Chapter 48 A Fulfilling Day

Studying the Dark Magic Book is a difficult task. After a week, Schelling has only digested less than one-tenth of the contents of the three books. There is only one week left before the start of school, and he needs to go to Diagon Alley as planned before school starts, so Schelling decided to put aside the study of magic and relax himself.

On this day, Schelling changed into a concise and capable outfit. He had a lot of activities today - in the morning, he made an appointment with Terence Higgs to hunt dwarf pig monsters in Norfolk. At noon, he made an appointment with Murray to appreciate paintings in the London Magic Gallery and have lunch together. In the evening, he made an appointment with Daphne to go to Liverpool to watch Celestina Warbeck's national tour concert "Flirty Aphrodite".

Northeast, southeast, northwest, running all over the map? With the help of Floo Network and Apparition, everything is possible. Magic is convenient!

In the morning, he first went to Higgs House through the fireplace and met Terence and his father Bertie Higgs. Old Bertie is a gentle middle-aged man. He is the director of the Ministry of Magic's Pest Advisory Office. He specializes in dealing with dwarfs, hairy crabs, ghouls and piglets. Therefore, he is very familiar with the skills of hunting piglets. They brought three pure white albino bloodhounds, and Old Bertie led the two to a forest in Norfolk.

There were already three people waiting there, one of whom was recognized by the young boy Sherin - Cormac McLaggen from Gryffindor, a student one year older than Sherin. He was heard to be a very self-centered person. Not only was he arrogant and conceited among his classmates, but he also acted impulsively and recklessly, regardless of the consequences. He simply had all the shortcomings of Gryffindor in one person.

However, he had an uncle who held a high position in the Ministry of Magic - Tiberius McLaggen, a member of the Wizengamot, so many classmates were reluctant to offend him, which made him more powerful. At this moment, Cormac was standing in front of two tall men, talking nonstop. One of the men looked shrewd, probably Uncle Tiberus, whom he often talked about.

The other man looked very dignified. His hair and thick eyebrows were brown, with a few strands of gray. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses were a pair of sharp yellow eyes, making him look like an old lion. If Sherin guessed correctly, he was Rufus Scrimgeour, one of the four most powerful figures in the Ministry of Magic and the head of the Auror Office!

(Note: The four powerful figures in the Ministry of Magic are: Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge, Director of Law Enforcement Amelia Bones, and Director of the Auror Office Rufus Scrimgeour)

(Note: The translation of Senior Undersecretary is ambiguous. The original text is Undersecretary, which corresponds to the position of Secretary of State in the Muggle world. It is a person who holds great power, not just the deputy of the minister)

Sharing met the three people with the introduction of old Bertie.

Rufus is an ambitious man. Although he is usually serious, when he knows Sharing's family background, his attitude towards Sharing becomes polite, and a rare smile appears on his tough old face - this makes Cormac a little unhappy in his heart, and he feels that the halo on him has been divided by Sharing.

The six people released three bloodhounds, and they let out a cheerful howl and rushed into the jungle. These bloodhounds are well-trained and have a very keen sense of smell. They found the dwarf pig monster in a short time.

The dwarf pig monster is a dark creature commonly seen in the wilderness of Europe, America and Russia. They are born with the power of curse. They look like underdeveloped dwarf piglets, except that their tails are thick and short, and they have strangely narrow black eyes without whites. The dwarf pig monster often sneaks into the pigsty and eats the sow's milk with ordinary piglets. This will cause the farm to be cursed and disasters to occur continuously. The longer the dwarf pig monster lurks, the longer the curse and disaster on the farm will last.

The dwarf pig monster has an innate fear of white dogs, so the experienced old Bertie specially brought albino hounds, which have great advantages in driving away the dwarf pig monsters. When the dwarf pig monsters are driven out of their hiding place, the hunters will kill them with the "dwarf pig extermination spell" specifically for the dwarf pig monsters.

Schelling has been practicing shooting since he was 9 years old. His shooting skills are fast and accurate. With the intentional slackness of the three seniors, Schelling ranks first in the number of dwarf pig monsters hunted. The number hunted by Terence and Cormac is less than half of Schelling.

