Study Days at Hogwarts

  Chapter 216 Pig's Head Bar

  After entering November, the weather has become very cold, and the mountains around Hogwarts Castle have been covered with snow.

  In the morning, a layer of frost appeared on the windows. Albert suppressed a yawn, turned over and curled up in the bed, unwilling to get up for a long time. Suddenly there was a burst of desperate screams and curses in the dormitory, "Damn it, why didn't it rain today."

   "George, shut up." Lee Jordan pulled the quilt over his head and couldn't help complaining, "Stop yelling early in the morning, it's too noisy."

   "It's so cold, close the window." Albert, who was huddled under the blanket, couldn't help but muttered.

   "Going into the woods today?" Fred poked his head out of the bed, looked at the closed window and asked, "Can we find jumping toadstools in this weather?"

"It's hard to say." Albert suggested, "We should go to Hogsmeade. Remember the Pig's Head Bar I mentioned? It is said that there is a black market trading place. Today, Hogwarts students went to Hogwarts again. In Maude's day, even if someone accidentally breaks in, it won't appear too abrupt."

  Albert still looks quite mature, and he has no problem pretending to be a third-grade student. Anyway, people who don't know him will not know that he is a second-year student.

"The black market? I haven't been to the black market yet. What kind of place is that?" Lee Jordan immediately agreed with Albert's proposal. Although he couldn't go to the Forbidden Forest to find jumping toadstools, he could go to the black market in Hogsmeade. It's actually good to go shopping.

   "I don't know, but it's best not to expect too much." Albert explained, "I heard about this from Hagrid."

   "Go to Hogsmeade!"

   After a brief discussion, they made a decision to go to Hogsmeade.

At breakfast time, everyone was talking about Hogsmeade, and they all looked extremely excited. However, a few junior students listened eagerly to other senior students talking about the only wizarding village in the UK, and about Hogsmeade. Interesting and novel stuff.

After breakfast, the four of them played two more rounds of wizard cards, and then went to Hogsmeade through the secret passage after a little digestion. I was shivering.

   "Go to the Three Broomsticks and drink a cup of hot butter beer to warm up." Albert's proposal was unanimously approved by several people.

  Ms. Rosmerta looked at the four young customers in front of her in surprise, turned her head to look at the mechanical clock next to her, and asked in surprise, "Are you actually here before the other students?"

  Albert put his hands on the cup filled with butterbeer to warm his hands, smiled at the bar owner and said, "This is our secret!"

   "Oh, well, secret!" Ms. Rosmerta said to herself, "I think I should go get ready, it's going to get busy in here soon."

   "When do you think the first batch of students will arrive?" Fred sat by the fireplace to enjoy the fire.

   "It's not as early as we are anyway." Lee Jordan took a sip of butter beer, narrowed his eyes comfortably and said, "It would be great if I could take some back home and drink it slowly."

   "That's a good idea." Albert turned his head and asked Ms. Rosmerta, "I want to buy a small barrel of butter beer."

   "That's not acceptable." Ms. Rosmerta refused bluntly, "I don't want the head of Hogwarts to write to me complaining that some students are drunk at school."

   "This thing can still be drunk?" Albert couldn't help muttering.

   "What a pity."

   "I know where I can get a lot of butter beer." Albert said mysteriously after the bar owner left the counter.

   "Pig's Head Bar?" Fred immediately guessed what Albert meant.

   Albert nodded, indicating that Fred guessed right.

   After drinking the butterbeer and warming their bodies, they got up and left the Three Broomsticks, and began to search for the location of the Pig's Head Bar in Hogsmeade. It should be a relatively remote bar or hotel, and it should also be on the side of the trail. It should not look very good, and the sign hanging should be a pig's head.

  Hogsmeade is actually a small village, and there are not many wizards in itself. A few people have already found the location of the Pig's Head Bar before the Hogwarts students arrived.

   "This is it?" George pointed to the tattered wooden sign with a pig's head in front of him and said to several companions around him. In fact, it didn't take them much time. They just strolled around Hogsmeade village, then turned into a small road next to the post office on Central Avenue, and found the Pig's Head pub in the teleportation story.

   Albert pretended that he was just passing by, glanced inside, and walked in casually. The bar was small, dark, and very dirty. There was a strong smell of lamb in the air, which was somewhat similar to the black market he guessed.

