days at Hogwarts

Chapter 537: Muggle Alice and Wizard Old Dodd

There are endless white clouds, low blue sky, and the lazy sun is slowly crawling westward. This place has abundant water vapor, frequent rainfall, and fresh air, so the sun does not feel scorching at all, and the breeze brings the coolness hidden in the snow on the mountains.

Accustomed to the heat and drought in London, Loren and Hermione even felt a little cold when they first arrived here and put on an extra coat.

Sitting at a small table by the door of the tavern, Alice very generously took out old Dodd's collection of wine to entertain the guests. Alice, a temporary employee of the tavern, was a lively and clever girl. She chattered but was not annoying. From time to time, she talked about interesting things in school and town. The atmosphere of the chat was very harmonious.

"Okay, I've told you everything I know. Now it's my turn to ask you!" Alice looked at the two of them with sparkling eyes.

"What do you want to know?"

"Do you have wands?"

"Normally, every wizard has a wand."

"Can I see it?"

Loren didn't care much about the Ministry of Magic's Statute of Secrecy. Hermione felt that since she knew everything about wizards, if they really wanted to investigate, they were definitely not the two of them who were responsible for the violation.

Loren pulled his wand out of his sleeve and held it horizontally on his palm to show her: "It's made of apple wood, and the core is a dragon's nerve. I tried dozens of wands in the wand shop before I found it."

Hermione glanced at him and showed her wand: "It's made of vine wood. It's very spiritual. It responded to my magic as soon as I entered the store."

"Wand shop...trial?" Alice frowned in confusion, as if she couldn't understand these two words.

"After receiving the admission letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, every little wizard will go to a wand shop to buy a wand that suits him or her. Generally speaking, we choose from Ollivander's. There are other wand makers, but his reputation is the best."

Alice was struck by lightning. It took several seconds for her dazed eyes to slowly focus. Her lips trembled a few times, and she barely pulled herself together and asked, "So you bought your wands yourselves?"

Hermione realized that something was wrong with her and for a moment she didn't know whether she should answer.

Loren looked at her expression and tentatively explained, "Generally speaking, it's like this. After the age of 11, the little wizard will enter a stage of rapid growth in magic power. With the help of a magic wand, they can better control the magic power and make casting spells more convenient-"

"Stop talking!" A light shout came from the door, interrupting his more detailed explanation.

An old man with short white hair and a beard was holding a bundle of vegetables and half a steak in his hands. He looked at the blonde girl in front of the table with a panicked and helpless look.

Alice turned her head and a few tears immediately slid down her face. She sobbed and cried, "Old Dodd, you are a liar and a bad guy. The magic wand is not issued by the Ministry of Magic after adulthood. I don't have any magic power at all, so I can't become a wizard..."

"me……"

The old man nodded but could not utter any words to defend himself, and he did not even dare to look the girl in the eye.

Loren and Hermione, who had accidentally exposed the old man's lie, were suddenly a little frightened. Before they could say anything, the freckled blonde girl raised her hand to wipe her snot and tears, and ran out of the door sobbing all the way.

The bearded old man stretched out his hand to stop her, but when he saw the sad look on the girl's face, he seemed frightened. He raised his hand and then retracted it. He just watched the girl go away and sighed dejectedly.

Loren and Hermione stood there blankly for a while, and said unconfidently:
"Sorry sir, we didn't mean to cause trouble."

"We thought she knew about the wizarding world and spoke without thinking. We're really sorry..." "Don't blame you. Alice is already in high school and will be 17 next year. Even if you don't tell her, she will know by then..." Old Dodd couldn't tell his age, but he was definitely over , with silver hair, but a ruddy complexion and a strong body. He could even lift half a steak with one hand.

At this moment, he looked somewhat depressed. He casually put the meat and vegetables in his hand aside, sat down dejectedly, grabbed the bottle of wine on the table and poured it into his mouth. He let out a long sigh after his face turned red.

"Alice was only three years old when she moved here. She was so small that her crying was scarier than the Banshee... Her father had to work to support the family, and her mother was in poor health and could only do housework. She had no energy to take care of this little girl.

"It just so happened that my tavern didn't have much business, and there was nothing else to do except brewing wine. When her mother was busy, she would leave her with me to take care of her. I'm an old man, and I don't know how to take care of a child. I couldn't touch her, and she couldn't stop talking and crying.

"If I had a choice, I'd rather wrestle with a troll."

Old Dodd shook the empty bottle, reached out and got a bottle of malt whiskey from the rack behind the bar, uncorked it and poured it into his mouth. When he put the bottle down, his eyes became dazed:

"What can I do... I can only cast some small spells and tell some magic stories to cheer her up. As I coax her, she grows up. When she grows up, she starts to clamor for a wand and wants to learn magic...

"This child's parents are both Muggles, how can she learn? I wish I could give my magic to her, but I could only coax and deceive her. I lied to her that she could go to elementary school in town, to middle school in the city, and to the best high school nearby. I said that only smart people can learn magic and become wizards. I lied to her from the age of 7 to 11, and from 11 to 15. Last year, I even lied to her that she could participate in a science competition and get the qualification to be admitted to Cambridge..."

Loren didn't know how much he had drunk, nor did he understand how he lied. But when the old man talked about these memories, his brows were soft and there was a smile on the corners of his mouth. He was obviously looking happy.

Hermione sat quietly beside him, not saying a word.

Although old Dodd had violated some rules, if you think about it carefully, Alice could barely be considered a relative of a wizard, and it was in line with the rules for her to know some magical information, so old Dodd had not violated the Statute of Secrecy.

The door of the tavern was open and the mountain breeze blew in with a chill.

"Who knew this girl would be so persistent? I couldn't keep deceiving her any longer. I wanted to wait until the next semester started, then I could close the bar and run away..."

Old Dodd mumbled drunkenly, shuddered, and sobered up a little. He shook his head and asked Loren, "You are still students, right? Have you graduated from Hogwarts? What are you doing here?"

"We're here to find someone."

"Find someone?"

"We have a friend who studies magical animals. He heard that Ben Nevis is a gathering place for giants, so he came here to investigate. A few days ago, he sent us a message saying that he had encountered some minor troubles and asked us to come and help." Loren answered carefully, "It's not a big problem. He can solve it by himself, but it will take more time... We learned that there is a wizard tavern nearby, so we wanted to come here to inquire for some information."

"To get information..."

Old Dodd nodded and slowly came to his senses.

With a childish face and the ability to perform magic outside of school, he is most likely a Hogwarts graduate.

The little wizard who just left school must be planning a graduation trip...

He went through the same thing back then, so there's nothing he doesn't understand.

(End of this chapter)