Harry Potter: Reunion with the Enemy

London. Outside the Broken Axe pub.

Alex's eyes fell on this dirty little bar between a record store and a large bookstore, which was the entrance to Diagon Alley. When Alex was younger, he would pass by here with his parents when shopping, and he had noticed this dark and dirty place at that time, but Matthew and Lena seemed to ignore it and focused their attention directly on the shops on both sides.

"The best record in the world is Saturday Night Fever! It sold 40 million copies when I was a kid!" Alex certainly remembers what his mother would say every time he came across a record store. As a fan of disco music, Lina used to like playing these fast-paced songs at home.

But Lena has been depressed for a long time, perhaps because of Matthew's extramarital affair, or because Alex's performance in every exam or squash game is the standard for others to measure whether Lena is a successful mother. Now this street is still as ordinary as before. Muggle bookstores and record stores seem to have been hit by technology and are much more desolate. The revival of vinyl records has saved the decline in sales of physical record stores to a certain extent. The bookstore next door has had to add coffee, cultural and creative products and other interesting gadgets next to its original bookshelves to attract customers. Pirated e-books are more deadly than pirated paper books.

"My mom will come buy some records when she's in a better mood." Alex whispered to the record store to comfort him, and then stepped into the Broken Axe. Draco and Harry took him shopping along this road during their tutoring period. Alex remembered that Harry would cover his face tightly in places where wizards were around in order not to attract attention, and that day was no exception.

As the entrance to Diagon Alley, the Broken Axe was always crowded with people, and no one had any doubts about a child entering the bar. The people sitting here were obviously dressed differently from the Muggles on the street, and a large group of people wearing wizard robes and drinking different drinks in their glasses were arguing loudly in the bar.

"The goblins are really crazy! Anyone who is different from Muggles will be killed by Muggles, regardless of religion, skin color, bloodline... Do they think that by putting wizards on the opposite side of Muggles, they will become good friends of Muggles?" A bald wizard was so excited that he spitted everywhere.

"Party-based violence is an old story... I still prefer to live my own life in the wizarding society." The old woman shuddered and drank her mead slowly.

"Look at it from a positive perspective. Dark wizards are a minority, so we can also boldly infer that there are more good people among Muggles. Most of them are not the kind of people who burned witches in the Middle Ages." A young witch was still relatively optimistic.

"If they dare to attack us, we will fight them! No matter if they are goblins or Muggles." The bald wizard was still furious. "We can do magic!"

"Haha... hiccup... don't be so confident. Muggles don't know magic, but they have developed many weapons that are more destructive than Avada Kedavra... hiccup... Muggles' favorite thing to do is to create something more powerful than themselves. Compared with their speed of development, wizards are antiques..." A drunken voice interrupted.

"If my money wasn't still in Gringotts, I would rush into the bank right now and teach these goblins a lesson!"

"Let's see what the Ministry of Magic will do..."

"These people are busy with the election. Before the new Minister of Magic takes office, no one can really make a decision..."

Alex's heart sank. The last time he came to the Broken Axe, it was a noisy, joyful and peaceful atmosphere. But now, no matter what the opinions of these wizards were, they seemed to have a worse expectation for the future. He touched the pounds in his pocket and decided to go to Diagon Alley quickly to buy the things on the must-have list.

"Speaking of the election for Minister of Magic, you know Harry Potter..."

Alex suddenly stopped walking across the bar, and he turned his head too quickly and bumped into the hand of the bar owner Tom. "Ouch!" The bar owner, who looked like a shrunken walnut, screamed, and Alex didn't hear the next sentence because it was covered by the scream.

"A merciful savior might be a good choice..."

Alex's eyes widened as he tried to identify the direction of the conversation, but he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"What's wrong, kid? Minors are not allowed to drink - or are you here in Diagon Alley?" Tom, the bar owner, was not angry at being bumped. He asked kindly while wiping his glass. Alex had to turn his head and answered, "I'm a freshman at Hogwarts. I'm here to buy textbooks." He raised the admission letter and list tightly in his hands.

"Oh - you don't have a wand yet -" Tom raised his eyebrows, "Let me show you how to open the passage. You're so young and you're already out shopping by yourself? You're really sensible - but it's a pity, I don't know if it's a good time to go to Hogwarts now -"

"why?"

Tom shook his head vaguely. "You know, the Voldemort War mainly took place there. Many parents think that the place where Voldemort was nurtured and where countless people died and injured was ominous. Moreover, many wizards who experienced the war had more or less psychological trauma after the war. Some teachers would suddenly cry in class, and there were many Death Eaters there. But I personally think that it is better than Durmstrang anyway..."

"That's also where heroes are trained, isn't it?" Alex frowned.

"Yeah, yeah. When Harry Potter came to my bar, he was almost as young as you, but you two are just as cute. It's a pity that things don't seem to be going well now, and the customers look very nervous." Tom smiled, "Damn, I have the same name as Voldemort."

Tom skillfully tapped the bricks with his wand, and the bricks shook. A hole appeared in the middle of the wall, and a winding cobblestone street appeared before his eyes. "Anyway, I wish you a happy time studying at Hogwarts. I have many good memories there."

"Thank you." Alex walked towards the street and waved goodbye to Tom.

"Goodbye, little one." Tom waved his wand carelessly and walked back to the bar. A customer suddenly burst into tears while drinking and said he wanted to live in seclusion in a cave. The sobbing sound spread all the way to the patio of the passage.

Since he had been to Diagon Alley before, these wonderful shops were not new to Alex. He planned to go to Gringotts to exchange wizard currency before going to various stores to make purchases. Although Matthew often complained about the high cost of raising children, he still stuffed a lot of money into Alex's pocket.

The area around Flourish and Blotts was packed with people, and there seemed to be a high platform at the door. Even Alex, who was not tall, could see what attracted so much attention.

The man wearing a gorgeous wizard robe and speaking passionately to everyone was none other than his former tutor.

"Brother Harry?" Alex walked over there involuntarily.