Chapter 528 Dinner Appetizer

"They are still tight-lipped and won't say anything. I still can't figure out if they believe he is back. They probably don't want to support any side and don't want to get involved in this."

The eldest son of the Weasley family, Bill, still wore his long ponytail and unfolded a roll of parchment in his hand. He tilted his head and explained the situation to Arthur in a low voice. Although he dressed up in an exaggerated manner, his temperament was a little more calm and reliable.

"Oh, it's possible." Arthur muttered, pushing up his horn-rimmed glasses, the top of his head reflecting light slightly.

"I believe they will never fall to the mysterious man's side, and their losses will be heavy. Do you remember the goblin family he killed last time, near Nottingham?"

"That's not necessarily the case, Bill. It depends on what price they are offered. I'm not talking about gold. If someone offers them the freedom that we have refused to give them for centuries, they will not be able to resist the temptation... Having said that, is there still no improvement on Gagno’s side?”

"He is still quite emotionally repelled by wizards. He is still very angry about the Bagman incident. He feels that the Ministry of Magic has covered up the truth. You know, the goblins have never been able to get them from him. of gold.”

"..."

Loren and the others raised their ears and listened attentively, their eyes flashing thoughtfully.

It seems Ludo Bagman hasn't paid off his gambling debt yet...

What Bill and Arthur were discussing... seemed to be the progress of the Order of the Phoenix in wooing the goblins. It sounded like the goblins were still waiting to see, perhaps waiting for a price.

The goblins have probably lived in peaceful times for too long and have forgotten the concept of pure blood supremacy of Voldemort and Death Eaters. In their view, goblins and non-human creatures are even lower than Muggles. If they really invest in the Muggles because of short-term interests, Voldemort...

"Ahem..."

When Molly saw the father and son chatting animatedly, she cleared her throat vigorously, "Harry is here, as well as Loren and Hermione!"

The Weasleys woke up from a dream. Bill put away the parchment on the table in a panic. Arthur turned his head and looked over, smiling awkwardly: "Oh, Harry, long time no see. It seems like crazy." Didn’t the Eyeman ask you to go around to Greenland and then back?”

"Yes, he wants to do this..."

"How was your meeting, what was Snape just talking about?"

"Oh, Dad, when are you going to have dinner? My stomach can't wait..."

A group of frustrated little wizards stared wide-eyed, unwilling to let go of this opportunity to gather information. They all rushed to the long table, talking warmly and pleasantly, but looking straight at the sheepskin. He found that the parchment full of characters looked too much for the eyes, and turned to the parchment with drawings.

Loren also looked at the parchment with interest, expecting to see some useful information.

Most of them are report-style content. At a quick glance, I can only make out a few scattered sentences:

"Walton McNeil has been lingering outside the room of the Department of Mysteries for a long time, suspected of spying..."

"Lucius Malfoy has close ties with many wizarding families..."

"There is an unknown wizard wandering in the waters of Azkaban..."

Poor Bill only had two hands, but there were twelve rolls of parchment on the table. He couldn't cover any of them. He only had time to put away a few pieces of paper in front of him that were either speech drafts or information, leaving some similar buildings. The floor plan drawings were taken into their eyes.

When Hermione saw a piece of information about giants, she couldn't hide the excitement in her eyes. She squeezed Loren's hand unconsciously and muttered: "Hagrid and Madame Maxime have arrived and presented the gifts successfully. Negotiating with Giant Gugo..."

When Bill heard her words, he turned pale with fright. He hurriedly pulled out his wand and said "disappear" to all the parchments. Then the little wizards withdrew their eyes in disappointment and sat down slowly one by one. .

"I heard someone say that they are very hungry..." Molly clenched her fists, her mother's fist ready to move. She gritted her teeth and forced a smile, "Sit down for a while, children, dinner will be ready soon."

"I'm here to help you..." Arthur smiled cautiously and followed.

Soon, a set of heavy knives began to automatically cut meat and vegetables under Arthur's supervision. Plates, goblets, and knives and forks automatically floated out of the ancient cabinet. Molly stirred a large pot floating on the fire. The aroma of food begins to spread.

