Chapter 371: Hogsmeade Weekend
Michael felt that if he refused a girl's invitation, she would be very embarrassed, so he accepted.
In truth, Michael had always maintained good relationships with many girls, and Padma knew this. But for some reason, this time Padma was furious. After a huge argument, she even suggested they break up.
Michael tried to act nonchalant, shrugging and saying, "You know, arguments are normal in a relationship. We just both need to cool down."
Wade handed Filch the application form and nodded and smiled at the caretaker.
"Approved."
After they walked out the main doors, Wade asked Michael, "So, how did you feel when you heard Padma say that silly 'Charlie' was cute?"
Michael fell silent, his face slightly drawn, his lips pressed into a thin line.
"Think about it, Michael," Wade said. "I remember you telling me once that you saw Padma in the Mirror of Erised... Don't forget what you truly want."
Michael climbed sullenly into the carriage, then saw Wade looking ahead, reaching out to touch something in the air.
He knew it was a Thestral, but no matter how hard he squinted, he could only see empty air.
A moment later, Neville hurried onto the carriage, accompanied by Hermione.
"Ah, good thing there were still carriages left," Neville said thankfully. "I forgot today was Hogsmeade Weekend. Good thing Hermione called out to me when she left."
"Hermione?" Michael asked curiously. "You didn't go with Harry and Ron?"
Despite a rocky start, after more than two years, Hermione had formed a solid trio with Harry and Ron. After all, they were all in the same house, and any conflicts had mostly resolved through their constant interaction.
"Don't even mention it!" Hermione said crossly. "I don't want to hear Ron's name today!"
Michael looked up at the sky, watching intently, and the others couldn't help but look up too.
"What are you looking at?" Wade asked, puzzled, seeing a cloudless sky with not even a bird in sight.
"I'm trying to see today's moon phase—" Michael said profoundly. "Is today some special day? Everyone seems to be in a bad mood."
Neville took him seriously. He looked at the sky again and said earnestly, "But—there's no moon in the sky right now!"
The grim-faced Hermione couldn't help but let out a little laugh.
Then she explained why.
Hermione had bought a cat this year as a pet and named it Crookshanks. Although the cat's appearance was far from cute, Hermione adored it.
Ever since Scabbers turned into a bald man, Ron had kept his distance from rodents.
Last Christmas, Wade had given everyone a Magic Golem Pet. Ron's was a teacup dog, about the size of a mouse, but it was well-behaved and cute, and it could roll over and fetch things, so it was naturally Ron's pride and joy.
Yesterday, when they returned from class, they saw Crookshanks holding the teacup dog in its mouth, as if trying to bite it.
Ron completely forgot it was a golem and rushed over to snatch his pet from the cat's mouth, yelling at Crookshanks to get away.
Hermione, however, unhesitatingly chose to defend her cat:
"You scared him, Ron! They were just playing, and the golem wouldn't get hurt anyway!"
One thought the other was overreacting, and the other thought the other wasn't controlling their pet. The surrounding students watched them argue but just laughed.
Everyone else found it amusing, but the people involved didn't.
Ron was so angry he didn't speak to Hermione all day. When it was time to go to Hogsmeade Village today, he dragged Harry and a few other boys and left first.
Hermione didn't have great relationships with most of the girls in Gryffindor, and she wasn't one to curry favor. So, she deliberately dawdled that morning, waiting for everyone else to leave before she set off.
Finally, she passed through the Common Room and only saw Neville, who thought Hogsmeade Weekend was tomorrow.
Michael, like most other students, felt their argument was a bit of an overreaction, but at this moment, he was Hermione's friend, so he naturally sided with Hermione and joined in condemning Ron.
As they were talking, Wade suddenly asked, "Carlyle went to Hogsmeade too? Who signed his application form?"
"Carlyle?" Hermione thought for a long moment before saying, "I didn't notice, but he did submit an application... Professor McGonagall should know."
"It was Dumbledore," Neville suddenly mumbled. "I saw him when he passed by me."
"Dumbledore?" Michael asked, puzzled. "Is the Headmaster his guardian?"
"I don't know, there must be some reason, right?"
Hermione said casually, still angry at Ron.
