burst out instantly, staining his teeth, tongue, and lips black.

"Lululu!" Loren stuck out his tongue and wanted to see it himself. His funny look made Hermione laugh so hard that she couldn't breathe.

After a while, the quill was eaten and the ink naturally faded.

"That's too much. They have normal butterfly pea ink over there, but they gave me this prank octopus ink quill pen instead." Loren complained.

"You got the wrong one!" Hermione said, trying not to laugh. "You haven't answered me yet. Are these potions or alchemical products?"

Loren looked up at the shelf of special-effect candies in front of him.

The pepper urchin that can make people breathe fire is the fiery red of pepper; the squeaky ice mouse that can make your teeth chatter is the white of ice and snow; the mint toad ice cream that jumps in the stomach is the green of mint leaves; and there is also the exploding jelly candy, which is colorful.

If you ignore the colors of the raw materials of these special effect candies, you can see that they are glowing with magical power and have the patterns of alchemical arrays.

Loren exclaimed: "Mr. Ambrose Frum has combined alchemy and potions. There are traces of both techniques in these candies."

Although from the perspective of alchemy, Mr. Frum's skills are very rudimentary, and he must have come from a wild background without any special training. Even Loren can see a few nodes that can be simplified with magic runes, but the idea of ​​boldly integrating alchemy and potion materials is amazing.

Under the pretext of studying alchemy and potions, Loren also ordered a large box of candy and had the clerk deliver it to Hogwarts by owl.

After they were almost full, they walked out of the candy store contentedly.

They were not familiar with the shops in Hogsmeade, but fortunately the streets were crowded with young wizards from Hogwarts, so they just had to follow the crowd to the most crowded and lively places.

There were colorful streamers hanging everywhere in Hogsmeade village, and banners with waving signs and various animals painted on them using magic were hung on the shop doors.

Honeydukes hung a banner with a picture of candy rain falling and a witch riding a broomstick living in a candy castle.

There is a real golden snitch swimming on the sign of the Quidditch boutique, and a large group of little wizards are gathered outside the window at the entrance of the store. They open their eyes wide and lean on the glass to look at the flying brooms inside.

Even though none of the little wizards around would buy a broom, the unshaven middle-aged boss and the young clerk were not annoyed at all. They stood in front of the window, listening to the chattering of the little wizards with a smile.

Hermione came closer to take a look at the novelty: "Is this the Nimbus 2001, the fastest flying broomstick currently available?"

Loren said, "Yes, the entire Slytherin team has switched to this model of broom. It is better than many professional teams. Wood is worried to death."

Hermione said regretfully, "Alas, the Quidditch trophy that Professor McGonagall longed for may not be won again this year."

The boss heard what they said and asked tentatively: "Which school are you little wizards from?"

"Gryffindor!"

The clerk next to him laughed and said, "Our boss was also a Gryffindor when he was in school, and he was also a Quidditch player!"

"That was decades ago." The boss handed them some candy as a treat, which looked like they were bought from Honeydukes next door.

"Quidditch is not a sport that only pursues speed, and the faster the broomstick is, the better. The beater's broomstick must have a stable center of gravity, and the goalkeeper's broomstick must turn quickly. Although the brooms of professional teams look the same as those on the outside, all the details are customized."

"So does our team have a chance to win?" Loren asked.

"Just plan the tactics well and have the players cooperate properly." The boss had a nostalgic look on his face:

"Back then, we went through the same thing. The despicable Slytherins paid for the latest model of brooms, and I led the team to use the Woollongong 'Z' flying technique and the eagle head attack formation to easily defeat them."

The boss sighed, with a sense of vicissitudes of life: "I heard that Gryffindor hasn't won the championship for a few years. The Lions Academy now doesn't have the drive we had in the past."

The clerk came forward at the right time and said, "You can go back and ask the captain of the team and Professor McGonagall if they are willing to buy a set of the latest brooms from our store. Since you are all Gryffindors, we will give you a 30% discount!"

"No, no!"

Loren and Hermione shook their heads, shrank into the crowd and ran away.

The unshaven boss slapped the clerk on the head and said, "You've always been promoting products, but now you come here to disturb customers. You really are..."

"Uncle, when you were training me, you asked me to grasp every single one..." Facing the boss's gaze, the clerk's tone became weaker and weaker, and finally turned into a low mutter:

"What? I just interrupted your bragging. You were just a backup goalkeeper back then, but you talk like you're the captain of the team."

"What did you say?" The boss heard his mumbling and couldn't help but said angrily, "Isn't the goalkeeper a player? Isn't he a member of the team? Don't you know how important the goalkeeper is?"

"Back then, the Gryffindor team was so strong that the Slytherin team couldn't organize an attack at all. Even Peeves could win if he was the goalkeeper..."

"you!"

Finally, the clerk was kicked out by the boss to steal sample samples from the candy store next door, and the candy boxes used to entertain customers in the store were a little empty and needed to be replenished.

Loren and Hermione followed a boy and a girl, wanting to play with the seniors, and went into a small teahouse along the street.

The teahouse had a pink bow on its sign. Inside, the reception area was small and misty, and everything was decorated with ruffles and bows. Little golden angels flew above each small round table, occasionally sprinkling pink confetti on people.

The room was full of couples, some of them had their hands glued together, some had their lips glued together, very unrestrained. It was obvious that this was a teahouse that was specially for couples.

"Ah!" Hermione panicked and turned and ran with Loren.

Mrs. Puddifoot, who was greeting guests at the door, only saw the backs of the two little wizards running away in a hurry. Her fat body trembled with laughter, and her smooth black hair was about to fall apart. "Shy little couple, you can tell from the looks of it that they have just been together for a short time."

Guests at the nearby tables laughed along: "They will definitely come again!"

In the corner of the teahouse, Percy and Penelope, not noticing the noise at the door, were staring at the table with their heads down, trying to make a flower. The two had talked a lot and written a lot of love words in their correspondence during the summer vacation, but looking at the bold couples around them hugging and kissing, they were still shy...