Chapter 537 Muggle Alice and Wizard Old Dodd

The white clouds are long, the blue sky is low, and the lazy sun is crawling slowly to the west. This place has abundant water vapor, frequent rainfall, and fresh air, so the sun does not feel harsh at all. The breeze brings the coolness contained in the mountain snow.

Being accustomed to the heat and drought in London, Loren and Hermione even felt a little cold when they arrived here for the first time, so they put on an extra coat.

Sitting on the small table next to the door of the tavern, Alice very generously served the wine collected by Old Dodd to entertain the guests. Alice, the temporary employee of the tavern, was a lively and clever girl, chattering but not annoying, and would say some interesting things from time to time. The atmosphere of chatting about interesting things about school and town was very harmonious.

"Okay, I've told you everything I know, now it's my turn to ask you questions!" Alice looked at the two of them with sparkling eyes.

"What do you want to know?"

"Do you have a wand?"

"Normally, every wizard has a wand."

"Can I see it?"

Loren didn't care much about the Ministry of Magic's "Statutory of Secrecy". Hermione felt that she knew everything about wizards anyway. If they really wanted to investigate, they would definitely not be the culprits in breaking the law.

Loren took out his wand from his sleeve and showed it to her across his palm: "It is made of apple wood and the core of the wand is the nerve of a dragon. I tried dozens of wands in the wand shop before I found it."

Hermione glanced at him sideways and showed her wand: "The vines are woody and very spiritual. I responded to my magic as soon as I entered the store."

"Wand shop... trial?" Alice frowned in confusion, as if she couldn't understand these two words.

"After receiving the admission notice from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, every little wizard will go to the wand shop to buy a wand that suits him. Generally speaking, we choose from Ollivander's, but there are also other wand makers. But he has the best reputation.”

Alice felt as if she had been struck by lightning. It took several seconds for Alice's dazed eyes to slowly focus. Her lips trembled a few times, and she managed to gather her energy and asked, "So you all bought your own wands?"

Hermione noticed something was wrong with her state and didn't know whether to answer for a moment.

Loren looked at her expression and tentatively explained: "Generally speaking, it is like this. After the age of 11, little wizards will usher in a stage of rapid growth of magic power. With the help of a wand, they can better control the magic power and make casting spells more convenient - —”

"Stop talking!" A soft shout came from the door, interrupting his more detailed explanation.

An old man with short white hair and a beard was holding a bunch of vegetables and half a steak in his hand. He looked panicked and looked at the blond girl at the table at a loss.

Alice turned to look over, a few tears immediately slipped down her face, and she sobbed and cried: "Old Dodd, you are a liar, bad guy, the wand is not issued by the Ministry of Magic after you become an adult. I have no magic power at all, so I can't become a wizard. …”

"me……"

The old man's lips curled, but he couldn't say anything in defense, and he didn't even dare to look into the girl's eyes.

Loren and Hermione, who unintentionally exposed the old man's lie, were immediately frightened. Before they could say anything, the freckled blonde girl raised her hand to wipe away her nose and tears, crying until she hiccupped and squirmed all the way. Gotta run out the door.

The bearded old man stretched out his hand to stop her. When he saw the girl's sad look, he seemed to be frightened. He raised his hand and retracted it. He just watched the girl go away and sighed dejectedly.

Loren and Hermione stood blankly for a while and said without confidence:

"Sorry sir, we didn't mean to cause trouble."

"We thought she knew things about the magical world and spoke without thinking. I'm really sorry..."

"I don't blame you. Alice is already in high school and will be 17 next year. Even if you don't tell her, she will know then..." Old Dodd couldn't tell how old he was. Anyway, he was in his sixties and had silver-white hair. , but with a ruddy complexion and a strong body, he can even lift half a steak with one hand.

At this moment, he seemed a little depressed. He put the meat and vegetables beside him and sat down in frustration. He grabbed the wine bottle on the table and poured it into his mouth. His face turned red before he let out a sigh of relief:

"Alice was only three years old when she moved here, only a little older. When she cried, she was scarier than the Howling Banshee... At that time, her father had to work to support the family, and her mother was in poor health and could only manage the housework. Where? I can spare my energy to take care of this girl.

"It just so happens that my tavern doesn't have much business. I have nothing else to do except make wine. Usually when her mother is busy, she leaves her here to take care of her. I'm a bad old man. I don't know how to take care of children. I can't touch her." He couldn't stop talking and crying endlessly.

"If I had the choice, I'd rather wrestle a troll."

Old Dodd shook the empty bottle, reached for a bottle of malt whiskey from the wine rack behind the bar, opened the cork and poured it into his mouth. When he put the bottle down, his eyes became trance-like:

"What can I do... I can only cast some small spells and tell some magic stories to make her happy. After coaxing her, she will grow up. When she grows up, she will clamor for a wand and learn magic...

"How can this child study if her parents are Muggles? I can't wait to give her my magic power, so I can only coax her to go to primary school in the town and trick her to go to middle school in the city. The best school nearby is In high school, she was told that only smart people can learn magic and become wizards. He deceived her from the age of 7 to 11, and then from 11 to 15. Last year, he also deceived her into participating in the science competition and got the qualification to be admitted to Cambridge..."

Loren didn't know how much he drank, nor did he understand how he deceived him. However, when the old man talked about these memories, his eyebrows were soft, and there was a clear smile on the corner of his mouth, which was obviously a happy face.

Hermione sat silently beside him, saying nothing.

Although Old Dodd had some violations, if you think about it carefully, Alice can barely be regarded as a wizard relative, and it is in line with the rules to know some magical information, so Old Dodd did not violate the "Law of Secrecy".

The door of the tavern was open, and the mountain breeze blew in with a chill.

"Who knew this girl was so persistent? She couldn't deceive her anymore. I even wanted to wait for her to start school next semester, so I closed the tavern and ran away..."

Old Dodd muttered drunkenly, shuddered, and sobered up a little. He shook his head and asked Loren: "You are still students, have you graduated from Hogwarts? What are you doing here?" ?”

"We're here to find someone."

"Find someone?"

"A friend of ours who studies magical animals heard that Ben Nevis is a settlement of giants, so he came over to investigate. A few days ago, he sent us a message saying that he encountered a little trouble and asked us to come and help." Loren thought carefully and replied, "It's not a big trouble. He can solve it on his own, but it will take more time... We learned that there is a wizard tavern nearby, so we wanted to come over and get some information."

"Inquire about news..."

Old Dodd nodded and slowly woke up.

With a childish face and the ability to use magic outside of school, he is probably a graduate of Hogwarts.

The little wizard who just left school must be on some kind of graduation trip...

He came here like this back then, so he didn't understand anything.