  The most important thing is that there are no customers here, which is why Albert brought Fred and the others in.

   "Dirty," George muttered.

   "This is the black market?" Lee Jordan couldn't hide his disappointment, and after being glared at by Albert, he obediently shut his mouth.

  As soon as they entered the Pig's Head Bar, Fred and the others began to look around the environment of the bar. This place and the Three Broomsticks are simply two different worlds.

  The windows were thick with grime, and the outside light could barely penetrate into the bar, which was lit with candle stubs on the rough wooden tables on either side.

   "It's really horrible here." Albert suppressed the irritability in his heart. There was no other way. There were centuries of dirt under his feet. At first glance, he thought the ground was compacted mud. This made Albert directly think of the dung roads in the European Middle Ages, which is really disgusting.

   "What do you want to have?" The bar owner flashed sideways through a back door, came up to them, and asked muttering.

   "Is this a bar?" Albert looked at the tall and thin old man in front of him and asked uncertainly.

   "Yes." The old man with gray hair and white beard responded casually.

"Can we buy a small bucket of butter beer from here to take away?" Albert asked again. They had just drank butter beer, but they didn't plan to continue drinking here. Moreover, the sanitary conditions of the Pig's Head Bar were better than expected worse.

   "A Galleon." The man bent down and took out a dusty, filthy oak small wine barrel from under the counter, and placed it heavily on the bar.

   "Here." Albert took Galleon out of his pocket and placed it on the rough counter.

   "It's really heavy." George reached for the wine barrel, only to find that the small wine barrel was a bit heavy.

  The bar owner put the money Albert gave him into an old wooden cash drawer, and the wooden drawer slid open automatically, swallowing the money.

  He took out a dirty rag and began to wipe the wine glass, looking at the four of them with interest, as if to see how they would handle the heavy small wine barrel.

   "Get out of the way." Albert reached out and pushed George away, took out his wand from his pocket, waved at the barrel of small beer, and chanted a spell to shrink it greatly. Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he picked up the keg of beer and put it in the pocket of his robe.

   "Why didn't I think of that." George stretched out his hand and patted the back of his head, muttering uncontrollably.

   "Let's go." Albert greeted everyone to leave the Pig's Head Bar, he didn't want to stay here any longer.

   "Do you feel that this bar owner looks familiar, as if he has seen it somewhere." Lee Jordan said suddenly.

   "I also feel as if I have seen it somewhere." Fred and George also echoed.

   Albert glanced at the bar owner and muttered, "Probably a relative of Professor Dumbledore."

   His voice was not loud, but it was loud enough for everyone in the bar to hear.

   "Principal Dumbledore's relative?" Fred and the others were very surprised, and turned to look at the bar owner. Dumbledore was no different from a great man in the hearts of most students.

   "Why are you here?" Behind them, a familiar and surprised voice suddenly sounded.

   "Good morning Hagrid." Albert turned around and greeted Hagrid with a smile.

   "You shouldn't have come here." Hagrid looked at Albert, frowned and said, "Besides, I remember that you still seem to..."

   "By the way, Hagrid, the owner of the Pig's Head Bar is a relative of Principal Dumbledore, right!" Albert interrupted what Hagrid wanted to say.

   "What?" Hagrid was also taken aback, probably not expecting Albert to ask such a question, "Why would you ask such a question?"

   "Eyes Hagrid." Albert reminded, "Their eyes are very similar."

   "Oh, well, it seems that they are indeed relatives." Hagrid said vaguely, as if he was reluctant to mention these things.

   "Why did you come here?" George continued to interrupt.

   "I..." Hagrid didn't want to answer.

   "Are you going to feed Lu Wei?"

   "What is Lu Wei?" Fred asked curiously.

   "Hagrid's new puppy." Albert explained casually.

"Oh, Hagrid, did you bring it back to life?" Aberforth looked at Hagrid in surprise. Of course he knew that Hagrid bought a sick three-headed dog from a Greek, but he was even more surprised by Hagrid. The relationship with the four children in front of him seems to be very good.

   "Well, Lu Wei is very healthy now, but it has been raining a while ago, and he doesn't like rain very much." Hagrid muttered vaguely.

