HP solves the mystery

Severus enjoyed a meal from McDonald's from the 70s. It tasted pretty good, but the beef was a bit overcooked.

Petunia was very happy to eat. Since the economic downturn, she actually didn't go out to eat much. Most of the time she ate at home or at school.

As a famous school in the wizarding world, Hogwarts is responsible for the food and accommodation of so many wizards. It is very strong even if it does not collapse.

However, many magic potions in the magical world are used on plants. This is the case with the giant pumpkin planted by Hagrid. Can it be said that it solves a 'food' crisis from the side?

Severus felt that if he graduated from Hogwarts, he could buy a farm and become a farmer. With the magical bonus, the animals and plants would grow well.

The two finished their burgers quickly and sat there drinking coffee.

"Penny, are you going home later, or are you going to go shopping on Jerome Street with me?" Severus thought that he was already here, and it would be a shame not to go and see Chinatown at this time.

Petunia shook her head and nodded, a little hesitant. It would have been rude for her to run out of the house on Christmas Day.

"Ahem, you've been out for so long, and you're going to be lectured when you go back. Why don't you just have some fun?" He saw Penny's intention and talked about the pros and cons.

"But, but I didn't..." Petunia touched her empty pockets, feeling very regretful that she didn't bring any money when she went out.

But who would have expected that this good girl would suddenly break out and have a quarrel with her family during the festival.

Severus blinked and looked at her, with a slight smile on his lips, "How could I, the inviter, cause such trouble to the beautiful lady? Besides, I am Lily's sister. Today's tour of Juelu Street will be my responsibility. dinner!"

He finished his coffee in a few sips and looked at Penny while wearing a scarf.

Petunia opened her mouth and looked at the fair-skinned young man in front of her who was very different from the one in her memory. The anger in her heart because of the stolen letter was replaced by unknown emotions, and she felt very sour.

"Well, then I accept your good advice as a little wizard. Don't lie. I know your little thoughts about Lily..." She nodded slightly to agree. She had a reason for pleasing him and pointed out the impure thing. motivation.

Severus felt embarrassed in his heart, not knowing that a few words could make her think of so much, but the original person did have such a small thought.

"Then, let's set off now. We can still catch the last bus after shopping." He nodded noncommittally, got up and left first.

Penny quickly grabbed her gloves and followed, mentally cursing the boy for his lack of grace.

The boy who was scolded was unaware and still walked in front with his back straight.

They walked like this for more than ten minutes, stepping through the muddy snow and entering the still very simple Juelu Street.

At this time, Juelu Street gradually transformed from a no-care zone more than a decade ago into a gathering place for Chinese people. Especially in the 70s, the number of Chinese people increased dramatically.

However, many of them are Chinese from the coastal areas of China and Hong Kong and Taiwan, so it doesn’t matter if they don’t understand English here. The most important thing is to understand Cantonese.

Severus was currently walking in the streets and alleys full of Chinese elements. Chinese restaurants and tailor shops were beginning to take shape, and more mobile vendors and Chinese snatching business were popping up everywhere.

There were whites and blacks too, but there weren't many of them. I didn't know if they were here to collect protection money or for some other purpose, but they all looked vicious.

Petunia shrank behind Severus with some fear. As a local, no one knew what these gangsters did better than she did.

Those gangsters left quickly, and Juelu Street regained some vitality. Penny was even stopped by a fifteen or sixteen-year-old Chinese while walking. He spoke broken English and tried hard to attract customers for the Chinese restaurant, with a shy face. famous.

She was obviously startled. After figuring it out, she rejected the other party and walked to the food stall nearby, which had some Chinese pastries and preserves.

Severus touched the wand on his waist. If he were not shopping, he would have wanted to cast a 'Muggle shielding spell'. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the boy's darkened skin and reserved movements, and knew that he was not a descendant of the previous laborers. , but he escaped from the turmoil or was sent by the government to study abroad, but I don’t know what happened to his family.

Severus smelled the fragrance in the air and regretted that he had just eaten a burger at McDonald's. He should have come here earlier.

"Severus, look, what is this red string on a string?"

His thoughts were interrupted by Petunia's voice. He looked up and found small apples and pears wrapped in icing sugar. They were bright red and very festive, and they were inserted into a meadow.

"It's candied haws, miss, you can take it away for 10 pence," the old man selling the goods said, stretching out his fingers and gesturing with hope in his eyes.