Although Cormac was a little unhappy about this, he did not dare to be presumptuous in front of several big figures in the Ministry of Magic; the others gave Schelling some compliments such as "young and promising" and "extraordinary talent". Schelling, who knows the ways of the world, humbly thanked Bertie, Rufus and Tiberus for their advice and teachings, and gave the precious health potion prepared in advance as a gift to the three seniors.

Compared with Cormac's low emotional intelligence performance, Schelling's ability to know when to advance and retreat, respect for respect and etiquette will undoubtedly win their favor. Even Tiberus, who has always loved Cormac, shook his head and sighed after seeing his nephew's performance.

After leaving the fireplace of Higgs House, Schelling came to the British Magic Gallery in the north of London.

The appearance of the British Magical Gallery is a bit like the National Gallery in the Muggle world. Except for the slightly retro architectural style, other aspects such as size and momentum are similar. Of course, Muggles cannot see such a large building. Only when the wizard recites the correct spell on a dilapidated and mottled statue can he enter the gallery from the street.

At the entrance of the Magic Gallery, Murray, who was wearing a sleeveless white lace dress and a round straw hat with a wide brim, was looking at Xie Lin with a touching sweet smile. When she was at Hogwarts, Murray usually dressed more strictly and intellectually, but now she revealed her cool and lively side, which made Xie Lin a little crazy.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Mo Rui waved to Xie Lin. She was a little dissatisfied with today's dull playmate.

Xie Lin, who considers himself to be thick-skinned, was a little embarrassed at the moment, so he had to take it seriously, "Well... your dress today is different from usual, and I couldn't react at the moment."

The corner of Mo Rui's mouth raised slightly: "Then, do you think I look better in my current attire or in my normal attire?"

ah! I know the answer to this question! Xie Lin suppressed the ecstasy in his heart and pretended to be deep in thought before replying very seriously: "You are making things too difficult for me. A girl like you looks good no matter what you wear. If you are usually gentle and intellectual, Athena, then today you are undoubtedly the pure and chaste Artemis. No matter which answer you answer, it is a kind of blasphemy against your beauty."

Mo Rui snorted coldly, "Tch! You're not sincere. Are you always so sweet-talking? No wonder there are so many women around you..." In fact, she was already happy because of Xie Lin's praise. Women are so duplicitous!

Xie Lin wisely did not directly answer Murray's subsequent question, but quietly changed the subject, "There are so many people in the gallery today! I didn't know British wizards were so artistic!"

Hearing the topic about the gallery, Murray began to explain excitedly: "This is because the gallery held an art exhibition today - the works of the late magic painter Magenta Comstock were on display. I have long heard that Cons Tok's magic paintings are currently the best in the world of magic. The magic paintings she drew - the eyes of the characters in the paintings can even break away from the painting paper and follow the viewer home. Unfortunately, after her death, this This skill has not been handed down..."

When Xie Lin heard this, how could he not know what was going on? A magic painting whose eyes could escape the limitations of the paper frame would be a weapon for surveillance. It was strange that the Ministry of Magic would allow such a magic painting to flow into the folk. !

Schelling bets that the information related to this magic painting skill has long been targeted by the Ministry of Magic. As soon as Comstock passed away, it was all taken by the Ministry of Magic.

The two wandered leisurely in the gallery, making comments on a certain magic painting from time to time.

Although Xie Lin is only interested in studying magic, his level of art appreciation is not low. As the second heir of the Malfoy family, art appreciation and wine appreciation are compulsory subjects. Xie Lin has also been trained in this field since he was a child. But because he was not very interested, Lucius saw that he had reached the minimum requirement of appreciation ability, so he let him go.

Murray herself is motivated by interest. She is very interested in painting, so she usually spends a lot of time studying magic paintings. Her biggest dream is to become a magic painter.

The magic painter is a rare profession in the wizarding world. In addition to being proficient in painting skills, he also needs to be proficient in the profound and mysterious soul magic. Only in this way can the characters in the paintings maintain their previous personalities and memories for a long time. And Magenta Cons Tok is even more outstanding among them. In addition to having the terrifying ability to make the eyes leave the drawing paper, her magic paintings also successfully painted the charm of the characters - the angry old witch grinning at the audience. , a medieval armored knight with high morale and shouting constantly...

