"Absolutely not, Mr. Moody!"
The freckles on the young waiter's face trembled along with his quivering cheeks, and several finger marks appeared on the whole lemon in his hand. Still, he did not back away, speaking fearfully but firmly,
"You caught the murderer who killed my mother! You're my benefactor! Why would I poison you?"
"Hmph-"
Moody abruptly put away his terrifying, threatening expression and revealed a smile that looked even scarier-as though a dead piece of wood had suddenly sprouted a twisted face and announced that it wanted to be your friend.
"Not bad! You've got a tenth of the backbone your mother had when she was young!"
The waiter, who had not been frightened off before, was truly scared this time.
The lemon in his hand was utterly crushed, juice dripping onto the ground through the small cut in its skin. It took him several seconds to react before he blushed and said, "Ah... ah... thank you!"
Brian and Professor Burbage, who had thought they were about to witness a magical assault, stopped and exchanged glances. They had already entered the open-air restaurant and were only a few steps from Moody's table. Another waiter, who was free, noticed the two guests arriving, came out from behind the counter, and approached with a smile to show them to their seats.
"Merry Christmas! What would you like to eat?"
The older waiter said warmly, "Pasta, pizza-both specially made for wizards. They'll give you quite a surprise."
Having just stuffed a hot dog into his stomach, Brian asked Professor Burbage, who had drunk two large cups of hot coffee in succession, "Are you hungry, Charity?"
"No, but I'm very interested in the man widely acknowledged by today's wizards as the finest Auror-especially since he's about to become Hogwarts' Professor of Defense