Ready

Chapter 42 Ready

Although it was a little past 9 a.m., when Ian pushed open the door and entered the bar, there were already quite a few customers inside. It wasn't crowded, but it was a bit noisy, and the warm hall was filled with smoke.

"Hey! Another new face, and a handsome Ravenclaw boy at that. Honey, every first-time Hogwarts student here gets a free drink, that's the rule. Of course, except for alcohol, since I don't want to receive a yelling letter from your mother."

Upon entering the bar, before Ian could even process what was happening, he heard a soft, alluring voice beside him. Only then did he realize that the bar owner, Rosmerta, was already standing next to him.

Ian only saw a woman with long, wavy blonde hair, a fair complexion, and a graceful figure. She was a truly voluptuous and mature woman, with only a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes indicating that she was no longer young.

With long eyelashes and violet lips, she was smiling, but Ian keenly noticed that there was an indifference deep in her eyes. Her serene sapphire blue eyes were as calm and deep as the ocean, and they gave Ian a subtle sense of danger.

Staring at someone is always impolite. Ian, snapping out of his daze, quickly said:

"Thank you for your generosity, ma'am. I'd like a glass of honey lemonade, two pumpkin pies, and a veal steak. I'll pay for the food."

"Ah! Another sharp little fellow. Wait a moment, you can find a seat first, the food will be ready soon."

Lady Rosmerta didn't say much. Even though the perceptive young wizard sensed something she was hiding, she still had her own bottom line. She wasn't a truly morally ambiguous person.

This is precisely why the three brooms have been able to stand strong for so many years and are accepted by people from all walks of life.

After watching the other person leave, Ian also found an empty table in the corner and sat down.

He wasn't surprised by the hint of danger emanating from Ms. Rosmerta. After all, this wasn't a fairy tale world. If someone didn't have some ability, they would have been crushed to dust long ago.

After a short wait, the veal steak and pumpkin pie were served, along with a large glass of honey lemonade. Ian devoured the food, rewarding his already rumbling stomach.

Nothing dramatic happened during that time, after all, Ian was well-versed in the ways of adult survival and understood that keeping a low profile was the rule of safety. He didn't ask too many questions, didn't listen too much, and didn't say too much, adhering to these "three no's" rule.

……

The food cost him 3 siestas and 7 nut. After paying the bill, Ian didn't linger in the three brooms. Instead, he chose to continue exploring Hogsmeade. There weren't many shops on the main street, which wasn't hard to understand, given the sheer number of wizards in the British wizarding world.

But even if the number is small, it is far more than the "three thousand people" that Rowling once answered.

Leaving aside all the wizards in the British Isles, Ian roughly deduced that Hogsmeade alone housed at least one or two thousand wizards.

After all, if there were no population, there would be no need for so many buildings and the corresponding land area. It's not a "ghost town," and nobody likes to play the game of building houses and leaving them empty.

Therefore, one day was simply not enough for Ian to visit all the shops. So he only selectively visited some of the places mentioned in the original work, which was also a way of reminiscing about his childhood.

……

Zonko's Joke Shop is a favorite haunt of Hogwarts students.

Ian was quite interested in going into this shop, which had a high turnover rate. It wasn't that he wanted to buy anything; as he had mentioned before, it was mainly out of a sense of nostalgia.

He was also curious about what was so captivating about these so-called magical joke props that fascinated so many young wizards, and he decided to take this opportunity to go inside and find out.

The shop was not far from the Three Brooms shop, separated only by a few houses. Its exterior was similar to the Honeydukes candy shop, with large transparent stained glass windows displaying all sorts of joke props.

Ian pushed open the door and went in, and the bell behind the door rang crisply.

Welcome!

Joko put down his newspaper, stood up from behind the counter, and greeted the guest with a smile. The man was a middle-aged wizard in his forties, with a friendly smile that made him instantly likeable.

The joke shop had a wide variety of goods. Ian walked to the window and looked at the interesting little gadgets.

"An automatic quill pen?" Ian murmured the name of the quill pen.

"This is a quill pen prepared to help you cope with subjects you hate. It can help you write out most of the questions."

Joko, like a competent salesman, humorously explained the functions of the quill pen to Ian.

"This is indeed a good thing."

Ian gave a casual reply, but inwardly he was unconvinced. He had no need for it whatsoever; he thoroughly enjoyed the pleasure of learning magic. So, trying to sell him this thing was as absurd as giving Hermione exam answer keys.

He then turned his gaze to the other side, where he saw a broom. Ian specifically looked at the description below—the Rampage Broom.

When a wizard tries to fly into the air on it, the broom will reverse, making the wizard head down. There are also five modes, including crazy spinning and sudden braking that throws people off.

This broom can fly up to 3 meters high! And this children's toy broom costs 17 Galleons!!!

Ian's lips twitched. He felt that the saying from his past life was true: money from women and children is the easiest money to earn.

Okay! The price is really a bit outrageous.

However, he also discovered that, putting aside the price issue, the various joke props here were quite unique and ingenious.

For example, there's the frog egg soap Ian saw, an unusual and surprising tool that makes things dirtier the more you wash with it. Then there's the biting teacup; if someone picks it up, it will suddenly bite their nose and spill hot tea when the owner isn't looking.

Next, Ian saw many familiar items: burp candy, wolf-tooth flying saucer, dung bomb, squeaky gummies, and so on.

Perhaps it was Joko's superior sales skills, or perhaps Ian simply couldn't bring himself to do it, but in the end he still chose to make a purchase, buying two bars of frog egg soap, a small box of squishy gummies, and three new speculums, spending less than 5 Galleons in total.

It's worth mentioning that the gold-plated semen microscope, which has a high gold content, is actually less expensive than the prank frog egg soap, which left Ian speechless.

……

In the following days, he bought a lot of daily necessities and furniture. When he passed by a herbal medicine shop, he also bought 200 pounds of dragon dung. He hadn't forgotten that he still had a small vegetable garden in the apocalypse. Since he came across such high-quality fertilizer as dragon dung, he might as well buy some.

They managed to buy everything they could think of before dusk. As for whether there were any other items they forgot, Ian said they could just come back to buy them next time, since no one can be completely thorough.

After returning to Hogwarts, Ian replenished some supplies in the kitchen.

This time, he chose more vegetables, meat, and fruits. Although they cannot be stored for a long time, he has already connected to the power supply in the apocalypse and has a refrigerator that he bought for free in the mall. These foods can be stored for at least a week without any problem.

Ian was mainly thinking of Eileen. He could travel back and forth every month, and with his wizard physique, a month of simple meals might not be a problem, but Eileen probably wouldn't be able to. A long-term diet of the same food would cause nutritional imbalances. It might be fine in the short term, but various problems would arise in the long run.

Besides, these aren't really troublesome things; they're just a matter of lifting a finger or saying a few words. In the monotonous and dull life of the apocalypse, having someone to accompany you is quite a difference compared to being alone.

Because his return was purposeful, Ian had already borrowed many books from the library, intending to spend this month studying alchemy.

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(End of this chapter)