Hogsmeade.
Its former quiet was long gone. Even now, after nightfall, beneath the high-hanging moon, the newly built stone-paved streets were packed with visitors from every country. Calling it shoulder-to-shoulder would be no exaggeration.
The delegates attending the International Confederation of Wizards had naturally not arrived alongside the participants in the Five-Wizard Tournament. They had come earlier, trickling in over the past several days.
And when these foreign wizards saw a town inhabited entirely by wizards, so splendid and magnificent, they were naturally awestruck.
Never mind the buildings that resembled a magical kingdom from a fairy tale-even the squads of sharp, capable Purple-Robed Wizarding Police patrolling the streets made many a conceited visitor silently admire them. The Ministry of Magic in England really is powerful.
Neat, orderly, and full of life.
That was the strongest impression the new Hogsmeade left on wizards from every country.
Some wizards accustomed to looking scruffy were so ashamed that they hurried into a shop called Beyond the Ordinary Robes. Before long, they emerged feeling thoroughly welcomed, dressed in exquisite new wizarding robes.
Some delegates, treating the visit as a holiday, had brought their families along. Once they arrived, their children went completely wild.
They darted in and out of sweet shops, magical joke shops, broomstick shops, and more, carrying more than their hands could hold and constantly stuffing their mouths.
The children were delighted, though their parents' wallets suffered for it.
Hogsmeade also had all sorts of entertainment venues catering to adult wizards, such as pubs and restaurants, which were now packed as well.
But all of that was small-time. Hogsmeade had two enormous stores that could truly be called its two great money-devouring beasts.
Without the signs over their entrances, people might have mistaken them for palaces. They really were that grand and