Chapter 700 The Grangers at the Leaky Cauldron

After breakfast, the Weasley children headed to Diagon Alley.

As one of the busiest places in the British wizarding world, the Ministry of Magic has arranged the strictest security here. In the Leaky Cauldron at the entrance, there are at least three Aurors checking the wizards coming and going.

Everyone who wants to pass through the backyard must also undergo a test of the manifesting potion to ensure that the other person is not a Death Eater using Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself.

Although some people are quite critical of this behavior, most are happy to do so because the stricter the inspections, the safer they are here.

Some wizards even book long-term rooms at the Leaky Cauldron, where their entire family lives.

The guest rooms are always full, and Old Tom's business has never been so good. He is always grinning happily and telling everyone he meets that the Ministry of Magic finally has a serious and responsible Assistant Minister.

Yes, it was also Kyle's idea to tightly guard the entrance to Diagon Alley, and it was written in that booklet.

When Weasley and his party arrived, Qiu and Hermione had already arrived early.

"I only need one room..."

Hermione was talking to the bar owner, "Big or small doesn't matter, and I can pay in advance."

"I'm sorry, Miss Wizard." Old Tom said without raising his head: "I have made it very clear that there is no room available now. If you can wait, there may be a room available in September. "

"But I'm going to Hogwarts in September, and there's no way I can book a room!" Hermione said.

"Then there's nothing I can do." Tom raised his head, "Maybe you can ask if anyone is willing to vacate a room for you."

"Hey, what are you doing?" Fred walked over and asked.

"Hermione wanted to rent a guest room here." Autumn explained: "But we seem to be late."

"You want to live here?" George asked in surprise.

"I just had this idea." Hermione sighed, "I think you must have read the booklet on how to protect yourself."

"Ah, that's right."

"That's why," Hermione said. "My parents are both Muggles, and now there are Dementors everywhere. It's too dangerous. Just two days ago, a person was attacked at my father's place of work.

"Although the TV reports said that he suddenly became frightened and became crazy, I know very well that it was the dementors who did it."

"So you just want to find them a safer place?" Fred asked.

"That's right." Hermione sighed, "I finally persuaded my dad to close his dental clinic temporarily, but I didn't expect that the Leaky Cauldron was full."

"Hmm..." George thought for a while.

It would be easy for Hermione to live there, whether it was Number 12 Grimmauld Place or the second floor of their shop.

But the Grangers were a bit inappropriate.

Just when they were worried, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind.

"What are you doing here?"

"Long time no see, Qiu, Hermione..."

George looked back and saw that it was Kyle and Cedric.

"Isn't it working time now?" he asked, "Why aren't you in the ministry?"

"Who says you have to be in the office to work." Kyle glanced at him, "We have something to do and need to go out. What about you, what are you doing here."

"Oh, it's Hermione." Fred said, "He wants to rent a guest room for his parents here, but there are no vacant rooms... You are here just in time. Think of any other options."

"Mainly because of the dementors." Hermione explained quickly: "The fog has become thicker and thicker in recent days. I'm worried that the dementors will appear in the neighborhood where we live. But they definitely don't dare to come to Diagon Alley, right? no?"

"That's not necessarily true, but it's definitely safer here." Kyle glanced at Tom and prepared to ask again. They were old acquaintances.

Although the friendship brought about by moving the trash can is not particularly strong, it is definitely better than Hermione.

But before he could speak, Old Tom said directly: "There is also a guest room on the third floor, a double deluxe room, which only costs one galleon and ten sickles per night."

"Wait a minute..." Hermione ran over quickly, "Didn't you just say there was no room?"

"It's true that it's gone." Old Tom grinned and said, "I left it specially for emergencies. But since you and little Kyle are friends, I can give it to you.

"How's it going? Do you need it?"

Hermione frowned.

One galleon and ten sickles... To be honest, this price is a bit expensive for her. All her money combined can't live for a month, and she has to set aside part of it to buy textbooks and potion materials. .

There are quite a lot of textbooks that need to be changed in sixth grade.

But the next second, Hermione gritted her teeth and said: "I want it..."

Then she looked at Kyle again and said a little embarrassedly: "Can you lend me some money?"

"Of course, no problem, borrow as much as you want." Kyle said casually.

Hermione did a simple calculation and said, "Fifty Galleons."

