Hog's Head Pub

After November, the weather became very cold, and the mountains around Hogwarts Castle were covered with snow.

A layer of frost appeared on the window in the morning. Albert covered a yawn, rolled over, and curled up in bed, reluctant to get up. Suddenly, a desperate scream and curse echoed from the dormitory, "Damn it, why isn't it raining today?"

"George, shut up." Lee Jordan pulled the sheet over his head and couldn't help but complain, "Don't shout so early in the morning, it's so noisy."

"It's so cold, close the window," Albert muttered, huddled under the covers.

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

"It's hard to say," Albert suggested. "We should go to Hogsmeade. Remember the Hog's Head Pub I mentioned before? It's said to be a black market trading place. Today is also the day when Hogwarts students go to Hogsmeade. Even if someone accidentally wanders in, it won't seem too out of place."

Albert looks quite mature, so there's no problem with him pretending to be a third-year student. After all, people who don't know him won't know he's a second-year student.

"The black market? I've never been to a black market before. 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 the Flobberworm, visiting the Hogsmeade black market would be a good idea.

"I don't know, but it's best not to get your hopes up too high," Albert explained. "I heard about this from Hagrid."

"To Hogsmeade!"

After a brief discussion, the group decided to go to Hogsmeade.

During breakfast, everyone was talking about Hogsmeade and seemed very excited. A few younger students listened intently as the older students talked about the only Wizard Village in all of Britain and the interesting and novel things about Hogsmeade.

After breakfast, the four played two more rounds of Wizard Card. After digesting their food a bit, they made their way to Hogsmeade through the secret passage. The journey was quite time-consuming, and when they finally emerged from the passage, they were shivering from the cold.

"Let's go to Three Broomsticks and have a hot Butterbeer to warm up first," Albert suggested, a suggestion that was unanimously agreed upon by the group.

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

Albert warmed his hands on the glass of Butterbeer, smiled at the bar owner, and said, "This is our secret!"

"Oh, well, it's a secret!" Ms. Rosmerta said to herself. "I think I should get ready; things will get busy here soon."

"When do you think the first batch of students will arrive?" Fred asked, sitting by the fireplace.

"Anyway, they didn't get here as early as us." Lee Jordan took a small sip of Butterbeer, squinted his eyes comfortably, and said, "It would be nice to take some back to enjoy slowly."

"That's a good idea." Albert turned to ask Ms. Rosmerta, "I'd like to buy a small keg of Butterbeer."

"That won't do," Mrs. Rosmerta refused outright. "I don't want the Headmaster of Hogwarts writing to me complaining that a student is drunk at school."

"This thing can make you drunk?" Albert couldn't help but mutter.

"It's really a pity."

"I know where to get a lot of Butterbeer," Albert said mysteriously after the bar owner left the counter.

"The Hog's Head Pub?" Fred immediately guessed what Albert meant.

Albert nodded, indicating that Fred had guessed correctly.

After finishing their Butterbeer and warming themselves up, the group got up from the Three Broomsticks and began searching for the Hog's Head Pub in Hogsmeade. It should be a rather secluded pub or inn, probably tucked away on a side street, and it probably didn't look very impressive; the sign should be a pig's head.

Hogsmeade was actually just a small village with not many wizards. The group found the location of the Hog's Head Pub before the Hogwarts students arrived.

"Is this it?" George said to his companions, pointing to the tattered wooden sign with a pig's head painted on it. They hadn't spent much time there; they'd just wandered around Hogsmeade, then turned off the post office on the main street into a side alley, and found the Hog's Head Pub that had been mentioned in the teleportation.

Albert pretended to be just passing by, glanced inside, and casually walked in. The bar was small, dark, and very dirty, with a strong smell of mutton in the air, somewhat similar to the black market he had imagined.

Most importantly, there were no customers inside, which is why Albert brought Fred and the others in.

"It's really dirty," George couldn't help but mutter.

"This is the black market?" Lee Jordan's face showed undisguised disappointment. After being glared at by Albert, he obediently shut his mouth.

As soon as they entered Hog's Head Pub, Fred and his friends began to look around at the environment. It was a completely different world from the Three Broomsticks.

Thick grime had piled up on the windows, and almost no light could penetrate into the bar. A few candle stubs were lit on the rough wooden tables on either side.

"This is really awful." Albert suppressed his frustration. There was nothing he could do; the ground was covered in centuries of grime, and at first glance, it looked like compacted mud. This immediately reminded Albert of the latrines of medieval Europe —it was truly disgusting.

"What would you like?" The bar owner stepped out from a back door and approached them, muttering as he asked.

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

"Hmm," the old man with gray hair and a white beard replied casually.

"Can we buy a small bucket of Butterbeer to take away?" Albert asked again. They had just drunk Butterbeer and didn't plan to drink any more here. Besides, the hygiene conditions at Hog's Head Pub were worse than expected.

"One Galleon." The man bent down and pulled a dusty, filthy oak barrel from under the counter, placing it heavily on the bar.

"Here you go." Albert took Galleon from his pocket and placed it on the rough counter.

"That's heavy." George reached out to lift the barrel, only to find that the small barrel was quite heavy.

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

He pulled out a dirty rag and began wiping the wine glasses, watching the four men with interest, seemingly wanting to see how they would handle the heavy little wine barrel.

