Chapter 216 Pig 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, there was a layer of frost on the windows. Albert covered a yawn, rolled over and curled up in bed, reluctant to get up. Suddenly, a burst of desperate screams and curses came from the dormitory, "Damn it, why didn't it rain today?"
“George, shut up.” Lee Jordan pulled the sheet over his head and couldn’t help complaining, “Don’t yell so early in the morning, you’re making a lot of noise.”
“It’s so cold, close the window.” Albert, who was huddled in the bed, couldn’t help but muttered.
“Are you going into the woods today?” Fred poked his head out of bed and 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. Do you remember the Pig's Head Bar I once said? It is said that it is a black market trading place. Today, Hogwarts students went to Hogwarts again. In Maud's day, even if someone accidentally breaks in, it won't appear too out of the blue."
Albert seems quite mature and has no problem pretending to be a third-grade student. Anyway, no one who doesn't know him would know that he is a second-year student.
"Black market? I haven't been to the black market yet. What kind of place is it?" Lee Jordan immediately agreed with Albert's suggestion. 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 not bad 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, a few people finalized the decision to go to Hogsmeade.
During breakfast time, everyone was talking about Hogsmeade, and they all looked very excited. However, a few junior students listened eagerly to other senior students talking about the only wizarding village in the UK, and about Hogsmeade. Something fun and new.
After breakfast, the four of them played two more games of Wizard Cards. After they had eaten a little, they headed to Hogsmeade through the secret passage. This journey was very time-consuming. When the four of them walked out of the secret passage, they were all frozen. Have to tremble.
"Let's go to Three Broomsticks and have a cup of hot butterbeer to warm up first." Albert's suggestion was unanimously approved by several people.
Ms. Rosmerta looked at the four young customers in front of her in surprise, turned her head and looked at the mechanical clock next to her, and asked in surprise, "You actually arrived before the other students?"
Albert warmed his hands on the cup filled with butterbeer, 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 here soon.”
“When do you think the first batch of students will arrive?” Fred sat by the fireplace and warmed himself.
“It’s not as early as us anyway.” Li Jordan took a sip of butterbeer and narrowed his eyes comfortably and said, “It would be nice if I could take some back and drink it slowly.”
"That's a good idea." Albert asked Ms. Rosmerta sideways, "I want to purchase a small barrel of butterbeer."
"That's not okay." Ms. Rosmerta simply refused. "I don't want the headmaster of Hogwarts to write to me and complain that a student is drunk in school."
“Can this thing still make you drunk?” Albert couldn’t help but muttered.
“What a shame.”
"I know where to get a lot of butterbeer." 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 correctly.
After drinking butterbeer and warming their bodies, the group of people got up and left the Three Broomsticks, and began to look around Hogsmeade for the location of the Hog's Head Bar. It should be a relatively remote bar or hotel, and it should be on the edge of a trail. It shouldn't look like much, and the sign hanging on it should be a pig's head.
Hogsmeade is actually a small village, and there are not many wizards in it. A few people have found the location of the Pig's Head Bar before the students from Hogwarts arrive.
“Is this right here?” 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, they didn't spend much time walking around Hogsmeade Village. Then they turned from the post office on Central Avenue into a side road and found the Pig's Head Bar mentioned in the teleportation.
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 mutton 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 others in.
“It’s so dirty,” George couldn’t help but muttered.
“This is the black market?” Li Jordan had a look of disappointment on his face. After being glared at by Albert, he obediently shut his mouth.
As soon as they entered the Pig Head Bar, Fred and the others began to look around at the environment of the bar. This place was simply two different worlds from the Three Broomsticks.
Thick dirt accumulated on several windows, and the outside light could hardly penetrate into the bar. There were candles burning on the rough wooden tables on both sides.
"It's really choked here." Albert suppressed his annoyance. He had no choice but to do it. There were centuries of dirt accumulated under his feet. At first glance, he thought the ground was compacted mud. This reminded Albert directly of the dung roads in the European Middle Ages, which was really disgusting.
"What do you want?" the bar owner muttered as he stepped out of a back door and came up to them.
“Is this a bar?” Albert looked at the tall and thin old man in front of him and asked uncertainly.
“Hmm.” The old man with gray hair and white beard responded casually.
"Can we buy a small barrel of butterbeer from here and take it away?" Albert asked again. They had just drank butterbeer and had no plans to continue drinking it here. Moreover, the sanitary conditions of the Pig's Head Bar were worse than expected. Worse.
“One galleons.” The man bent down and took out a dusty, dirty oak barrel from under the counter, and placed it heavily on the bar.
“Here.” Albert took out a galleung from his pocket and placed it on the rough counter.
“It’s really heavy.” George reached out to move the barrel, but found that the barrel was a bit heavy.
The bar owner put the money Albert gave him into an old wooden cash drawer. The wooden drawer slid open automatically and swallowed the money.
He took out a dirty rag and began to wipe the wine glass. He looked at the four people with interest, as if he wanted to see how they handled this heavy keg.
