Ron's Secret

The train station where you arrive at Hogwarts actually has a name.

Its name is Hogsmeade Station.

There are two roads there.

One of the roads leads to Hogsmeade Village, the only village in Britain exclusively for wizards.

The other route is the rough, muddy road that students in their second year and above take to Hogwarts in Thestral's carriages.

At the end of the road, there are stone pillars on both sides, and winged wild boars at the front.

Beyond that is a magnificent cast iron gate.

This gate is usually kept firmly closed, and it only opens at the beginning of the school year, the end of the school year, and Hogsmeade Day.

On that day, only students in the Third Year and above, with parental consent forms, were allowed to leave the castle.

And head straight for that iron gate.

The other students had no choice but to stay in Hogwarts Castle for the time being.

Until the iron gate closed again.

However, there's no need to worry that the students in the castle will feel like they're being imprisoned.

Because that iron gate will only be opened during a fixed time period on that day.

At other times, these students who cannot go to Hogsmeade are free to walk around outside the castle.

However, this also means that the iron gates leading out of Hogwarts are unguarded only during the morning hours, when Filch is counting out the castle students in the foyer.

During the other times the iron gate is open, there are usually faculty members guarding it.

Sometimes it's Hagrid, and sometimes it's other professors.

But Filch is the only one who won't be. Because he doesn't know magic.

He could only barely muster a bit of authority when he was counting the students' identification documents in front of the Oak Wood gate in the morning.

However, now that Filch has become a wizard, he is qualified to guard the Iron Gate.

This may explain why Filch seems happier than usual.

Harry thought to himself as he and Ron lined up to leave the castle.

They quickly passed the inspection, stepped down the stone steps, and arrived at the iron gate.

Passing through the stone pillars, they boarded the Thestral carriage, and set off amidst the familiar faint smells of mildew and straw.

Inside the carriage, Ron eagerly pulled out the Marauder's Map and looked at Black Lake once more.

"Huh? Krum is still not moving."

"Can't you just write a letter? You're torturing yourself and Krum," Harry retorted habitually.

My mind started wandering back to Ginny.

So he quickly snatched the map.

After some searching, Ginny's name was finally found in the passageway behind the One-Eyed Witch Statue on the fourth floor.

She was slowly walking towards the Honeydukes at the finish line.

Ten minutes later, the two finally saw the familiar platform again.

This time, however, the carriage did not stop, but continued to walk along another stone-paved road.

"This road is much smoother."

"Hmm, I didn't even notice—my butt." Ron stood up in the carriage and reached behind him.

"However, there are very few people."

I just noticed that.

"There are far fewer people going to Hogsmeade than in previous years," Harry said, looking out the window at the few carriages scattered about.

Ron sat down again. "I know that."

Ernie and the others from Hufflepuff didn't go.

They said they should practice the three spells that were given out yesterday.

Read it a few more times.

Find the most suitable one.

And not so suitable.

Do more preparation. And wasn't Hogsmeade Day changed to every Sunday this school year?

It's not fresh anymore.

They can easily find some time later to go.

"Okay," Harry looked down at the Marauder's Map on his lap again, "How come? Ginny's name is missing?"

"Let me see," Ron quickly leaned over, "It's Honeydukes, isn't it?"

Huh? What's going on? There isn't a single ink dot at the Honeydukes location.

Also, why does Hogsmeade only show Honeydukes?

After hearing Ron's words, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "I almost forgot, this is a map of Hogwarts."

Ginny probably arrived in Hogsmeade Village by now.

As for why only Honeydukes is displayed, that's because there's a secret passage connecting this shop to Hogwarts.

"What about the Shrieking Shack?"

"That's because this location is related to Lupin's Werewolf identity."

"My dad and the others didn't include it on the map, probably to protect Lupin's identity from being revealed." Harry thought for a moment before answering Ron's question.

"Well, then I can go to Devis-Bans (a shop that sells and repairs magical equipment) without worry." Ron Fly rubbed his hands together.

They seemed to be really looking forward to that shop.

"Are you looking to buy it? Or fix something?" Harry asked, a little curious.

He had never heard Ron mention the name of this shop before.

"It's a secret." Ron smiled mysteriously.

However, Harry still found out Ron's secret.

After entering Hogsmeade Village, Harry and Ron separated.

Harry and Ginny met up at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.

The two of them lingered in the teahouse for a long time, and also had lunch there.

Although the teahouse was small and the food consisted mostly of desserts, the two were still very happy.

Then came the outdoor activities.

At the Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, Harry bought Ginny a quill pen that would sing a soothing song when she wrote. Ginny, in turn, used the money she earned from working on "The Quibbler" to buy Harry a bottle of calming ink that would release an anxiety-relieving fragrance when he wrote.

At Glaum's Wizarding Attire, Harry and Ginny tried on clothes but didn't buy anything.

At the Three Broomsticks, they bought a large bag of Butterbeer from the pub owner Madam Rosmerta, and drank it on the go with straws.

The two even went to the legendary Hog's Head Pub.

They also spotted Ron and another man there.

Finding them among a crowd of people who are all wrapped up tightly is indeed easy.

It was at this time that Harry learned the secret of why Ron wanted to go to Devils-Bans.

"Hey buddy, you should ask around. Smoke Bomb sell really well at Hogwarts. Seventy-three percent isn't unreasonable."

"But I've heard that you agreed to a 50/50 split with other distributors."

"Then you may be ignorant. The other distributors you mentioned are my two twin brothers."

"You also have the surname Weasley?"

"I don't mind. As long as it's fifty-fifty, you can call me Devils Weasley. We can even change the shop name."

"You--!"

"You should know that I just spoke with Zonko's, right, Devis?"

"Alright, 70/30 it is." After a long conversation, the middle-aged man with a goatee opposite Ron finally agreed to the profit-sharing ratio.

Harry and Ginny looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Good heavens, Ron's here to talk business." Harry was surprised, wondering if he'd misheard.

That's not the problem.

The problem was, Ron had actually abandoned Fred and George and chosen to work with other people. Ginny was dumbfounded.

This is something that Ron's Wisdom simply couldn't have accomplished.

Just now, he seemed like a completely different person.

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