Chapter 627
Black Dog Following
Chapter 627 Black Dog Following
"Pay attention to the rotation of your wrists and imagine that you are stroking the tentacles of a jellyfish... Of course, I don't recommend that you actually do this..."
"Di--"
The kettle in the kitchen made a sharp chirping sound, and Sirius waved his wand to move the kettle away from the fire, and then continued his teaching.
"Erecto Bulbus (bubble head appears immediately). When reciting this spell, Erecto should be slightly prolonged and the last syllable should be stressed. The most important thing is to keep your breathing steady. Your nervousness will make the bubbles as fragile as soap bubbles."
Sirius recited the spell, and a spherical bubble immediately appeared on his head. In an instant, his head seemed to have grown several times larger.
Harry suppressed his laughter and repeated, "Erecto Bulbus!"
A crooked transparent bubble appeared above his head, and before it lasted a few seconds, it burst with a "pop".
His heart sank, but Sirius clapped his hands happily, "Excellent, Harry! I didn't expect you to be able to perform it successfully on your first try!"
Harry smiled immediately, and then took the initiative to analyze: "I think my gesture just now seems to be wrong, a little too stiff..."
The two practiced for the whole morning until the bubble finally looked like a glass ball, and Sirius signaled Harry to stop.
"Don't worry, there's still more than a month left! You'll definitely be able to master this spell before the competition begins."
Sirius patted Harry's shoulder and said with a smile, "How about taking a break and going out for a couple of drinks?"
Harry naturally wouldn't refuse.
"Moony, I'm taking Harry to the Three Broomsticks. Will you come with us?" Sirius shouted to the next room as he went out.
Then, the upstairs window opened, and Lupin stuck his head out and waved his hand: "You guys go ahead, I still have some work to do!"
As they crunched through the village, Sirius complained to Harry:
"This guy doesn't even take a break on Christmas. Wade didn't ask him to work overtime on holidays! He has a lot of work to do and he doesn't have any free time at home. He hasn't gone out for drinks with me for a long time."
……
The wooden door of the Three Broomsticks was blown open by the cold wind, bringing in a burst of flying snowflakes.
Madame Rosmerta, who was putting a few more logs on the fireplace, turned and looked over at the sound.
She frowned when she saw Sirius, then smiled when she saw that only Harry was beside him.
"Look who's here? The famous Harry Potter, one of the three brave warriors of Hogwarts!"
Madam Rosmerta looked around Harry and smiled, "Why? Didn't Cedric Diggory and Weed Grey sneak out of the castle together?"
Harry panicked and looked around quickly. Seeing that there were only two drunk customers in the store, he felt relieved.
Sirius laughed and put his arm around Harry's shoulders: "Let him go, Rosmerta! It's so hard for this child to come out and breathe!"
"Would you like something to drink?" Mrs. Rosmerta asked with a smile.
"Two butterbeers with honey." Sirius pulled out the high stool and placed a few silver coins on the counter. He said, "Oh, and a piece of chocolate cauldron cake for my warrior."
After a while, Rosmerta brought beer and cake, with a cup of cream ice cream on the side.
"This is a free gift for you, Harry." Madam Rosmerta blinked. "You looked so handsome when you defeated that Durmstrang warrior! The whole bar cheered for you!"
"Thank...thank you." Harry said with a blushing face.
After Madam Rosmerta left, Sirius took a sip from his glass and said with a smile, "I heard that you cheated on Michael and danced with the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts?"
Harry almost spit out all the wine in his mouth. He raised his head, looked at Sirius in horror and asked, "What did you say?"
"...It seems not." Sirius sighed regretfully and said, "Hermione, Padma, there are so many good girls, why didn't you catch any of them?"
As he was talking, he suddenly felt that it sounded familiar. Hmm... those old guys hanging on the wall in the Black mansion seemed to be urging him to get married in the same way?
At this moment, he finally understood the feelings of the old guys, but he did not intend to bury himself in the grave of marriage.
Harry blushed and said, "Padma and Michael broke up a long time ago... and they are all just friends of mine. She agreed to be my dance partner because she couldn't bear to see me embarrassed... Let's talk about the Bubble Head Curse, shall we?"
Sirius laughed.
The snow outside the window was falling heavier and heavier. Sirius ordered another glass of Firewhisky, and while Harry was still eating cake, the door of the bar was pushed open again.
"I'm already selling off my family property. I'll be able to pay back part of it next week. As for the remaining 30%, it may take me two months to get it together..."
Ludo Bagman's voice sounded like a sun-kissed mead barrel, and Harry could recognize it even through a door.
He turned around in surprise, and through the gap between the Christmas trees he saw Bagman and old Barty walk in one after another.
"A hot gin!" Bagman ordered first. "And honey and lemon for me. What do you want, Barty?"
"Soda water."
Old Barty sat down with a stern face, and every line on his face was cold and hard, as if he didn't want to talk to Bagman at all, but had to sit with him.
"Thank you, old friend. I knew you were willing to give me a chance!" Bagman seemed not to feel the other party's rejection and said enthusiastically, "I swear, I will pay you back. I just need a little time..."
"How weird..." Harry muttered under his breath.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.
"Weid saw them arguing before..."
Harry cast a silencing spell around him, then briefly described what he had heard from Wade, saying:
"Crouch actually let Bagman go like that? I thought he wasn't the kind of person who would show favoritism!"
Sirius sneered, "Crouch doesn't have the power to put anyone in Azkaban now! And Fudge... in his eyes, power and reputation are more important than anything else."
He took a big sip of wine, squinted his eyes and looked at the two people over there, and said:
"The most important thing for the British Ministry of Magic right now is the Magic Schools League. If it were to be revealed at this time that the referee had organized gambling, how big a scandal would that be? No matter what, Fudge will help Bagman suppress this matter. No matter how much Crouch insists, it will be useless!"
Harry put his fork down, feeling nauseous.
"But surely it's not just Professor Trelawney who's been harmed, right? Doesn't the Ministry care at all?"
"That's it." Sirius laughed sarcastically, "Don't expect too much from those guys, Harry, otherwise you will suffer a great loss sooner or later."
After a pause, he urged again: "Okay, finish your meal quickly and go back to school, otherwise if a reporter catches you sneaking out of Hogwarts, you'll be in trouble!"
In fact, Sirius knew very well that there were no reporters wandering around the village at the moment, but Harry did not know that, and he felt a pang of fear when he thought of the nonsense that Rita Skeeter had said on paper.
Although for some reason those words did not appear in the newspaper, they were like a sword hanging over his head, always making Harry feel nervous and fearful.
After quickly finishing their meal, Sirius escorted Harry all the way home and watched him leave through the Vanishing Cabinet before turning around and walking back to the Three Broomsticks Bar.
He hid in the alley and watched Bagman and Old Barty come out of the bar, whispering about various matters related to the second project as they walked.
Sirius narrowed his eyes, and that familiar, targeted sharpness returned to those grey eyes.
A moment later, a black dog hid in the shadows and followed the two people silently. Although his body was huge, he was able to cleverly hide himself from other people's sight.
Soon after, the two people in front separated.
The black dog thought about it and let Bagman, whom Harry regarded as a "criminal", go, and instead quietly followed the "upright" old Barty Crouch.
(End of this chapter)