The Warmth of Galleons

The Warmth of Galleons

The moment they entered Honeydukes Sweetshop, a rich buttery scent washed over them. Looking around, Albert saw numerous shelves filled with all kinds of sweets and pastries.

Albert recognized several at a glance: the large jars ahead contained Butter Fudge, toffees, and nougat.

Some green lollipops hung neatly beside the shelves. Albert picked one up and was about to read the description beside it when a familiar voice sounded behind him.

"If I were you, I wouldn't touch that. It's an Acid Pop—very sour." George draped an arm over Albert's shoulder and pointed at the product description. "Fred once bought one for Ron, our little brother, and it burned a hole through his tongue. Mum gave Fred a beating with a Flying Broom because of it."

Fred glared at his twin brother in dissatisfaction. "You were the one who bought that Acid Pop."

"I never told you to give it to Ron." George looked utterly innocent.

Watching the unrepentant twin brothers, Albert quietly put the Acid Pop back on the shelf.

It could burn through someone's tongue. Was this thing actually made of sulfuric acid?

"What's this?"

On one corner of the wall to the left of the entrance hung little mice of all colors. They crawled across a plastic board on the wall, looking just like living mice.

"These are Ice Mice." Lee Jordan introduced them to Albert. "When you eat one, you feel incredibly cold—cold enough to make your teeth chatter. Even after you finish the sweet, your stomach keeps making crunching noises. They're a bit like Zonko's Sizzling Sugar Mice."

"Interesting sweets." Albert withdrew his gaze from the Ice Mice and headed toward the shelves on the right. There was a huge barrel of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans in all sorts of colors, while large plastic tubs beside it held gummy sweets in various flavors. The shelves farther over were neatly stocked with all kinds of chocolate.

Albert took two boxes of Chocolate Frogs, then set his sights on the large bars of chocolate. He had bought some on the train last time, and they had tasted better than Chocolate Frogs.

Right, and some Chocolate Beans too.

Albert carried his assorted chocolate treats to the counter.

Behind it, a smiling woman said, "That'll be four Sickles and ten Knuts."

"Oh, ma'am, we meet again!" Albert looked at the train vendor in surprise. He had not expected her to be Honeydukes' proprietress. "It's you! Dear, would you like any other sweets?" The woman recognized Albert too. After all, there were not many customers who bought every item off her trolley.

"Do you have any recommendations?" Albert thought. No wonder so many sweets sold on the train could be found here.

"Exploding Bonbons. They're very popular with students. They give off a small explosion when you bite into them. Of course, they won't hurt you." The woman poured an Exploding Bonbon from a jar and handed it to Albert.

"Want to try one?"

She never begrudged a smile or good service to potential customers. Naturally, that had something to do with the Galleons in their pockets.

Albert accepted the Exploding Bonbon, put it into his mouth, and bit down. Strawberry filling oozed from the sweet. The next moment, a small explosion popped beside his mouth. Anyone unaware of what it was would probably jump in fright.

This was probably a kind of prank item, but the bonbon itself tasted pretty good.

After Albert bought some Exploding Bonbons, the proprietress became even more enthusiastic. She packed them into a paper bag for him, then began introducing the shop's various sweets and desserts.

"Jelly Slugs—you may have tried them already. They're one of our shop's best-selling products."

Albert glanced at the long slug-shaped gummies and raised an eyebrow slightly. Rather than Jelly Slugs, Jelly Little Snakes would have been more fitting. Still, he did not like gummy sweets and had no intention of buying them. Just thinking about slugs made him feel a little sick.

The sweetshop carried all sorts of candies and desserts: the famous Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Balls, Fizzing Whizbees, Lollipop Quills... The dazzling variety left all four of them overwhelmed.

"Are those... cockroaches?" Albert felt a little uneasy as he watched the black insects crawling inside a glass jar. Beside it sat some Cockroach Clusters, their legs still twitching faintly.

"These are Cockroach Clusters," the woman explained. "They're one of the sweets Headmaster Dumbledore often buys here. Of course, not everyone can accept sweets shaped like this."

Probably only Dumbledore liked things like these. "Have any of you eaten them?" Albert turned to ask. All three shook their heads together.

The woman winked at Albert. "We also have Fudge Flies. They burst with filling in your mouth. And there are bloody-flavored lollipops, which are very popular with most vampires."

"If you want to prank someone, I recommend Pepper Imps. After eating one, your mouth gets so spicy it breathes fire..."

They spent at least half an hour in Honeydukes Sweetshop. Before they left, the proprietress warmly stuffed a shop catalogue into Albert's hands and winked at him. "If you want to buy sweets, you can have them delivered by owl. It's best not to sneak out yourself."

When they left the sweetshop, Albert had another paper bag in his hands, filled with Pineapple Candied Fruit he had bought there. It had cost him ten Sickles.

"This stuff is pretty good." Albert took a bite of Pineapple Candied Fruit.

"I always feel like that proprietress was especially enthusiastic with you," Lee Jordan said somewhat enviously. From beginning to end, Honeydukes' proprietress had treated Albert with great warmth.

The Twins nodded in agreement with Lee Jordan. Their mouths were stuffed full of Pineapple Candied Fruit as well.

"She was only enthusiastic about Galleons, not me." Albert found the expression on Lee Jordan's face rather amusing.

Besides that bag of Pineapple Candied Fruit, Albert had bought many other things from the shop. The thoughtful proprietress said she would mail them to Hogwarts for him, so he would not have to carry so much himself.

By the time the four returned to the castle, it was already two in the afternoon. After wandering around Hogsmeade for several hours, they were all exhausted from walking, but they all agreed that it had been an interesting trip to Hogsmeade.

"Where have you been?" Percy Weasley sat down beside the four of them, staring at the paper bags in front of them with a slight frown.

"That's a secret!"

The Twins exchanged a mysterious smile. Of course, they would not say they had gone to Hogsmeade, or Percy would write home about it.

The Honeydukes proprietress was highly efficient. Not long after Albert returned to the Great Hall, an owl delivered the package for him.

"I think we'd better go back to the Common Room." Noticing that the package had drawn other people's attention, Albert called to the other three and had them help carry it back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Watching the four depart, Percy's eyes flickered. No one knew what he was thinking.