"Beautiful lady, look at the pastries I made. You can try the taste first. It's 25 pence a pound, and there's a big bag. It's much more delicious and cost-effective than his!" The woman selling pastries saw that the business was about to disappear, and she quickly greeted her.

Penny wandered back and forth between their stalls, wanting to eat from one and that.

Severus walked over and waved his hand, buying everything from the two stalls and grabbing a frosted apple to eat.

Then Penny went shopping all the way, adding some more food in her hands, and wearing a cute zodiac pig mask on her face, which was recommended by the shop owner when he knew her birth year.

Severus declined the shop owner's recommendation. He didn't want to wear a mouse mask at all. He just bought a small clay mouse and placed an antique watch in a second-hand watch shop nearby to check the time.

Penny was careful. They walked down the street and only spent five pounds on food.

"Aren't you going to continue shopping?" He asked politely as he walked on the outside of the street with his hands in his pockets. After all, in his memory, it took a long time for girls to go shopping.

Carrying a bag full of 'trophies', Petunia shook her head with a smile and slowly exhaled, "Thank you, Severus, I'm very happy today..."

As she spoke, her smile dimmed, and she paused while looking around before continuing to speak.

"Severus, do you know? In fact, I envy you and Lily for being able to study and study in the magical world of magic. The most important thing is that you are both little wizards... but I..." Petunia lowered her head and walked slowly, He kicked away the pebbles blocking the road and said in a melancholy tone, "My relationship with Lily used to be very good, not as bad as it is now, but...my parents have always liked her the most...not to mention she is a unique witch..."

Severus pursed his lips and said nothing. He had never experienced such complicated emotions and could only listen silently.

Penny was still chattering, her eyes filled with sparkle, pouring out her inner annoyance.

"Do you know? When I saw the flower blooming in her hands, I was so surprised. When I learned that she was a little witch, I was thinking, why am I not? Good luck is with me. This is not fair to her at all!" There was no hysteria or hatred in her voice, but only confusion and pain. "The teacher is, my parents are, and you are too. Didn't I just write a letter? Why are you laughing at me? ?Is it wrong to be curious? Does being obedient and silent mean that I don’t want my parents’ love?”

"Sorry, Petunia." Severus said in a hoarse voice. The unhappiness in her childhood had made the 16-year-old girl very painful. He knew that this belated apology would not change anything.

Penny stopped and turned to look at him. A few tears shed from the corners of her red eyes. She wiped them away vigorously with the back of her hand, and her face immediately turned red.

"Severus, you have changed a lot," she said suddenly after looking at it for a while, smiling casually, "I don't care about magic, witches, Hogwarts or anything like that. I don't care about it." , I just want to live an ordinary life from now on, and don’t want to have anything to do with the magic world..."

"You know? I even thought about running away from home, away from my parents, away from Lily, and finding someone to live with who loves me..."

"I'm sorry, Penny, I know it's too late to say this now, but I don't suggest you leave home rashly. Even if you want to marry, you won't marry because of 'love for your family'. You are you, uniquely you. "Severus sighed. He had had this thought once upon a time, which led his parents to think that he had been abducted, and they had to rely on the police to send him home. Although he suffered a mixed doubles beating, his parents' attitude changed a lot.

Petunia's eyelashes trembled, and there were thousands of thoughts in her mind, which finally turned into one sentence, "I found a part-time job as a typist in London. After I graduate, I will apply for a job as a clerk... so that they can never find me again." …”

"Aren't you going to go to college? Your grades are so good..." Even though she didn't have a good relationship with her, she had heard Lily say that her sister's grades meant that it would be no problem to get into college.

"Of course I'm going. I'll finish it while working and studying..." Petunia rolled her eyes at him angrily and quickened her pace, "As for you, what are you going to do after graduating from Hogwarts? You don't have a government degree. …The cleaners don’t want you, are you going to get relief and live on?”

She seemed to have forgotten that she had cried before, regained her energy, and started to focus on other things.

Severus smiled awkwardly and politely. He also wanted to know this question, but there were more solutions than difficulties.

"Perhaps I can set up a training institution for wizards and work in the entertainment industry?" He replied jokingly. If he wasn't eating at the public house and thinking about it, there really weren't many places to go. "It's also good to go to Hogsmeade Village and Diagon Alley to do business. , and not necessarily in the Muggle world..."

They chatted endlessly, and no one mentioned the previous topic again.

