Lin Ze was chewing the second piece of ginger biscuits. The biscuits were indeed over-baked, and the aftertaste was a bit burnt and bitter.
He put the remaining half piece back on the plate.
"Then do you know that Muggle is checking this thing?"
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.
"You said 19 King Street."
Lin Ze was stunned for a moment. "Do you know that place?"
"Of course I know." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and formed a bridge with his fingers.
"I dealt with Dyson·Hargreaves once, about forty years ago, Muggle A kind of fog appeared in London that can swallow up memories. It seeped out from an old pipe under River Thames. Britain Ministry of Magic didn't notice it at all at the time, but it was the people from Dyson who discovered it first."
"You helped him then?"
"It's not really a help. I just told him where the weakness of the thing was. Later, he wrote me a letter and said he wanted to ask me to serve as a consultant for their small organization. I declined."
"Because I had just finished some trivial matters at that time, and Hogwarts was about to take over as the principal." Dumbledore said it matter of course.
"I don't think I'm fit to sit on the threshold of two worlds, with both butts occupied."
Lin Ze couldn't help laughing.
These words came out of Dumbledore's mouth as if they were joking.
"Then why do you think Muggles are investigating this matter now?"
"Little Hargreaves..." Dumbledore muttered this title, as if savoring something.
"I don't know, but I still advise you not to touch this so-called Veil. In the words of an old Eastern friend, there is great terror between life and death." Dumbledore blinked.
"Okay, then...Loch Ness East Coast, have you been there?"
Dumbledore glanced at the address and frowned.
"I haven't been there," he said.
"But I know a man who once lived there."
"Who?"
"My brother, Aberforth."
Lin Ze was stunned for a moment.
Aberforth was driven by Hogsmeade, and Hog's Head was driven by him. He knew this.
Loch Ness What's going on on the east coast?
"He stayed there for a while when he was young." Dumbledore's voice was calm, but Lin Ze noticed that his fingers curled slightly on his knees.
"It's just that our relationship hasn't been very good over the years. He didn't tell me what he was doing specifically. I only know that he was looking after something for someone."
"What?"
"I don't know." Dumbledore stood up, walked to Fawkes's perch, and stretched out his hand to smooth the feathers on the back of the phoenix's neck.
Fawkes narrowed his eyes comfortably, and a series of low gurgling sounds rolled out of his throat.
"If you want to go to Loch Ness, you can talk to Aberforth first." Dumbledore's voice was turned away from Lin Ze.
"But there's a good chance he won't look good on you." Dumbledore turned around with a faint bitter smile on his lips.
When Lin Ze came out from Hogwarts, it was already dark.
Hogsmeade The street lamps lit up one by one, and warm yellow light shone from the windows of various shops.
Two students in school uniforms were lying in front of Honeydukes's display window, with their noses pressed against the glass, staring blankly at the bloody lollipops that had just been put on the shelves.
Zonko's Joke Shop There was a string of Dungbomb hanging at the door that jumped out on its own. It was blown all over the ground by the passing wind, and a senior boy chased after it and hurriedly pounced on it.
Lin Ze stood at the door of Three Broomsticks for a while.
Madam Rosmerta waved to him through the glass showcase and motioned for him to come in and sit down.
Lin Ze hesitated for a moment, but still pushed the door open and went in.
The heating in the bar mixed with the smoke from the pine wood in the fireplace, blocking the cold and wet outside.
Several Hogwarts faculty members were sitting at the bar. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick occupied a table in the back. They each had a glass of sherry in front of them and were whispering something.
When Professor Flitwick saw Lin Ze, he raised his cup and gave a distant salute. Lin Ze smiled and returned the salute.
"Mead or Butterbeer?" Rosmerta wiped the bar with a rag.
"Butterbeer."
Lin Ze was sitting at the far back of the bar. When the wine was served, the layer of milk foam on top was still bubbling.
He took a sip, and the warm liquid warmed all the way from his throat to his stomach, and his whole body seemed to be smoothed from the inside out.
Just as I took my second sip, the high stool next to me was pulled away.
"I just said it looks like you."
It's Madam Hooch.
She didn't wear the flight instructor's old leather jacket today, but instead wore a dark green woolen coat. Her hair was pinned with a wooden hairpin, and she held a glass of steaming cherry liqueur in her hand.
"Madam Hooch." Lin Ze turned sideways.
"Just call me Rolanda. I stopped teaching you a long time ago." Madam Hooch sat down and looked him up and down.
"The last time I saw you was at the graduation ceremony. You were still a child then, but now you look like an adult."
"You haven't changed at all."
"It's changed. I have less and less time to ride a broom, and my knees are getting louder and louder." Madam Hooch shook the cup, and the heat of the sweet wine fogged up her lenses.
"You came to Hogwarts today to find Albus?"
"Well, let me ask something."
Madam Hooch laughed, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes folding together.
"You were like this when you were in school. When Charms asked questions in class, you had to ask Flitwick until you ran out of words."
Lin Ze was a little embarrassed by what she said, so he lowered his head and took a sip of wine.
The firewood in the fireplace crackled twice, and sparks flew up the flue.
A few more students pushed the door open and came in. They crowded to the bar and ordered Butterbeer. Rosmerta took out a stack of clean glasses from under the bar and placed them one by one.
"Lin Ze." Madam Hooch suddenly lowered his voice.
"Huh?"
"Does what you are investigating have anything to do with Hogwarts?"
Lin Ze turned to look at her.
Madam Hooch stared at the floating lemon peel in his cup and said in a casual tone, "It's nothing, I just asked casually."
Lin Ze shook his head. "No."
Madam Hooch nodded and did not ask any further questions.
She drank the last sip of the sweet wine in her glass, got off the high stool, and patted the hem of her coat.
"Okay, I have to go back. You drink slowly. I paid for the drink."
"No need..."
"Stop talking nonsense, it's just a matter of Sickle." Madam Hooch waved his hand towards the bar, Rosmerta nodded understandingly, and turned around to greet other guests.
Madam Hooch walked to the door and looked back at Lin Ze.
"Lin Ze."
"Hmm."
"If what you check one day has anything to do with Hogwarts, tell me in advance. Although I am a flight instructor, I may not know less about things in the castle than Dumbledore."
She pushed the door open and went out. The cold wind rushed in and was blocked by the door panel for a moment.
Lin Ze was sitting in front of the bar, staring at the already cold Butterbeer in the cup, there was something in her words.