   "Can we go and see your new puppy?" Fred noticed Albert's signal eyes and continued to talk.

   "Okay, you guys, why are you here?" Hagrid asked loudly.

   "Today is the day for Hogwarts students to go to Hogsmeade." Albert said solemnly.

"Of course I know that today is the day for Hogwarts students to go to Hogsmeade, but that is for students above the third grade. I remember you are only in the second grade." Hagrid couldn't help complaining, "Filch That old **** actually let you sneak out."

   "Don't be angry with Hagrid, we're just out for a stroll. Now Hogsmeade is full of Hogwarts students, and it's safe here." Albert comforted.

   "But you violated the school rules." Hagrid poked Albert's chest with his fingers and warned.

   "Rules are meant to be violated. Are you Hagrid?" Albert said casually, "Besides, this is not a serious matter."

  Hagrid was stunned for a moment, and Fred and the others next to him were all surprised from ear to ear. They didn't expect that someone could take the violation of school rules as a matter of course.

   "I can't speak to you." Hagrid pretended to be angry and said, "Tell me, what are you doing here?"

   "Let's see what the black market in the wizarding world looks like. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed." Albert did not hide the disappointment on his face, of course, it was pretending to show Hagrid.

   "What are you going to buy on the black market?" Hagrid asked warily.

   "Rune snake egg." Albert said without thinking.

   "You want to raise a snake?" Hagrid was very surprised, and looked Albert up and down again.

"I'm not a student of Slytherin, how could I be interested in snakes." Albert shook his head and explained, "I heard that eating rune snake eggs can make people smarter, so I'm going to buy a few and go back to taste Taste it and see if it makes you smarter."

  At this moment, not only Hagrid, but even Aberforth opened their mouths in surprise.

   "You want to eat rune snake eggs?" Hagrid's face twitched slightly, and he couldn't help saying, "I think you're smart enough."

   "But no one would mind being smarter." Albert turned his head to look at Fred and the others and asked, "Do you want to be smarter?"

   "Of course."

   "Look." Albert spread his hands towards Hagrid, then looked at the bar owner and asked, "This is..."

   "Aberforth Dumbledore," said the barkeeper.

   "Mr. Aberforth, how much does a rune snake egg cost?" Albert asked politely.

   "The trade in this kind of snake eggs has been thriving on the black market for centuries." Aberforth said after a moment of consideration, "It's a bit difficult to get it, one probably costs between five Galleons and ten Galleons."

"It would be great if you could get me one or two." Albert smiled and asked his own price, "Ten Galleons each. Of course, don't fool me with fake ones. I still have basic common sense."

  Aberforth raised his eyebrows, looked at Albert deeply, and said nothing for a long time.

   "Albert..." Hagrid couldn't help but uttered, "You need to be twentieth-minded when dealing with guys in the black market."

   "Of course I know." Albert said, "However, isn't this a relative of Dumbledore? I think he should be considered trustworthy to some extent, and each takes what he needs."

   "For a gold coin, I can introduce you to a reliable guy, if you need anything." Aberforth suddenly raised his finger and said to Albert.

   "Aberforth." Hagrid glared disapprovingly at the owner of the Hog's Head.

   Albert took out a gold coin and threw it to Aberforth.

   "His name is Mundungus." Aberforth looked at Albert in amazement, and the other party simply surprised him.

   "That smelly thief Mundungus?" Hagrid obviously didn't like that guy named Mundungus very much.

   "His full name is Mundungus Fletcher," said Aberforth, as he waved his wand and released a cloud of white light.

   "What's that?" Fred and the others looked at the disappearing white light and couldn't help asking.

   "It should be the patron saint." Albert explained.

   "You know?" Aberforth was surprised that Albert actually knew about the Patronus. This is a very advanced magic.

   "I know, I'm practicing. But, what are you doing releasing the Patronus?" Albert asked pretending to be curious, he naturally knew that the Patronus could be used for communication.

   "Communication, Mundungus will be here soon." Aberforth explained.

   "I haven't heard that the patron saint can also be used for communication? The method you invented yourself?" Albert asked curiously.

   "No." Aberforth shook his head.

   "Then it must be Headmaster Dumbledore, truly worthy of being the headmaster." Albert muttered to himself while secretly observing the changes in Aberforth's expression.

  (end of this chapter)