The two thought that this relaxed atmosphere would last until they returned home, but they were soon broken by a man's cry for help.

Petunia instantly understood what was going on. It was either a robbery or a fight. She took a few steps back and tugged on Severus's clothes, thinking of changing her way.

Before Severus had time to react, someone jumped out of the alley and bumped into his shoulder. The black man wanted to rob him again, but when he found out it was two well-dressed white people, he immediately walked away, cursing and slapping him hard before leaving. Stared at him a few times.

Severus: It was quite sudden. I got hit twice in one day.

He rubbed his sore left shoulder, thinking that it must be bruised, but the black man was so bold that he dared to rob someone in broad daylight.

Penny approached in a panic and asked worriedly, "Are you okay?"

He shook his head and was about to answer when another person ran out of the alley. He looked around anxiously and found that the black man was missing. He squatted down sadly and cried in his arms.

Severus narrowly escaped and almost got hit for the third time!

He took a closer look and saw that this was an acquaintance, an employee of the store where they had eaten burgers before.

Penny looked at him and felt deep sympathy for the Asian man who had been robbed.

"Hello, sir, are you okay?" Severus came closer and asked. In this winter, he was afraid that no one would be able to think clearly.

The man raised his head as if he was frightened. His face was bruised and there was blood on his finger joints.

He obviously still had an impression of these two people. He breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help crying at the same time, "I, I'm fine... That person snatched my bag... Wuwuwuwu, there is my BRP card in it, and The salary I just paid..."

It is said that tears should not be shed lightly, but this man cried and howled regardless of his image.

"Uh, sir..." Severus raised his hand and waved the thing in his hand, opened it and took a look. It was an old wallet, "Zhang Mingyuan? I think you will need this very much?"

The man jumped up from the ground, thanked him repeatedly, looked at the contents of his wallet again and again, then opened his coat and hid it carefully.

"Oh, Severus, how did you do that!" Petunia looked at him in surprise. She was standing beside him without even noticing.

"I got it like that, but I can't get anything else back. This is not the place to talk. The black man will come to his senses soon. Leave first!" Severus looked at Zhang Mingyuan. He was the same person in his previous life. As a Chinese, he felt that he should do something for his old friend in a foreign country.

"It's okay. I just need to get my wallet back. The bread in it doesn't matter. Thank you so much. I really don't know how to thank you. Well, if you don't mind, come and sit at my house. My wife cooks Chinese cuisine. It's delicious." Zhang Mingyuan was so poor that he couldn't even take money to thank him, so he could only invite him to have a meal.

Severus was a little moved when he heard the words 'Chinese cuisine', and couldn't help but look at Petunia, asking for her opinion.

Penny originally wanted to refuse, but when she saw Severus's bright cat eyes, it seemed to say, Say yes, say yes, I want to eat.

She still shook her head resolutely, one code after another. How could she ask someone to go home for dinner when they first met?

"No, sir, it's just a piece of cake." She said with a smile, "If you really feel bad about it, next time we go to eat hamburgers, you can fry the beef more tenderly."

Zhang Mingyuan's words were abrupt as soon as he said them. English people are traditional and rigid, so they were relieved when they heard the rejection.

"Okay, no problem. Just tell me next time you come to the store and add more ingredients for you! Then I'll leave first, and you should go home early. The streets at night are not very safe..." He promised, limping. left.

He is very used to being robbed. Strangers will always be bullied. What's more, he has a stable job, which makes it even more eye-catching. This time, his brother was too busy and didn't come to pick him up. Next time, he will take his brother with him. Get your place back!

Zhang Mingyuan's face was bruised and swollen, and fierceness flashed across his face, and he grimaced in pain because of the pain caused by the wound.

Severus looked a little disappointed when he saw his leaving figure, and then he took Petunia on the bus and went home.

"Petunia, a gift for you, Merry Christmas, say hello to Lily and me," Severus sent Petunia to the entrance of the street before he stopped and took out the gift box that had been in his pocket, "Keep being yourself, Penny, if you have any difficulties, please come to me, goodbye!"

He put the gift box into Penny's hand, turned and left without any hesitation.

Penny shook the gift box in her hand, with a certain expression on her face that changed. After he walked far away, she lightly replied "Hello" and walked home slowly.

The things of yesterday cannot be forgotten, and the things of today are troublesome.

Penny had never felt so awake. She was never anyone's shadow, she was just herself.