Ravenclaw's Sapphire

The moment the heavy and decayed door of the Pig's Head Bar was pushed open, at least five or six eyes glanced secretly. Some lost interest in seeing her students dressed up, while others found it even more interesting.Zooey frowned. She was always sensitive to other people's eyesight, especially being looked at by a group of unidentified people who were hiding herself, which made her feel insecure.

In fact, the Pig's Head Bar is a mixed bag, and it's not suitable for children at all. The relationship between the Three Broomsticks and the Three Broomsticks is the same as the relationship between Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley. It's not so much villains and dark wizards here, but a considerable proportion of rogues and slobs.

But she still decided not to do any disguise, even changing her school uniform, so she came here directly.This is because considering that the owner of the store is Dumbledore's younger brother, although she has never met him, she is more willing to believe that no matter whether this man has conflicts with his brother, it is impossible for him to say anything about him for decades. Zoe doesn't even know the news, as long as he knows that Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts, Zoe can bet that even if there is an accident, he will help him.

Of course, it is unrealistic to place all hope on someone who has never met. She tightly held the wand in her pocket. In order not to be underestimated, she deliberately showed an indifferent and unreasonable look. look like.In the morning, she and Hermione also stopped by the seasoning and joke store to buy some magic props that can be used as distractions. Even if she is entangled by multiple people, she is confident to get out of here.Not to mention she'd refused Hermione to come with her, because the real trouble wasn't caring whether it was stalking one or two little witches.

She still broods over Dumbledore's evaluation of the past.Zoe is aware of her conflicted and conflicted personality, so she appreciates calm and rational actions, but she often makes some dangerous gambles in her actions. Those decisions do not hurt others, because she is almost only when she is alone. Will not be so concerned about security issues.

"A butterbeer."

There was no one at the bar, and Dumbledore's younger brother was standing behind the bar, wiping the cup with a dirty veil (the cup was also dirty), and the old man really looked like Dumbledore when he got closer. He is tall and thin like Dumbledore, with a big nose and a long silver beard, but compared to Dumbledore's beard, his beard looks more dry, his cheeks are tight, and he looks weird old man.There was a dark bib over the dirty and old tattered robe he was wearing.This sense of civilians and rudeness made him very different from Dumbledore's mysterious temperament.

At least Zoe can be sure that, except for her, no one else in the world would be able to detect his blood relationship with Dumbledore in the first place—even if she could know, it started from an accident.

Zooey was keenly aware that the old man gave her a quick glance, and then moved away silently—just like the relationship between an ordinary bartender and a customer.He didn't ask Zoe why this student came here, but bent down silently, took out a sealed bottle of butter beer from under the counter, pried off the lid, but didn't put the beer into the glass, but pushed the bottle directly To Zoe.

"Drink directly." He seemed to be angry when he spoke, and his voice was rough, "Or you have your own cup."

"Thank you." The old man's friendliness surprised Zooey. Just looking at the old man's face and his impression, she had prepared for the worst ending of being blown away as soon as she showed up.

The old man just muttered a few words of gratitude to Zoe, turned sideways and took out another dirty cup, and wiped it with a rag desperately. He didn't look at Zoe, but took the first sip while Zoe said Shi (obviously bought from Three Broomsticks, which tastes exactly the same).

"Students shouldn't come here. If you find the wrong one, I can tell you where the three broomsticks are."

"But wouldn't that reduce your business?" Zooey asked, but was glared at by the old man.

"I don't welcome little devils here, so leave after drinking."

"But I'm here to look for you." Zooey said.

The old man paused for wiping his hands, his drooping eyelids were slightly opened, and the surprise, but perhaps not so surprised emotion in his wide-open eyes disappeared for a moment, and then he regained his angry look. look.

He raised his leg and wanted to enter the inner room. It seemed that he wanted to ignore Zoe, but was stopped by her words again.

"You are Dumbledore's younger brother, aren't you?" Zooey lowered her voice, of course she knew that this was not something that could be said out loud on this occasion.