“Get out of the way.” Albert reached out to push George away, took out the wand from his pocket, waved it at the small barrel of beer, and chanted a spell to shrink it significantly. Then, in full view of everyone, he picked up the small beer bucket and put it into the pocket of his robe.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” George reached out and patted the back of his head, muttering.
“Let’s go.” Albert greeted everyone and prepared to leave the Pig’s Head Bar. He was not willing to stay here any longer.
“Do you feel that this bar owner looks familiar, as if you have seen him somewhere?” Lee Jordan suddenly said.
“I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before.” Fred and George agreed.
Albert glanced at the bar owner and muttered: "Probably a relative of Professor Dumbledore."
His voice was not loud, but it was enough for everyone in the bar to hear.
“A relative of Principal Dumbledore?” Fred and others were very surprised and turned to look at the bar owner. In the minds of most students, Dumbledore was no different from a great man.
"Good morning Hagrid." Albert turned around and greeted Hagrid with a smile.
"You shouldn't be here." Hagrid looked at Albert, frowned and said, "Besides, I remember you seemed 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 stunned, probably not expecting that Albert would ask such a question, "Why would you ask this?"
"Eye Hagrid," Albert reminded, "their eyes are very similar."
“Oh, well, they seem to be relatives indeed.” Hagrid said vaguely, as if he was reluctant to mention these things.
“Why are you here?” George continued to interrupt.
“I…” Hagrid didn’t want to answer.
“Are you going to feed Lu Wei?”
“What is Luwei?” Fred asked curiously.
“Hagrid’s new puppy.” Albert explained casually.
"Oh, Hagrid, did you save it?" Aberforth looked at Hagrid in surprise. Of course he knew that Hagrid bought a sick three-headed dog from a Greek guy, but he was even more surprised that Hagrid bought it from a Greek guy. The relationship with the four children in front of me 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 see your new puppy?” Fred noticed Albert’s gesticulating look and continued the conversation.
“Okay, why are you guys here?” Hagrid asked loudly.
“Today is the day when Hogwarts students go to Hogsmeade.” Albert said seriously.
"Of course I know that today is the day for Hogwarts students to go to Hogsmeade, but that is for third-year students and above. I remember you are only in second year." Hagrid couldn't help complaining, "Filch That old loser actually let you sneak out."
"Don't be angry Hagrid, we are just out for a walk. Hogsmeade is now full of Hogwarts students. It is safe here." Albert comforted him.
“But you have violated the school rules.” Hagrid poked Albert's chest with his finger and warned.
"Rules are meant to be broken, Hagrid." Albert said carelessly, "Besides, it's not a serious matter."
Hagrid was stunned. Fred and the others next to him opened their mouths in surprise. They didn't expect that someone could take violating school rules so naturally.
"I can't tell you." Hagrid said pretending to be angry, "Tell me, what are you doing here?"
“Let’s see what the black market in the wizarding world is like. To be honest, I’m a little disappointed.” Albert didn’t hide the disappointment on his face. Of course, he was pretending to show Hagrid.
“What are you going to buy on the black market?” Hagrid asked warily.
“Rune snake eggs.” Albert said without thinking.
“You want to raise a snake?” Hagrid was very surprised and looked at Albert again.
"I'm not a Slytherin student, 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 try them. Taste it and see if it makes you smarter.”
At this moment, not only Hagrid, but also Aberforth opened his mouth in surprise.
"You want to eat rune snake eggs?" Hagrid's face twitched slightly and he couldn't help but said, "I think you are smart enough."
"No one would mind becoming smarter." Albert turned to look at Fred and the others and asked, "Do you want to become 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 egg cost?" Albert asked politely.
"This kind of snake egg trade has been flourishing on the black market for centuries." Aberforth said after thinking about it, "It is a bit difficult to get one. One egg costs between five and ten galleons."
"It would be great if you could get me one or two." Albert smiled and offered his 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 said, "You need to be more alert when dealing with guys in the black market."
"Of course I know." Albert said, "But isn't this a relative of Dumbledore? I think he should be trustworthy to some extent, and everyone just gets what they need."
"For a gold coin, I can introduce you to a fairly reliable guy, if you need anything." Aberforth suddenly raised his finger and said to Albert.
"Aberforth." Hagrid glared at the owner of the Pig's Head pub dissatisfied.
Albert took out a gold coin and threw it to Aberforth.
"His name is Mundungus." Aberforth looked at Albert in surprise, and the other person's straightforwardness surprised him.
“That smelly thief Mundungus?” Hagrid obviously didn’t like the guy named Mundungus very much.
"His full name is Mundungus Fletcher," said Aberforth, waving his wand and releasing a ball of white light.
“What is that?” Fred and the others looked at the disappearing white light and couldn’t help but ask.
“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 by releasing the Patronus?" Albert asked pretending to be curious. He naturally knew that the Patronus could be used to send messages.
“Sentence, Mundungus will be here soon,” Aberforth explained.
"I've never heard that the patron saint can also be used for communication? Did you invent a way of using it yourself?" Albert asked curiously.
“No.” Aberforth shook his head.
"That must be Principal Dumbledore. He is indeed the principal." Albert murmured to himself while secretly observing the changes in Aberforth's expression.
(End of this chapter)