Three Broomsticks

October arrived before anyone knew it. Damp, chilly air filled the grounds, slowly seeping into the castle through the cracks around the doors and windows.

Colds suddenly became widespread among the staff and students, keeping Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, rushed off her feet.

Her Pepperup Potion worked immediately, but anyone who drank it would have smoke pouring from their ears like chimneys for hours afterward.

During one experiment, Pandora had an accident while grinding Horned Serpent horns. A raincloud appeared out of thin air above her head and followed her wherever she went.

"I didn't think this would happen..." she said in bewilderment, her hair dripping wet as she spoke to the stunned Snape beside her.

The professors were equally helpless before the strange raincloud. None of them could explain its cause.

The cloud hung over Pandora for several days, then vanished as silently as it had arrived.

After Filch had spent two days trailing behind her with a bucket and mop, muttering nonstop and occasionally glaring at her with his furious goldfish eyes, Pandora finally could not hold out any longer and caught a cold.

Snape forced her to drink some Pepperup Potion. As a result, wisps of steam continuously rose from beneath her vivid golden hair, making her whole head look as though it were on fire.

Raindrops the size of bullets pattered against the castle windows without stopping for days. Under the relentless downpour, the lake kept rising, and the flowerbeds became a muddy mess.

Hagrid's pumpkins, on the other hand, grew wildly in the rain, swelling until each one was as large as a greenhouse.

It was not until mid-October that the weather cleared, and sunlight once again spread across Hogwarts.

The notice boards in the school common rooms announced that the first Hogsmeade weekend of the term would be this weekend.

Snape had originally thought that, after the Inferi riot, they would not be allowed to visit Hogsmeade. Now that he knew they could still go, he was naturally delighted.

After all, after such a long spell of rain, being able to leave the castle and get some fresh air, even for only a few hours, was enough to lift anyone's spirits.

Besides, a few days earlier, after an owl had splashed rainwater all over his face, Snape had received an invitation from Madam Rosmerta. The letter said that the finest Mead was waiting for his arrival.

"Who sent the letter?" Aber asked curiously.

"Nothing." Once Snape recognized the handwriting, he quickly folded the letter and slipped it into his pocket.

He had to admit that the temptation of Mead was simply too great to resist.

On the morning they were to go to Hogsmeade, a gale was raging outside, mercilessly battering the windows. The weather was no longer as warm as it had been a few days earlier.

"Pandora," Snape asked as soon as he sat down for breakfast, "are you going to Hogsmeade later?"

"Of course," Pandora said, her eyes lighting up. "I want a steaming mug of Butterbeer."

"Er... I'd like something to drink too." Snape nodded slowly and added the same.

Throughout the walk to Hogsmeade, Snape felt rather uneasy.

On the one hand, although he had wrapped the lower half of his face tightly in a scarf, whenever he bent into the wind, the exposed skin was soon stung raw by the cold gusts, eventually going numb.

On the other hand, Pandora's company left him somewhat unsettled. Though he kept reassuring himself that he merely wanted to drink a few glasses of precious Mead—after all, the stuff was not cheap.

At the fork near the village entrance, Aber suddenly spread his arms and blocked Snape's path.

"Wait a moment," he said with a mischievous grin. "Aren't you going to invite me in for a drink? Aren't we true friends?"

"I never said anything like that." Snape rolled his eyes and snapped back.

"There you go, saying hurtful things again." Aber was still grinning. "I'd say your mind isn't really on the drink, is it?"

"Y-you... what are you talking about?" Snape's face reddened slightly.

"You can't fool me with your little schemes."

"What schemes? Fine, then come in with me."

As he spoke, Snape threw an arm around Aber and tried to drag him toward The Three Broomsticks. Hah, as if either of them did not know what the other was up to.

"Don't... I have something to do..." Now it was Aber's turn to struggle, and he could no longer maintain his smile.

"You're going too far. I invited you along, and you still want to leave? Did some woman who came out of nowhere steal your soul away?"

"I'm begging you, let go. I was wrong."

"Then tell me, what business could be so urgent?"

"Mrs... Mrs. Pudifoot's Tea Shop..."

"Oh, that is a fine place, but it's quite far from here. You're probably going to be late."

"Please..." Aber looked at Snape pitifully.

The two shoved and struggled for quite a while before Snape finally let go.

"I really can't do anything with you. Go on."

When Snape turned back, he saw Pandora still standing at the pub entrance, watching the two of them with a fond expression.

"Stop staring, stop staring. It's freezing out here," Snape said irritably. "Why are young women in the United Kingdom always thinking about such strange things... Their homework after class clearly isn't enough..."

With that, he pulled open the door and hurried into the little pub with Pandora.

The pub was packed shoulder to shoulder, exceedingly crowded and noisy. It was hot inside, and a thick haze of smoke hung in the air.

The charming and alluring proprietress, Madam Rosmerta, had a bright red silk scarf draped over her shoulders as she attended to a group of boisterous wizards at the bar.

By the fireplace near the window on the right, there was a small empty table.

As they passed through the crowd, amid the foul, choking smell of tobacco mixed with strong liquor, Snape spotted a short, fat man with a slovenly appearance: unshaven, with a mess of long ginger hair, a tattered coat, and a thoroughly sleazy look.

Mundungus?

That unreliable scum who had fled the battlefield, leading to Mad-Eye's death, and then looted Number Twelve Grimmauld Place clean?

Frowning, Snape clutched his pocket tightly and pulled Pandora through the crowd, dodging left and right until they squeezed their way to the back of the pub.

"What do you want to drink?" Pandora asked. "I'll go get the drinks."

"It's fine, I'll go." Snape said, "I know you want a Butterbeer."

Just as he stood up, he saw Madam Rosmerta carrying a tray and smiling warmly as she nodded to him.

On the tray sat an exquisite bottle of liquor, two glasses, and a large foaming mug of hot Butterbeer.

The bottle must contain Madam Rosmerta's Oak-Ripened Honeywine, Snape thought.

A pair of glittering emerald-green high heels appeared and disappeared among the crowd as they approached.

Thanks to reader 20210605180554745 for the monthly ticket.