The old man stood by the door of the inner room for a long time, his pair of blue eyes that were exactly the same as Dumbledore kept watching Zoe, and Zoe also looked at him bravely, she knew that he must be weighing the need for the next conversation sex.Even though Dumbledore's brother feels like a rough farmer that can be seen everywhere, his eyes are very bright, with a sense of seeing through the vicissitudes of life similar to Dumbledore, although usually he hides it very good.

Finally, he spoke up: "You mean to wholesale a case of Butterbeer?" Zoe froze for a moment, then nodded unconsciously.

"A rare big deal... Come in, through the small door on the other side of the bar... Yes, that's right there... I'll take you directly to the warehouse to get the goods." The old man said loudly, clapping his hands, guiding Zuo Ea walks across the bar to him.He lifted the curtain on the top of the inner door, bent slightly and walked in, and Zoe quickly followed.

*****

The inner room was also a narrow wooden room with a musty smell.Not to mention the warehouse, there are only a few scattered boxes, a few pieces of furniture, a wooden table, and a bed here.The old man turned on the lamp, and the originally dark room instantly became much brighter.

"You should know why I let you in." Zooey nodded, "A lively and open place like a tavern is often the easiest place to leak information."

"Hmph, you are quite smart." The old man snorted coldly, and put the oil lamp on the table, "Who are you?"

"Zoe, Zoe Siegel." Zooey said quickly, but the old man didn't seem to take it seriously at all.

"Are you the little girl my saintly brother snatched from the Ministry of Magic in a flash? I see all the big men are nervous, but you don't seem to have more heads or mouths than others Tell me, why did you come to me?"

"Can you tell me your name first?" Zoe asked, "What should I call you?"

"...you can call me Aberforth." The old man finally sighed under Zoe's gaze, "but don't call me Dumbledore, it usually refers to the other respected one." Zooey He found that whenever he mentioned Dumbledore, he had to use a sarcastic and derogatory tone.

It seemed that Aberforth was extremely dissatisfied with Dumbledore. Zooey felt a little uneasy when she thought of her purpose of coming here.Aberforth was still watching her, apparently determined to make her tell her purpose.

"Mr. Aberforth, you are Dumbledore's younger brother, your blood brother, aren't you?"

"Yeah. But since I broke the bridge of that bastard's nose, I've disowned him," Aberforth said angrily, and made a fist-thumping motion, even after decades , Thinking of that incident, he still couldn't suppress the anger in his heart.

"But... what happened?" Zooey asked cautiously.

Hearing her question, Aberforth immediately calmed down: "It's just some old family matter, which has nothing to do with you, Miss Siegel." He looked at her suspiciously again, "Could it be that Dumbledore asked you came here?"

"No! I only came here when I saw your photo in a travel magazine...Dumbledore didn't know about it at all." Zoe continued before he could speak, "In fact, even I I know you exist only because Dumbledore cherishes the group photo between you."

She hoped that this sentence could arouse the warmth in Aberforth's heart, but he sneered: "Treasure? This word is the biggest joke for my cold-blooded and cruel brother. I think he is eager for me. Stain, die quickly, so that one of the last few people to know about his ugly past will be one less."

Even if this person is Dumbledore's blood relative, even if she still doesn't know what kind of conflict happened between the two Dumbledore brothers, but when she heard Aberforth say that unfair evaluation easily , Zooey still couldn't bear the sudden outburst of anger in her patience, even though she knew that Dumbledore must have hidden something from her, but that person was the one who sheltered her when she was most desperate, and the reason why she was able to live safely until now The biggest reliance now.

Even though Dumbledore was a heinous villain in the past, to Zoe he was just a lonely, loving and wise old man. Even if she complained countless times that he was not frank with her, that kind of bad words could only be ignored. From her, not a so-called family member who has been absent from him for so many years.

"Take your word back, sir!" she cried, furiously, but sensibly enough not to draw her wand.Aberforth looked at her in astonishment, and had a new understanding of this girl who had always been cautious.

"I won't take back my words." Finally he slammed his fist on the table with a heavy, muffled sound, "But I would like to apologize for speaking ill of him in front of you."

Zoe couldn't accept this result, but she could also see that this was Aberforth's biggest concession at the moment, and she didn't come here to quarrel with Aberforth, which would only make her hope of achieving her goal even more slim .