Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

"Ha, it seems I've returned just in time."

Outside the candy factory, as the gate hinges creaked open, a dark green vintage muscle car, a Dodge Challenger, roared its engine and followed Charlie's car into the yard.

The car door opened, and Abeforth stepped out with a smile on his face, carrying two fully packed paper bags.

He then approached Charlie's car, bent down, knocked on the window, and said cheerfully.

"I just ran into a store on the street that was having a sale. They had Christmas cake, wine, and those gingerbread men. I couldn't resist buying some…"

With that, he placed the paper bags on the roof of the car, freed a hand, took out a gingerbread man from one of the bags, and took a big bite.

"Hmm… a little cold, but the taste is still good. Although it's not as good as the ones Russell and them bake, it should be quite delicious in the Muggle world. Want a piece, Charlie?"

At this moment, Abeforth was completely different from when he had arrived. He was wearing a black jacket with a "dragon" pattern and a pair of heavily washed twill jeans.

Even his originally disheveled long hair and beard had been carefully combed and braided.

Coupled with his already strong physique and still somewhat angular face, he now looked like a standard punk.

After carefully examining him through the glass, Lane turned to Charlie and asked,

"Is this the person you invited today?"

"No," Charlie said with a subtle smile, slowly rolling down the car window, "This is Aberforth, my beloved teacher. I think you should have heard his name, haven't you, Lane?"

Hearing Charlie's words, Lane was taken aback, and the casual expression on his face froze. He narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the somewhat familiar face.

After a moment, seemingly finally certain, Lane's expression returned to normal, and he nodded knowingly.

Of course, he knew Aberforth.

After all, back in Slytherin, he had drunk a lot of Firewhisky from the Hog's Head… As for this teacher who only existed in Charlie's words, Lane had never actually met him, but he knew that he was Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's younger brother.

Now, seeing the remarkably similar expression between his eyebrows and face to the headmaster, it naturally merged with the image he had never seen in his memory.

"Of course… I used to hear you mention him often."

Lane said, straightening his back slightly and bowing slightly towards the old man outside the car window to show his respect.

"Oh ho?!"

Aberforth, however, had no impression of Lane at all. When the car window opened and he saw the two people inside, his eyes widened a bit, and the action of putting the gingerbread man into his mouth stopped, as if he had seen something unbelievable, and he exclaimed.

"How rare… I thought your only friends were house-elves. I didn't expect you to bring a… wizard into the factory."

He muttered a few words to Charlie, then turned his gaze to Lane and continued to ask,

"Hey, kid, what's your name?"

Generally speaking, directly asking someone's name without knowing them is not considered polite. However, facing Aberforth's straightforward way of speaking, Lane seemed to have heard of it before and calmly introduced himself.

"Lane White."

After saying that, he thought for a moment and added,

"You can just call me Lane."

Obviously, this answer was very much to Aberforth's liking. Being a rough man himself, he had always disdained those grand, awkward, and troublesome etiquettes.

Therefore, the simpler and more direct the answer, the more it could win Aberforth's favor to some extent.

Back then, Charlie was precisely because he was simple and direct, possessing a maturity and decisiveness unlike children of his age, that he was favored by Aberforth, who was eager to teach him every day…

"Hahahahahaha."

Aberforth laughed a few times, reached into the car with his big hand, which had just held the gingerbread man and was still stained with some frosting, and patted Lane heavily on the shoulder.

"Not bad! Since you were brought to Charlie's factory on such an important day, your relationship must be stronger than I thought. Charlie's friend is my friend, and you can call me Aberforth directly in the future!"

The smile on Lane's face remained, and he nodded without saying anything more.

After greeting them, Aberforth didn't stay to talk to them any longer, and picked up the full bags on the roof of the car again.

"Alright! I'll go put things away first, see you at dinner!"

With that, he strode off towards the interior of the factory without looking back, leaving only a string of footprints on the white, fluffy snow and the two people in the car.

"I only brought Aberforth to the factory about a month ago."

Before Lane could ask about Aberforth, Charlie explained with a bit of amusement and helplessness,

"The original intention was to get him to close the bar and enjoy his retirement life, and to ask him some questions about magic…

Who knew he would be so interested in Muggle things. I had no choice but to take him out in my spare time to see the Muggle world. As a result, you saw it…"

Hearing this, Lane also had a look of wry amusement. He shook his head at Charlie's words, but couldn't help but think of the many rumors he had heard about Aberforth in the magical world.

You should know that although he and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore were from the same mother, their reputations were completely opposite.

Those who knew him mostly described him as vulgar, rogue-ish, and rude. There was even a rumor for a time that he had forcibly had relations with a goat… His reputation had long since become notorious, perhaps even worse than those dark wizards.

"Perhaps Aberforth is really more suited to the Muggle world than the magical world…"

Suddenly feeling something, Lane looked at the departing figure, his eyes slightly moved. He inhaled a mouthful of air mixed with the cold wind into his lungs and sighed sincerely.

Charlie didn't speak, just glanced at Lane, but it was unknown whether he was talking about Aberforth or himself.

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