Hogsmeade

Chapter 41 Hogsmeade

Walking along the quiet path outside the castle gate, you soon arrive at the famous Hogsmeade. The buildings are all in the medieval style, as if you have traveled back in time to hundreds of years ago.

In short, this is a beautiful little village full of exotic charm.

Since it was early morning, many shops were not yet open, but Ian didn't care at all. He had originally planned to come here to relax and stroll around, so he walked and admired the various unique buildings around him.

Soon they arrived at the main street of Hogsmeade. Compared to the previous deserted scene, almost all the shops on both sides of the road were now open for business.

Ian looked up at the nearest shop, Gladrgs Wizardwear.

Without much thought, he pushed open the door and went inside. Although he didn't have a strong intention to buy anything, that didn't stop him from browsing around. After all, it was a well-known brand clothing store in the wizarding world, with branches in London and Paris.

The small room was neatly arranged with various new clothes. It's worth mentioning that they also sell all kinds of strangely styled socks. In the original book, Harry bought some weirdly styled socks here to give to his house-elf Dobby.

Welcome!

A crisp, slightly surprised voice rang in Ian's ears. It was the only sales clerk in the store, a thin woman who looked young and had freckles all over her face. She probably didn't expect to have customers so early.

"Good morning, ma'am. I'm just browsing, so don't worry about me. I'll let you know if I need anything."

You might often encounter this kind of situation in the shops of Hogsmeade. Looking at Ian in his plain sky-blue robe, you can't help but think that he's a Hogwarts student strolling around on the weekend.

So the sales clerk didn't say much, only replying softly, "Okay, please feel free."

As Ian wandered around, he looked at the store's furnishings. Compared to Madam Malkin's Robe Shop, this place seemed much more refined.

Moreover, he discovered that although the clothing here was from a brand, the prices were very affordable, with no item costing more than 30 Galleons.

Compared to his cursory glance at the clothing section, Ian lingered longer at the shelves selling various socks, and a pair of noticeably thin white mid-length stockings caught his eye.

It wasn't some special quirk; it was just that I suddenly realized that after knowing her for so long, I hadn't given Hermione any gifts yet, considering she was one of the few friends he had at Hogwarts.

"Ma'am, please help me wrap this up, thank you."

Ian seemed to suddenly remember something and added, "One more in black, please, separately packaged, thank you."

The two pairs of socks together cost less than one Gallon, which was a very cheap purchase for Ian. After all, he had only spent the 1000 Gallons he exchanged for gold on the flying broomstick and nothing else.

After leaving the elegant clothing store, he headed straight for the Honey Duke candy store. He had to bring something back for his two roommates; it was the least he could do to show respect.

Honeydukes is a candy shop beloved by young wizards, so much so that it gets so crowded during the Christmas season that it's hard to move around.

This shop is also a favorite of the Weasley twins in the original story, because its cellar storage room hides a little-known secret passage leading to Hogwarts.

However, it was still early, so the place was empty.

"Good morning, child. Would you like some candy?"

"The shop owner, Ambrose Froome, asked softly."

A broad-shouldered, bald man. However, his wife mostly runs the business here, while he only goes out to buy supplies.

This gentleman also attended Hogwarts in his early years and was a member of Professor Slughorn's Slug Club. However, a series of changes later led him to settle here with his wife, Mrs. Froome, in 1983, where they opened this candy store.

In short, he is a man who has experienced great ups and downs.

"Good morning, sir. I need some not-too-strange candies. Do you have any recommendations?"

Ian was indeed a bit bewildered by the dazzling array of candies on the shelves. He knew all too well how much wizards loved candies with strange flavors, so he could only seek help from the shop owner.

"Oh, of course, there are actually a lot of normal candies here, some even approved by the Ministry of Magic to be given to Muggle friends. For example, these toffee gummies, licorice sticks, pear hard candies, and butter peanut brittle—they're all normal, with no weird flavors or exaggerated effects..."

As a person who prefers quiet, Ian had to interrupt his somewhat talkative boss, saying, "That's great, please pack some of everything for me, thank you!"

While the shopkeeper was packing up the goods, Ian casually strolled around the shop. The shop, which was decorated mainly in light red, looked to be at least 200 square meters in size.

However, because there were too many shelves, although it wasn't exactly oppressive, it felt as cramped as a small street-side shop.

