Ravenclaw's Blue Gem

"But the reputation of the screaming shack was only a few decades away, but those horrible howlings lasted for several years. Do you think there was a monster here that took a short rest and finally left? Now?" Zoe's eyes shone, she always likes these weird things.

"Perhaps." Draco obviously didn't seem interested in the legend here.

Chapter 35 Three Broomsticks

Hermione pushed open the door of the three broomsticks angrily. As soon as she entered the bar, she felt very comfortable. The roaring wind outside was cut off by the thick doors and windows, and the fire inside the house was burning.The bar is very noisy, and the whole bar is almost half filled.Most of the guests found a table to enjoy the drinks in their hands comfortably, only a small wizard chose to sit in front of the bar.

Hermione wanted to find a table first, but she suddenly realized that she had chosen three broomsticks to wait for someone, so she hurried to the bar and found a seat in the corner.

"What do you plan to drink, the little guy who met for the first time?" The woman who was busy at the bar walked over and asked enthusiastically.Hermione noticed that this woman was very beautiful and had a graceful figure. Even though she seemed to be quite young, she still had a mature and seductive charm.

"Uh, would you please have a hot butter beer, madam," Hermione added, "you know it's still cold outside."

"No problem, my Butterbeer has always been well received, especially in the weather like a knife." The lady quickly prepared a big glass of warm Butterbeer and pushed it to Hermione. , She saw Hermione’s uncomfortable eyes and proactively said: "I am the owner of this small bar, you can call me Rosemerta. Is this the first time in Hogsmeade, Gryffindor’s little boy? Guy?"

"Ah, yes...Thank you for your butterbeer, Ms. Rosmerta." He took a big sip, feeling the cold body immediately warming up.She found that Rosmerta helped her reduce the alcohol content, which made this glass of Butterbeer more of an alcoholic beverage. "You are such a careful person."

"It's nothing. I host many children like you here every year. And Minerva once protested to me, saying that I induced her students to drink alcohol-since then I will pay special attention to changing the alcohol content for you. , I don't want to get into any trouble." Rosmerta smiled.

"Really delicious, ma'am." Hermione nodded gratefully at her.Rosmerta brought her a small plate of snacks and went back to work on her own affairs.

Hermione sipped a drink while looking at the bar.As one of the hallmarks of Hogsmeade, the three broomsticks are often the first choice of tourists and students who come to play. The whole building is obviously a warm and comfortable decoration. It is very suitable for friends to sit and talk. , Even dating between lovers, but in any case, it is not suitable for a single person.

When she thought of this, there was another embarrassment in her heart.She had been in conflict with Ron because of Crookshanks and Shaban during this time, because Crookshanks seemed to be staring at the prey, as long as Shasha appeared in its vision, it would desperately Go and catch it, scaring Scattered everywhere-it was also very noisy a few days ago, alarming the whole lounge.Ron was very angry, because Shaban was his pet, and even though he always said that this mouse had such shortcomings, he still cherished it.

The sinister atmosphere of the two men was eased because Harry could not come to Hogsmeade. They needed to comfort him instead of quarreling on their own, because Harry’s uncle and aunt did not sign his application form, which means he There was no way to come to Hogsmeade, it was a serious blow, and Harry's loss made the two of them shake hands temporarily.

But the peace only lasted for a short time, when Hermione told Ron that she had to act with Zoe in the afternoon.She knew that the two boys were separated from Zoe, after all, Zoe had always been hostile to them, and always ridiculed them.It's just that Harry seems to be more tolerant and gentle towards Zoe, and Ron has always been a little scheming boy who doesn't know how to restrain his emotions.

She and Ron had a very serious quarrel. In the previous conversation between the two of them that the smell of gunpowder became stronger, Ron forgot to pay attention to his wording and said some ugly and rude things about Zoe, although it was not insulting. , But it was enough to irritate Hermione—to know that in Hogwarts, except for the two boys, Zoe was her only friend of the same sex.

Ron was incomprehensible at Hermione’s yelling. He felt that Hermione just wanted to fight, and it didn’t matter whether the fuse was Zoe Segal or not. He was fed up with her self-righteousness. It's like she always likes to defend her cat, not only trying to find a justification for her cat's behavior, but also disregarding the encounter of Zebra, preferring his pet to be killed by that crazy cat.

The two men were completely submerged in their anger, putting aside rationality and restraint, and their voices became more and more intense.Finally, when everything reached the peak, they also chose to part ways with each other.