The two twins who yelled the loudest remained silent in tacit agreement, lowering their heads to clean up the messy tabletop, hearing and seeing nothing, as if they were not the ones holding Arthur down just now while shouting that they were hungry.

George and Fred had always been very experienced and knew very well not to offend their mother at this time. When dinner was over, the matter would be over.

Ron and Ginny followed suit, obediently taking out plates, goblets and food from the pantry.

Sitting at the end of the long table were other people's children, Loren and Hermione. Both of them pursed their lips, one raised the corners of their mouths, and the other arched their eyebrows, trying their best to suppress their smiles.

"My dear friends, welcome to the Order of the Phoenix headquarters..."

Bill shook his head: "I know it's hard for you to restrain your curiosity, because I have experienced the same thing. During the first wizarding war, I was younger than you, and my parents kept me here all day. I have several brothers at home who are still wetting the bed..."

Fred retorted angrily: "Hey, tell me which brother it is?"

"We were both able to take care of ourselves at that time!" George nodded heavily.

"I can't remember clearly, maybe it's Percy." Bill curled his lips and casually put the blame on his absent brother, "It's not that we deliberately concealed the facts from you, but Dumbledore specifically told us to Keeping secrets from you, especially you, Harry..."

Harry looked a little pale.

"So, we were implicated by Harry?" Ron added stupidly.

Harry's face paled even further.

Bill made a fist with his right hand and put it to his mouth, hiding his uncontrollable smile, and said softly: "By the way, you have already met Mundungus, haven't you?"

"Who's calling my name?"

Mundungus muttered in a daze, heaped the rags a few times, and suddenly stretched out a dirty hand, as if to vote, his eyelids drooped feebly, and his eyes were barely open. Covered with red bloodshot eyes, "I agree with Bill..."

"The meeting is over, Dunge, Harry is here."

"Huh? Oh, yes, Harry is here..."

Mundungus looked through his messy ginger hair to see the people around him clearly. Perhaps his mind had not yet fully awakened. He fumbled in several pockets with his slightly uneasy hands and took out a dirty wallet. After lighting the black pipe with a wand, put the holder in your mouth and take a deep breath, slowly exhaling a large stream of green smoke.

It stunk, as if someone's smelly socks were burnt.

"Let me remind you one last time, Mundungus, can you please stop smoking that thing in the kitchen, especially since we are about to eat!" Molly's roar came from the stove.

"Ah, okay, sorry Molly!"

Mundungus quickly put out his pipe, stuffed it into his pocket, and shrank his head dejectedly, "Harry, are you okay?"

"fine."

Mundungus became even more embarrassed. He took out his pipe again, but did not light it. Instead, he gently rubbed it with his fingers: "I have to apologize to you. I should have stayed there, but those crucibles will not be sold at a high price if they are not sold." …”

The short, fat wizard with an unshaven beard muttered some obscure business information, and there was a strong smell of tobacco and alcohol wafting from his body.

This was not the first time for Loren to meet this veteran of the Order of the Phoenix. As early as in the hotel next to the Albanian forest, he had seen Dumbledore talking to him from a distance.

A low-level second-hand dealer who works part-time to help black and white wizards deal with some items of unknown origin, or to use the word stolen goods to describe it more accurately, most of the items he sells are not valuable things, but flying carpets that were smuggled in and seized. , a rusty crucible unearthed from the warehouse of some drugstore, a defective product made by an alchemy apprentice...

Since he has been hanging out at the bottom of the magic world for many years, he has gotten to know many liars and thieves in the magic world, and he can also hear information that ordinary people cannot hear. Due to this consideration, Dumbledore included him into the Order of the Phoenix. His stance was quite firm, but that was the only advantage. The other members looked down upon this dealer to some extent.

He is not a good person in the conventional sense, but he has the wisdom of a small person to protect himself. He has been wandering in the chaotic Knockturn Alley for a long time, but has not been involved in any cases. His own magic power is not very strong, but he was able to survive the First Wizarding War intact.