"Get out of the way." Albert reached out and pushed George aside, pulled his wand from his pocket, waved it at the small beer keg, and chanted a spell to shrink it dramatically. Then, in full view of everyone, he picked up the beer keg and put it into the pocket of his robe.

"How could I not have thought of that?" George slapped the back of his head and muttered to himself.

"Let's go." Albert called out to everyone, preparing to leave the Hog's Head Pub. He didn't want to stay there any longer.

"Don't you guys think this bar owner looks familiar? Like we've seen him somewhere before?" Lee Jordan suddenly said.

"I also feel like I've seen this somewhere before," Fred echoed George.

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

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

"A relative of Dumbledore?" Fred and the 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.

"What are you doing here?" A familiar yet surprised voice suddenly rang out behind them.

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

"You shouldn't have come here," Hagrid said, frowning as he looked at Albert. "Besides, I remember you guys also..."

"By the way, Hagrid, the owner of the Hog's Head Pub is a relative of Dumbledore, right?" Albert interrupted Hagrid.

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

"Hagrid's eyes," Albert pointed out. "Their eyes are very similar."

"Oh, um, it seems we are indeed relatives," Hagrid said vaguely, seemingly reluctant to discuss the matter.

"How did you end up here?" George continued to interrupt.

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

Are you going to feed Fluffy?

"What is Fluffy?" Fred asked curiously.

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

"Oh, Hagrid, you saved it?" Aberforth looked at Hagrid in surprise. He knew, of course, that Hagrid had bought a sick Three-Headed Dog from a Greece, but he was even more surprised that Hagrid seemed to have a good relationship with the four children in front of him.

"Well, Fluffy is healthy now, it's just that it's been raining a lot lately, and he doesn't really like rain," Hagrid mumbled vaguely.

"Can we go see your new puppy?" Fred asked, noticing Albert's suggestive look, and continued the conversation.

"Alright, what are you guys doing here?" Hagrid demanded loudly.

"Today is the day Hogwarts students travel to Hogsmeade," Albert said solemnly.

"Of course I know today is the day Hogwarts students go to Hogsmeade, but that's for students in their third year and above. I remember you're only in your second year," Hagrid couldn't help but complain. "That Old Bucket Filch let you sneak out."

"Don't be angry with Hagrid. We're just out for a stroll. Hogsmeade is full of Hogwarts students now, so it's very safe here," Albert comforted him.

"But you've broken the School Rules," Hagrid warned, poking Albert's chest with his finger.

"Rules are meant to be broken, don't you think, Hagrid?" Albert said nonchalantly. "Besides, it's not a serious matter."

Hagrid was stunned, and Fred and the others next to him were speechless with astonishment. They never expected that someone could make breaking School Rules sound so reasonable.

"I can't argue with you," Hagrid said, feigning anger. "So, 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 made no attempt to hide the disappointment on his face, though of course, it was all an act for Hagrid's benefit.

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

"Runespoor eggs," Albert said without hesitation.

"You want to keep snakes?" Hagrid was very surprised and looked Albert up and down again.

"I'm not a Slytherin student, so why would I be interested in snakes?" Albert shook his head and explained. "I've heard that eating Runespoor eggs can make people smarter, so I'm going to buy a few to try and see if it can make me smarter."

At this moment, not only Hagrid, but even Aberforth opened his mouth in surprise.

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

"But nobody minds becoming smarter," Albert turned to Fred and the others and asked, "Do you want to become smarter?"

"Of course."

"See?" Albert shrugged at Hagrid, then looked at the bar owner and asked, "And this is..."

"Aberforth Dumbledore," the bar owner said.

"Mr. Aberforth, how much does Runespoor eggs cost?" Albert asked politely.

"The trade in these snake eggs has been thriving on the black market for centuries," Aberforth said after a moment's thought. "They're a bit difficult to obtain; one egg costs between five and Galleon Galleon."

"If you could get me one or two, that would be great," Albert said with a smile, stating his price, "Ten Galleon each. Of course, don't try to fool me with fakes; I have basic common sense."

Aberforth raised an eyebrow, looked intently at Albert, and remained silent for a long time.

"Albert ..." Hagrid couldn't help but say, "You need to be extremely careful when dealing with guys in the black market."

"Of course I know," Albert said. "But isn't this a relative of Dumbledore's? I think he can be trusted to some extent. Besides, it's just a mutually beneficial arrangement."

"For a gold coin, I can introduce you to a fairly reliable fellow if you need anything," Aberforth suddenly said, pointing a finger at Albert.

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

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

"His name is Mundungus." Aberforth looked at Albert with surprise, astonished by the man's decisiveness.

"That stinky little thief Mundungus?" Hagrid clearly didn't like the guy named Mundungus.

"His full Mundungus Fletcher," Aberforth said, waving his wand and releasing a burst of white light.

"What was that?" Fred and the others asked, looking at the disappearing white light.

"It should be Patronus," Albert explained.

"You know?" Aberforth was surprised that Albert knew about the Patronus, which was a very profound form of magic.

"I know, I'm practicing. But why are you releasing the Patronus?" Albert asked, feigning curiosity. He knew, of course, that the Patronus could be used to communicate.

"Send word that Mundungus will be here soon," Aberforth explained.

"I've never heard of Patronus being used for communication? Did you invent this method yourself?" Albert asked curiously.

"No," Aberforth shook his head.

"That must be Dumbledore. He truly lives up to his title," Albert muttered to himself, while secretly observing Aberforth's changing expressions.