"Okay, go find that Siegel and go shopping happily with her hand in hand! Anyway, you top students can just hug together and discuss advanced spells by the way. This is definitely better than treating us fools. Being together can make you so much more enjoyable! As for Harry’s gift, I’ll pick it myself!" Ron roared, his face and ears flushed, "I think you really want to be assigned to Ravenclaw. Right!"

"Of course I will go. Zoe has never been so ignorant of being considerate of others like you. At least I am very happy with her! And I'm glad that you can finally recognize who you are, Ron, you are ignorant. Big stupid donkey!" Hermione sneered sternly. She did not hesitate to look at the surprise of the people around her and roared, "I am extremely proud of being a Gryffindor. But if I can choose again, I think so, I should really want to go to Ravenclaw, at least I won’t meet someone there who will make me angry!"

They stopped yelling at the same time, panting and glaring at each other face to face.Hermione's lips trembled, and she glared at Ron and saw him clenching her fists.After a long time, "Well, I think we should all calm down." She said indifferently.

"Huh!" Seeing that Ron agreed with her, the two separated in opposite directions.

*****

Even if time goes back, Hermione feels that she will still conflict with Ron, but that doesn't mean she won't feel lost because of this incident.She concentratedly drank the butterbeer in her hand, when Rosmerta had just finished wiping the glass, and walked up to her again.

Rosmerta seemed to be desperate to find someone to chat with, she walked to Hermione's side with a mysterious smile: "How about it, do you want another drink?"

"It's really delicious, ma'am." Hermione smiled shyly. "I'm glad to have another drink."

Rosmerta was full for her. She did not leave immediately this time, but moved closer to Hermione, half of her body covered her left line of sight, and pointed her finger at another customer who had been drinking silently at the bar.

"What kind of person do you think this is?"

She saw Hermione's face full of confusion, and continued: "You know that most of my side will be decent people. They don't have to cover their faces. Generally, people who like to cover up will go to the other side of the street. Pig's head bar."

"Maybe it's just that he feels the need? Madam, I mean he may just have a reason to wrap himself... such as today's climate."

"Perhaps, but then we will lose some interesting conversation resources." Rosmerta said, "I tried to communicate with him before, but he felt too withdrawn, and he didn't even want to laugh at the treasured jokes I brought out. Le. Do you think he will be Sirius?"

"Wh, what?" Hermione was stunned, wondering why she suddenly said this.

"Sirius Black, he can be regarded as the best conversation this time." Rosmerta said, while taking a snack from Hermione's table. "Although these dementors wandering in Hogsmeade really It’s too annoying—my business has dropped by at least 40% because of these guys—but the minister said he didn’t want to withdraw these guys. I think it must be because the people in the ministry found Sirius nearby. He might be hiding among us...You don’t seem to be surprised by this news."

She looked at Hermione with interest: "I have the habit of subscribing to the Daily Prophet, madam." But Hermione knew that her explanation was pale and weak, because the Daily Prophet never stated that The destination of Sirius, plus the Ministry of Magic always put some smoke bombs on it, to confuse Sirius's judgment if he really read this newspaper.

But Ron's father, Arthur Weasley, happened to be an official of the Ministry of Magic, and Harry had passed by the Weasleys’ room in the middle of the night and heard them discussing it.Sirius Black, as a faithful believer of the mysterious man, wanted to break into Hogwarts and kill Harry. Isn't this boy who ruined his master and his future for granted?

Not to mention that they were in Azkaban and heard the words "He is at Hogwarts...he is at Hogwarts..." in Sirius's mouth. All of these, Hermione and Ron, were from Harry's mouth. Having heard of it, Mr. Weasley finally told him something. She knew far more than others, so she wouldn't be surprised by Rosmerta's inferences.

"I still don't think he is Sirius, ma'am." Hermione unconsciously brought out the aggressive attitude she had in the debate. "Just from his height and size, it's totally different. If he was Disguised himself-for example, after drinking the compound decoction, he could step into the bar generously, instead of wrapping himself up so bloated, which would only arouse others' suspicion..." She was very serious. "Finally, if there is a bar for suspicious people down the street, as you said, why did he choose to hang out here?"

After she finished speaking, she found Rosmerta looking at her with a smile, as if her serious speeches could bring her enough fun.Hermione suddenly felt a little embarrassed again, and she lowered her head and drank a gulp of hot butterbeer to avoid meeting Rosemerta's eyes.