Presumably, he hasn't resold Slytherin's locket yet...

"Children, this is not an unforgivable mistake, right? I'm not the bad guy you think, I'm just a small vendor, and I didn't steal those things... In addition, if you have anything I might be able to provide some modest help if you want to get rid of some gadgets..."

George and Fred's eyes lit up.

While they were talking, the other dinner guests also calmed down the trouble upstairs and came downstairs to attend the dinner. Sirius walked at the front, followed by Lupine and Tonks.

The three of them looked grave and said nothing, as if they were very unhappy with the portrait of the old witch just now.

"Nice to meet you, Loren, Hermione, and...Harry."

Sirius came to the table and sat down. His face was haggard, and his thin lips were bloodless, almost as pale as his cheeks. When he read the last name, there was finally a smile on his face, and his whole person seemed to come alive. Same.

"I heard about the Dementors and Traces. Thanks to you, Loren, otherwise things would have been very troublesome."

Loren nodded slightly and had no intention of speaking.

Sirius didn't care about his indifference, and turned to look at his godson with a softer smile: "You have grown taller, Harry, and you look very much like your father, James, when he was young..."

"Really...?" Harry hesitated, as if he didn't know what to say, "How have you been this summer? Do you really plan to postpone the wedding?"

Sirius' eyes dimmed and he pursed his lips: "You know, I'm really surprised for you. I thought the first thing you did when you got here was to ask about Voldemort."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed, as if a dementor was passing by, bringing with it a cold shiver.

Mundungus' bragging voice was stuck in his throat, and he kept glancing this way from the corner of his eye without turning his neck. Tonks, who was teasing Ginny with her Metamorphmagus, also stopped and looked here cautiously. The flame on the stove went out, the simmering of the stew stopped, and there was only the sound of chopping meat on the chopping board.

Harry was silent for a moment: "I asked Ron and the others, but they said we were not approved to join the Order of the Phoenix, so..."

"They are right, you are too young." Molly ran out of the stove in an apron, her fists clenched tightly, staring at Sirius vigilantly.

Sirius raised his eyelids: "Since when do we have to join the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions? Harry has been trapped in that Muggle's house for a whole month, he has the right to know what happened..."

Hearing what he meant, George's eyes widened and he immediately complained loudly: "Wait, why can Harry's question be answered?"

"We have been trying to get something out of you for a month, but you won't tell us anything!" Fred asked angrily.

Sirius calmly replied: "No one told you what the Order was doing. It's not my fault. It was your parents' decision, but it's different for Harry..."

Molly snapped: "It's not up to you to decide what's good for Harry! I don't think you've forgotten what Dumbledore said?"

"Which part?"

"That is, don't tell Harry what he doesn't need to know."

"I only plan to tell Harry what he needs to know, Molly!"

"He's not a member of the Order yet! He's only fifteen!"

"..."

The Weasley brothers' heads turned back and forth between Sirius and Molly, as if watching a back-and-forth match on a tennis court. Ginny, holding a butterbeer cork in her hand, stared at their conversation blankly, her mouth slightly open. Lupin stared at Sirius without blinking, and Tonks looked at Molly.

Hermione was stunned, watching the two people's lips opening and closing, listening to the fierce quarrels, and faintly felt another kind of absurdity that was out of touch with reality. They flew from London for several hours to come here, and the appetizer for dinner was a hysterical quarrel.

"It seems that there is still some time before dinner starts..."

Loren's gentle and calm voice came, as if the whistling wind was isolated outside the window, making Hermione's consciousness suddenly wake up for some reason, "We can do something else first."

Hermione blinked, and suddenly recalled the news she heard when she accepted Sirius's wedding invitation last semester. She glanced at the quarrel over there and nodded slightly.

While everyone's attention was on the two people arguing in front, Loren and Hermione quietly slipped away from the end of the long table, and walked towards the stairs leading to the hallway under the cover of dim lights.