A Past Best Left Unremembered

The shelves were lined with delicious, juicy sweets: huge slabs of creamy yellow almond fudge, glistening pink coconut ice, honey-colored toffee, hundreds of neatly arranged varieties of chocolate, a large barrel of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and another large barrel of Fizzing Whizzbees.

Against the other wall were some "special-effect" candies, such as Cheering Charm Bubblegum, which could fill a room with bluebell-colored bubbles that would not burst for days; strange, crisp, crumbly Fuzzy Tooth Mint Candy; tiny black Pepper Imps that made whoever ate them breathe fire; Ice Mice that made the eater's teeth squeak; Toad-shaped Mint Ice Cream that hopped around in the stomach; Sugar-spun Crispy Feather Candy; Exploding Jelly Beans; and more.

Naturally, Linley found it difficult to appreciate these so-called special-effect candies.

Perhaps only prank-loving Weasley twins would like such candies. After all, they would go on to invent quite a few prank products like these themselves.

With that in mind, Linley took two of each special-effect candy, intending to buy them as gifts for the Weasley twins.

After picking out some snacks for himself as well, Linley quickly paid and left Honeydukes to meet up with the Weasley twins.

"Here, these are for you."

Linley handed the large bag of special-effect candies to Fred and George.

Fred and George were both delighted to receive the huge bag. These special-effect candies would make excellent reference material for researching prank products!

They had originally planned to buy some prank products from Zonko's Joke Shop as reference material for developing their own. The reason they had not come to Honeydukes for special-effect candy and instead gone out of their way to Zonko's was, first, because Zonko's specialized in joke products. More importantly, though, they could not afford much of Honeydukes' snacks.

That was clear enough from the fact that they could only eat Mrs. Weasley's sandwiches on the train and could not bear to buy snacks.

After learning why the two had come to Hogsmeade, Linley asked, "Are you still going to Zonko's Joke Shop?"

Fred nodded. "Of course! Even if we don't buy anything else, we still need to stock up on Stink Pellets. Our recent goal has been to improve the power of Improved Stink Pellets, but we've already used up all the Stink Pellets we had."

So Linley stuffed the three of them's snacks into the canvas bag enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm, and they once again set off lightly toward Zonko's Joke Shop.

Hogsmeade truly deserved its reputation as the largest wizarding village in the British wizarding world. The crowds were no less dense than on the main streets of the Muggle world. Wizards walked back and forth carrying their recent purchases, chatting and laughing with their companions.

Zonko's Joke Shop was not far from Honeydukes, and the three arrived at their destination before long.

The Weasley twins used the pocket money they had saved for a long time to buy a batch of Stink Pellets, while Linley bought a Quick-Quotes Quill as they passed Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.

"Want to go have a few drinks at The Three Broomsticks?" Fred suggested.

Linley and George immediately agreed.

The Three Broomsticks was very tidy inside. Its bar counter felt spacious and bright, clean and warm—far better than The Leaky Cauldron Linley had visited before.

The Three Broomsticks was run by Madam Rosmerta. She had a graceful figure and still possessed considerable charm, and many young wizards liked her. Ron Weasley had even harbored a crush on Madam Rosmerta for a long time during his sixth year in the original story.

"Good afternoon, Madam Rosmerta! Three Butterbeers, please!"

Fred happily greeted Madam Rosmerta.

Madam Rosmerta looked at the three of them and smiled lightly. "Fred, George, I didn't expect you two to have brought along a first-year student. And this young Slytherin wizard—what's your name?"

Linley shook hands with Madam Rosmerta. "Linley Rory. It's a pleasure to meet you, Madam!"

After getting acquainted with Madam Rosmerta, she told them to find themselves a seat.

The three went farther into the pub and sat down at a table beside a window and fireplace.

A few minutes later, three large mugs of steaming, frothy hot Butterbeer were brought over.

"Cheers!"

Linley and the others raised their mugs together and took big gulps.

Linley felt that the Butterbeer did not seem to be real alcohol at all. It was sweet, and after drinking it, he felt every inch of his body grow warm.

Just as the three had finished their Butterbeer and were preparing to leave, George suddenly stopped them. "Wait, look! That's Professor Green!"

Following George's gaze, Linley saw Professor Green, whom they had met only yesterday, enter the pub. Yet he was completely different from the man he was at Hogwarts. He looked exceedingly gloomy, his pale blue eyes filled with melancholy.

"Five Firewhiskies."

Professor Green spoke flatly, then found a seat in the deepest corner of the pub.

Once the spirits were set on the table, Professor Green began drinking heavily. Linley could see that his eyes were wet. Clearly, Professor Green was not enjoying fine liquor—he was drowning his sorrows in drink.

At that moment, Madam Rosmerta came over. Seeing the puzzled looks on Linley and the others' faces, she sighed. "Ah, in order to teach you in his best condition, Professor Green has buried all his worries and pain deep inside. Perhaps only now can he freely let it all out."

Linley hesitated before asking, "Madam Rosmerta, Professor Green seems to have a past he cannot bear to look back on?"

"Yes, but it wouldn't be appropriate for me to tell you," Madam Rosmerta said. "After all, it's Mr. Green's private matter."

Linley fell silent for a moment and did not press further. Instead, he quietly waited until Professor Green had finished drinking and left before returning to Hogwarts with the Weasley twins by the way they had come.

Perhaps the reason he had not left immediately was that he knew Professor Green did not want his students to see him like this.

The three remained silent on the way back, until they opened the One-Eyed Witch statue once again and entered the castle.

"Professor Green looked absolutely terrifying just now. I can hardly imagine that someone as kind as he is in class has a side like that," George said quietly.

Fred said, "Maybe he's run into some difficult problem. But if even Professor Green can't solve it, how could we possibly be of any help?"

Linley patted them both on the shoulders. "Don't mention this to anyone. The only way we can help Professor Green is by causing him less trouble."

"Of course, brother!"

"We'll bury it deep in our stomachs—"

"—and flush it out with the crap!"

"Then forget it completely!"

The Weasley twins seemed to have returned to normal, speaking in perfect tandem.

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