"Relax, dear, don't stretch yourself so tight." Rosmerta said, "We are just talking about a random and interesting topic. Of course I know he can't be Sirius, just want to tease you. Have fun-I know what that face is like under the robe."

Her smile suddenly became weird, as if she thought the topic was ridiculous.

"After all, no matter how depraved Sirius is, it is impossible to make himself a house elf."

Chapter 36 The Elf Crocker

"House elf?" Hermione's exaggerated response pleased Rosmerta. She wanted to see what other people would look like when they heard the news.

"Is that a house elf?" Hermione was in disbelief. She was not like these small, ugly creatures that she hadn't seen before. Just before, she ran to the Hogwarts kitchen to get some sandwiches and found There are at least dozens of elves there.They are all wearing old pillowcases or rags, like barbarians in the primitive tribe.

But now this one sitting in front of the bar, although he is tightly wrapped, is indeed as short as a house elf, but it looks completely indistinguishable from a human wizard.Hermione looked at it up and down several times, carefully paying attention to the details, but still couldn't see how it differed from other humans drinking here.

"It doesn't look like it is right, I was shocked when I saw that face for the first time." Rosmerta giggled, "I thought he was a dwarf, so I made fun of him, who knows He took off his hood while drinking, and he was actually a house elf!"

"A house elf dressed like a human, appeared in a bar and said to me'a glass of mead'. I thought it was looking for work." She said in a dreamy tone, as if it were very Incredible.

"Is that rare?" Hermione asked hurriedly. "Don't house elves often haunt bars?"

"You must be from a Muggle family." Rosmerta said affirmatively.

Hermione nodded, and Rosmerta continued: "As long as you are a wizard, you should know-house elves never go to bars or other entertainment venues. They don't do things that have nothing to do with work, and they don't need entertainment. Activities, everything about house elves belongs to their owners, they don’t need freedom."

"No need for freedom!" Hermione called.She frowned and remembered the conversation with Zoe. Zoe also told her "House elves don't need to be paid, they like work."

But in that case, wouldn't they be like slaves?Hermione couldn't understand the happiness of such a life, even every wizard and even the house elves themselves took such a life for granted.

She couldn't agree with Zoe and Rosmerta, and even she couldn't find sufficient reason to refute them, because she really didn't know the true feelings of the house elves.But she felt that any intelligent creature should yearn for freedom and dignity, rather than passively be enslaved. This is also the concept she has always believed in.

So she continued to push the topic subconsciously, "But if according to what you said, the house elves shouldn’t need vacations and entertainment, then what’s the matter with them? It’s sitting there and resting like humans. ! Doesn't this mean that house elves also need special treatment?"

"I'm not surprised at all, little guy." Rosmerta shrugged and said relaxedly: "I have been running three broomsticks for many years, and I have not encountered strange guys in these years. Refining is only a basic trouble...Every ethnic group may have one or two freaks that are incompatible with the normal personality around you. You have to get used to it. This situation is very common."

Just as Hermione wanted to continue to refute, there was a piercing loud noise from the bar. Rosmerta sucked in a cold breath. She saw that all the shiny glasses she had placed on the bar were broken, even if you could use it. Repairing the spell will still cause a lot of trouble-Rosmerta is not very good at spells, she once made a mistake when she chanted the spell, making the repaired cup nondescript.

The cause of this uproar was a sturdy man. His face was flushed, shaky, cursing, and he looked like a drunkard.He was wearing a decent robe, but he seemed to be completely lacking in cultivation. He didn't know if it was his nature or he couldn't control himself after being drunk.

When he swayed towards Rosmerta (because he needed to check out) his shoulder hit the house-elf sitting at the side of the bar. The drunk was already drunk and his feet were erratic, and the elf was hit hard by him. After falling off the chair, Hermione finally got a good look at the hidden face-this house elf is indeed no different from other elf in appearance, all with big ears and big nose. , His face is small, his skin is still wrinkled, and he looks quite old.

But this elf was obviously different from any one Hermione had seen before: at least before then she had never seen any elf that not only wore a robe that a wizard would wear, but also had a monocle on her nose. , She even felt a kind of pure silence in those big eyes that were almost protruding from the eyelids.

The house elf was knocked off the chair, and first adjusted his robe. Hermione noticed that its movements were somewhat deliberate, as if they were imitating something.Then it stood in front of the drunk big man, and shouted in the shrill voice peculiar to elf: "Sir, I need you to apologize to me."