After the two of them finished admiring the paintings, Murray reluctantly left the gallery (actually he was dragged away by Xie Lin). Seeing that there was still some time, Xie Lin very gentlemanly invited Murray to have lunch.

Lunch was at a wizarding high-end restaurant located in a remote alley in London. This high-end restaurant is only open to members, and the membership fee alone costs ten galleons per year.

The decoration, tables and chairs inside are all made of mahogany, and the tableware is all sterling silver. In addition to being retro, it also brings a sense of nobility and elegance. The indoor lighting and background music can be adjusted to different colors and tones. It's just right, neither too high nor too low. It's very sentimental and comfortable.

Sherlin ordered a Re'em steak. Re'em is a rare magical animal from the Far East. It looks like a giant cow with golden skin. Its meat is tender, juicy and It can enhance the strength of those who eat it, and there are even rumors that it can enhance some indescribable abilities of wizards. Murray, who has a small appetite, just ordered a caviar waffle.

The two enjoyed a leisurely lunch. Schelling sent Murray home from the fireplace in the dining room in a very gentlemanly manner, and politely greeted the McDougalls. Then he got back into the fireplace and instantly appeared in England. The city of Liverpool in the northwest.

Tonight, Anfield Stadium in Liverpool was commandeered by wizards - countless Muggle expulsion spells were released on the entire stadium, and every Muggle who came to the stadium would automatically go home.

Celestina Warbeck is a legend in the wizard singer world. She showed her talent at the age of 10 and appeared on the cover of the gossip magazine "Spellbound". She has released 6 albums since her debut at the age of 17, and all of them have won awards and sold well. Her latest album "You Stole My Pot, But You Can't Have My Heart" has even gone beyond the UK and swept the world.

The tickets for this concert were sold out a year ago - the original tickets only cost 5 Galleons, but now they have been sold at a high price of 50 Galleons on the black market, a full tenfold increase. Fortunately, the Greengrass family has some business dealings with the sponsor "The Sorcerer's Saucepot", so they were able to book such a popular ticket. Originally, Daphne's sister Astoria was also going to come, but she canceled because she was unwell.

(Note: Saucepot and cauldron are not the same thing. The former is a kitchen utensil, while the latter is a potion utensil. It can be seen that wizards actually have their own "technology" for daily life.)

Daphne was obviously dressed up tonight. Her long golden hair was braided into a braid and fixed at the back of her head. The layered hairstyle was matched with silver-white pearl flower hair accessories, which looked very elegant and dignified. On her white jade neck, which was exposed because of the bun, she also wore a string of milky white pearls, which set off her creamy skin.

Of course, our protagonist Xie Lin was not to be outdone. He changed into a close-fitting high-collared suit. The dark color had a dark green secret pattern, which made him look heroic and handsome.

Seeing Daphne dressed up, Xie Lin naturally could not lose his manners. He walked forward and kissed the back of Daphne's hand, then took her hand, and the two of them walked hand in hand from the VIP aisle into the VIP seats of Anfield Stadium.

When Schelling took Daphne's hand, Daphne smiled a sly smile of success without Schelling seeing it.

Although Celestina Warbeck is 76 years old, she is still in good shape and performed 12 famous songs in succession. When she sang her latest work "You stole my pot, but you can't have my heart", the atmosphere of the whole audience reached its peak.

It was not until nearly 10 o'clock in the evening that Celestina stopped singing and everyone gave a last warm applause, and the concert officially ended.

1. Rufus Scrimgeour, Tiberius McLaggen, and Bertie Higgs are friends who often hunt dwarf pig monsters together. This setting is official and comes from the seventh chapter of the sixth part of the original book. Cormac and Slughorn talked about this in the Slug Club.

2. Magenta Comstock comes from the monthly wizard of Rowling's official website (April 2007). The original text is Experimental artist whose portraits' eyes not only follow the viewer around the room, but also follow them home.

3. The Wizarding Pot Company is the official sponsor of Celestina Warbeck's concert, which comes from the "Rumours!" online magazine on Rowling's official website