When Lin Ze took the girl out of the port, he looked back at the increasingly blurry outlines of the warehouses behind him.
He greeted all the eighteen generations of Mr. K ancestors in his heart.
What is Karkaroff hiding in the basement of the port warehouse, and you get what you pay for...
Not even a fucking ghost.
Oh, no, at least there is this little mute following him, wrapped in his cloak, walking forward through the deep snow, one foot shallow, one foot shallow... No, he is no longer a mute...
Lin Ze stopped and turned around to look at the girl.
The girl also stopped, raised her head and looked at him with her lake-green eyes.
"What... is your name?"
"Aila." The girl's voice was still very small.
"What's your last name?"
Aila shook his head.
"Don't know what your last name is?"
Aila nodded.
"Then your parents..."
"My... mother... died when I was very young." Aila lowered his head and looked at his toes.
"Who are those people?"
"Uncle Agnar... he... took me in... he is my mother's friend..."
"Uncle Agnar? Is he the one who made you lie outside in the cold?"
Aila nodded.
Lin Ze looked at Aila's thin body and swallowed back what he wanted to say.
Forget it, this girl's life is already miserable enough, there's no need to say anything sarcastic.
"Let's go." Lin Ze turned around and continued walking forward.
"Go... where?" Aila jogged to keep up with him, the hem of his cloak trailing in the snow, making it look like he was wearing a floor-length skirt.
"Find a place to stay first. Do you know of a hotel somewhere?"
"Hotel?"
"It's a place where you can sleep and eat."
"Oh... Yes." Aila nodded, and then pointed to the left.
"There is one over there, Uncle Agnar often goes there when he is drunk, and the boss inside will beat him up the next day."
Lin Ze:"..."
What the hell kind of recommendation is this...
"Anything else?"
Aila tilted his head and thought for a while, then pointed forward. "There is a restaurant just ahead. The proprietress is a fat aunt. She often gives out free hot soup to the dock workers, and occasionally gives me a bowl."
Lin Ze breathed a sigh of relief, "Then go to this place."
The two of them walked along the main street of Tromsø amid the flying snowflakes.
Warm yellow light shines from the windows of the wooden houses on both sides of the street, white smoke rises from the chimneys, and there is a faint smell of grilled fish in the air.
When Lin Ze smelled this smell, his stomach immediately growled. The sound was so loud that even Aila walking behind him heard it.
The girl gently pulled Lin Ze's sleeve. "Are you... hungry?"
"No." Lin Ze said calmly.
As soon as he finished speaking, his stomach growled again.
Aila took out the two oranges that Lin Ze had given her before from her pocket, hesitated for a moment, then stood on tiptoes and raised the oranges in front of Lin Ze.
"Here you go... eat."
Lin Ze looked down at the two oranges that had been frozen hard, and then looked at Aila's serious lake-green eyes.
"You can keep it to yourself. The hotel will be here soon."
"Oh." Aila stuffed the orange back into his pocket and continued to drag his cloak behind Lin Ze.
After walking for about ten minutes, they finally found the hotel Aila mentioned.
There is a faded wooden sign hanging on the door of the hotel, which reads "Northern Lights Inn" in Norway.
Lin Ze Pushing the door open, the smell of grilled fish hit your face.
The first floor of the hotel was a tavern, with several crooked wooden tables scattered around. An old man with a gray beard sat in the corner, talking to himself over a glass of beer.
Standing behind the bar was a stocky middle-aged woman, wearing an apron stained with flour, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, exposing two thick arms.
When she heard the door knock, she raised her head, her eyes paused on Lin Ze, and then fell on Aila wrapped in a cloak behind him.
"Hey, isn't this little Aila?"
The landlady put her hands on her hips, "Did your drunkard uncle leave you outside again?"
Aila poked half of his head out from behind Lin Ze and nodded timidly.
"Who is this?" The landlady's eyes returned to Lin Ze, and she looked up and down with vigilance in her eyes.
"Staying in the hotel."
Lin Ze walked to the bar, took out a Galleon from his pocket and placed it on the counter. The moment he touched the Galleon, he smoothly erased the pattern on the Galleon.
"Give me a room with two beds. And get me some food, anything. It needs to be hot."
The lady boss looked down at the gold coin, picked it up, put it in her mouth, bit it, and then raised her eyebrows high.
"Gold?"
"Yes."
"Are you Asian?"
"Yes, but I am currently registered as Britain."
The landlady stared at him for a while, then put the gold coins into her apron pocket, took out a copper key from under the bar and slapped it on the counter.
"Turn left on the second floor and take the first room. I'll bring you something to eat in a moment."
"Thank you."
Lin Ze picked up the key and walked towards the stairs.
After walking a few steps, he found Aila still standing in the same place, so he turned around.
"What are you doing standing still? Come up here."
Aila seemed to have been pressed by some switch, and immediately followed him, dragging his cloak and thumping.
"Hey, sir." The landlady suddenly shouted.
"What?" Lin Ze stopped and looked back at her.
"No matter what you want to do, offending her uncle is not a good idea." The lady boss pointed at Aila.
Aila's head is lower.
"Haha, it's okay. I am Aila's distant cousin. I came here to pick her up. Thank you for reminding me." Lin Ze grinned.
You can't tell the boss lady that Aila's uncle can no longer cause trouble for him, right?
The hotel room is not big and is quite clean.
Two iron-framed beds were placed against the wall, separated by a crooked bedside table with a kerosene lamp placed on the cabinet.
The window faced the port, and through the frost-covered glass one could see the lights of a few fishing boats on the sea in the distance.
Lin Ze took off his coat and hung it on the hook behind the door, then sat down on the bed by the window.
The mattress squeaked and the springs hurt his buttocks.
Aila stood at the door, looking at everything in the room at a loss.
Her eyes glanced back and forth on the empty bed several times, and then she looked down at the dirty tattered blanket on her body, hesitating and not daring to go inside.
"That's your bed." Lin Ze pointed to the other bed.
"I... I'm dirty..." Aila whispered.
"Oh... then go take a shower and ask the landlady where the bathroom is."
"I... don't have any clothes to change..."
"Okay, okay, let me think about it..." Lin Ze took out his wand and thought about it.
Then he waved his magic wand at a sheet on the bed, and the sheet flew into the air and started Transfiguration.