Ian also discovered many interesting candies, such as: pink, glowing coconut ice cream, fruit syrup that floats in the air, and black pepper candy that breathes fire when eaten. There's also the most spectacular bubble gum, which supposedly fills the entire room with blue bellflower-colored bubbles that won't dissipate for days.

"It's all packed up, 15 SEEK."

Hearing the shop owner's voice, Ian walked straight to the counter, where four large brown paper bags were filled with candy.

As he paid, the shopkeeper across from him said, "We offer mailing service for orders over one Galleon, but only for Hogwarts. And if you need any sweets, you can write to an owl and have it delivered, and we can pack them up for you and have it take you back."

"Okay, sir. I understand, thank you for your kindness."

As Ian readily agreed, a thought flashed through his mind: "Should I buy myself an owl?"

When he first arrived, everything was in need of development, and he was constantly troubled by various problems.

Now that all the problems have been solved and everything is starting to move in a positive direction, it's time to consider these things, since humans are inherently social beings.

Even if he doesn't have many friends, he still needs an owl to write letters to each other, just in case.

With that in mind, Ian made up his mind to take advantage of today to buy them all at once.

……

The Hogsmeade Post Office is an owl-shaped post office located in Hogsmeade Village, and it's also the place where Ron and Hermione first visited Hogsmeade in the original books.

When Ian arrived, he immediately felt as if he had stepped into a magical zoo. There wasn't much space inside, and the shelves on both sides of the walls were filled with owls, from large eagle owls and barn owls to nimble little scops owls. He estimated there were at least two or three hundred different kinds of owls.

Although it's a post office, it also sells owls to wizards who need them.

Ian walked straight up to the witch behind the counter and said bluntly, "Hello, ma'am, I'd like to buy an owl."

The witch looked up and glanced at Ian.

"Are there any special requirements, such as suitability for long-haul flights? Or for carrying heavy packages? Or is it limited to mail delivery?"

"I don't have any other requirements, as long as it doesn't have any obvious weaknesses, and I also hope it's a bit clever."

Ian didn't know much about owls, so he stuck to the middle ground and chose one that didn't have any major flaws.

"Then choose the Grey Wood Owl. These little creatures are very clever. You don't even need to feed them; they can hunt small rodents like foxes and mice on their own. Moreover, they are very loyal to their owners, and most importantly, they don't have any obvious weaknesses in flying."

As the witch spoke, she pointed to a somewhat lazy owl on the left side of the prescription.

Ian also looked at the grey wood owl, with its light brown fluffy feathers, round head, and adorable eyes that kept glancing at Ian's hand, like a child waiting for candy from its parents.

"Okay, I'll take it. It's a very cute owl."

Ian was charmed by the owl and immediately decided to buy it.

"Okay, 15 Galleons, plus a cage and two bags of owl nuts."

Ian was prepared for the relatively high price, knowing that raising and training these mail-delivering owls was indeed quite troublesome.

This led to it being classified as a semi-luxury item, roughly equivalent to a new mobile phone in the previous life.

This is why Hogwarts has owl sheds and so many owl post offices, just like the shared telephone booths of the early 80s.

……

Ian, carrying the cage in one hand and the packaged candy in the other, casually walked out of the post office. After finding an inconspicuous corner and making sure it was well hidden, he stuffed everything into the infinitely expandable backpack.

By the time he finished all this, it was nearly 9 a.m. Perhaps because Ian had gone straight to Hogsmeade early in the morning, his stomach was already rumbling.

There are actually quite a few shops selling food in Hogsmeade, among which the more famous ones, mentioned in the original books, include the Three Broomsticks, the Hog's Head, and Madam Patiffe's Tea House.

Without much thought, Ian chose three brooms, not just to catch a glimpse of the famously beautiful and voluptuous Rosmerta.

More importantly, he knew that the latter two shops were somewhat shady: Pig Head Bar doubled as an underground black market, and Lady Patif's Tea House doubled as a couples' private room.

In conclusion, Ian ultimately chose the three brooms. This is a proper pub in the traditional sense, and almost every wizard who comes to Hogsmeade chooses to sit here for a while.

This also made Mrs. Rosmerta, the owner, have a very wide network of connections, truly reaching out to almost everyone from the Minister of Magic to the dark wizards of Knockturn Alley.

New book, please add to your favorites, recommend, and invest!

Thank you so much, dear readers! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

The seedlings cannot grow without your help and support~

(End of this chapter)