Wade frowned slightly but said nothing.
—Dumbledore must have his reasons for arranging it this way.
Though Wade didn't understand, he couldn't say it was wrong.
...
"Want to hear your teeth chatter? Then you must try two Ice Mice! And this Super Bubblegum—I guarantee its bubbles will last at least five days!"
Flume, the owner of Honeydukes, was enthusiastically promoting his goods to the students. Seeing a student standing by, just looking but not buying, he understood something.
He brought out a basket of fragrant milky soft candies and enthusiastically distributed them to the students in the shop:
"These are samples of our new soft candies, unlike any flavors you've tasted before! Give them a try, children!"
A handful of candies was pressed into Carlyle's hand. He held twice as many candies as anyone else, looked up, and saw the shop owner smiling and nodding at him before distributing samples to other children.
Carlyle felt the few coins in his pocket and, with determination, pulled out a handful of Knuts. "I want to buy this lollipop."
Actually, when their group arrived in Britain, they had a significant amount of operating funds, both from the Wizarding World and the Muggle world.
However, the money, of course, wasn't on Carlyle. By the time the three others had either died or fled, and Carlyle was caught and brought back by Dumbledore, he only had a few Knuts on him.
Dumbledore gave Carlyle a pouch of money according to the school's standards for financially assisting impoverished students. But considering this was his funding for the entire semester, Carlyle naturally had to spend it sparingly.
"Bloody Lollipop?" the shopkeeper said. "This flavor is quite unusual; usually only Vampires like it. Are you sure you want to buy it?"
"I want to try it," Carlyle insisted.
A few minutes later, Carlyle, sucking on the intensely bloody-flavored lollipop, restrained himself from looking at the necks of the surrounding students and curiously observed the buildings around him.
Last time, they had hidden very close to Hogsmeade but hadn't had the chance to enter the village, only seeing a small area through the lens of a Streaming Mirror.
But Hogsmeade today was different. It was packed with Hogwarts students, and all the shops displayed their best merchandise to welcome these guests.
Because of this, there were also many tourists in the village, some of whom were parents who had specifically come to visit their children.
As it was Halloween Eve, the entire street was filled with Halloween decorations. Giant pumpkins were everywhere, and many windows displayed pale skeletons.
A ghost disguised itself as a Teru Teru Bozu, dangling and swaying under the eaves. Occasionally, it would suddenly let out a loud shout, startling the nearby students.
There were also groups of magical bats circling in the street. The students watched happily, at most occasionally bending down to dodge the flying bats.
Some bats hung under the eaves, like a silent wind chime. Presumably, the Halloween atmosphere would be even stronger here at night.
Seeing the decorative bats, Carlyle scoffed with a smile, lowered his head, and crunched loudly on his lollipop.
Without paying attention, he bumped head-on into a pedestrian on the road.
"Sorry," Carlyle apologized, not really paying much mind, and was about to walk past the person and continue on his way.
As they passed each other, the other person suddenly said, "Is 'sorry' all you have to say?"
The husky voice sounded somewhat familiar, and it carried a slight smile.
Carlyle abruptly looked up, seeing a man with unusually pale skin standing before him, smiling as he looked at Carlyle.
The man had a distinct tattoo on his face, perhaps why he wore a large hood that concealed his features.
Carlyle immediately showed a look of surprise. Just as he was about to speak, the man put a finger to his lips and gently shook his head.
Carlyle closed his mouth and simply followed behind the man, winding through the streets until they reached a quiet corner of the village.
It was very secluded here. The surrounding houses were nestled among the trees, and the hustle and bustle of the shopping street were almost completely inaudible.
As they approached, the door of one house suddenly swung open. A slightly plump woman in a long grey dress with her hair tied up hurried out, looking at Carlyle with a delighted expression.
She covered her mouth, crying tears of joy. "Oh, thank goodness... Carlyle, you're alive..."
Carlyle could no longer hold back and rushed forward to embrace her. "Mom—"
The tattooed man looked left and right, then ushered them inside. "Let's talk inside. There are British Wizard spies everywhere here."
Stepping into the house, Carlyle asked, both surprised and delighted, "Dad, Mom, how did you end up in Hogsmeade?"
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