"Okay." Kyle nodded, took out fifty galleons and handed it to Hermione.

"Thank you." Hermione said, "I will return it to you as soon as possible."

"Don't worry about this." Kyle waved his hand, then he glanced around and lowered his voice: "But there is one thing I must say. The next thing the Ministry of Magic needs to do is to clean up the Dementors with all its strength, so I suggest Don’t rent it for too long at a time.”

"Really?" Hermione's eyes lit up.

If the Dementor problem could be solved, she wouldn't need to let her parents live here.

"I have no reason to lie to you." Kyle shrugged, "But it won't be that fast. I suggest you rent it for a month and decide whether to continue after seeing the situation."

"Okay." Hermione said without hesitation, and then she went to the bar and checked in with Tom.

"Come with me." Tom pushed open a door next to the bar and took Hermione up the stairs at the back.

In the far corner, the two looked at each other, as if hesitating whether to follow.

They were the Grangers, who came with Hermione.

Although it was not the first time they came to Diagon Alley, they had been accompanied by Hermione before. Now that Hermione had left, they were inevitably a little restrained in this environment full of wizards.

They had heard from Hermione before that some wizards looked down on people like them who couldn't do magic.

After hesitating for a while, the two finally decided to follow Hermione up.

Mr. Granger was about to pick up the heavy-looking box on the ground. As soon as he bent down, he found that the box was floating by itself.

Magic!

Mr. Granger quickly guessed the reason. He thought it was Hermione who came back, but when he looked up, he saw a boy standing in front of him... It seemed to be his daughter's classmate.

Mr. Granger remembered that his name seemed to be Kyle. He had seen him in Diagon Alley before. Although not as many times as the two named Harry and Ron, it was not less.

And the other party seemed to be the best student in Hogwarts. During the holidays a few years ago, Hermione mentioned him several times at home and said that she would definitely surpass him in grades.

But she didn't seem to say such things in the past two years.

And Mr. Granger could see that it seemed that it was because of Kyle that the bar owner changed his previous attitude and gave them a room.

Although he was not a wizard, in some things, there was actually no difference between wizards and Muggles.

"Thank you, kid. You must be Kyle, right?" Mr. Granger took the initiative to greet him. "Hermione's classmate?"

"I guess so." Kyle nodded. "But I'm one year older than her. I'll take you up. The stairs here bite people. It'll be troublesome if you're not familiar with them."

Stairs... bite people?

Mr. Granger thought he had heard wrong. He couldn't imagine how stairs would bite people, but when he thought that this was a wizard bar, everything seemed to make sense.

"Thank you." He thanked again.

"You're welcome." Kyle walked in front with his luggage, and the Grangers followed carefully.

The Leaky Cauldron used the old wooden stairs, which, like the floor, were almost covered with dust and gray. It was impossible to tell what color it was originally. It creaked when you stepped on it.

When they reached the second floor, Mr. Granger finally understood what "stairs bite people" meant.

He saw with his own eyes that the stairs in front of him suddenly cracked in the middle, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a big mouth full of fangs, roaring at them continuously.

However, Kyle had no intention of stopping, and stepped on the mouth again.

"That's it..." Kyle took two steps forward and turned back and said, "Just treat it as a wizard's dog. The solution is also very simple. Don't take a detour, just step on it directly and it will be fine."

The Grangers stopped where they were, looking at the big mouth that had re-emerged and hesitated to move forward.

Although Kyle said so, they were still a little scared when they saw the mouth full of fangs. If they were bitten, it would not be as simple as breaking some skin.

If they had known that the wizard bar was so dangerous, they might as well stay at home. That soul monster might not be able to find them.

But now that they are here and the room is ready, they can't go back.

Mr. Granger took a deep breath, bravely raised his legs, gritted his teeth and stepped on it.

There was no sharp pain from being bitten as expected. It felt like stepping on a cushion and it was easy to walk over.

Later, with his encouragement, Mrs. Granger also overcame her fear and walked over.

"Magic is really amazing." Mrs. Granger couldn't help but say, "It's just a little too dangerous. That soul monster made Hermione uneasy for several days. We even thought about whether to let her drop out of school."

"Hermione will definitely not agree." Mr. Granger said.

"Soul monster?" Kyle thought for a while, "It's the Dementor..."

"Ah, yes, that's the name." Mr. Granger said, "Hermione said that the black fog in the sky was caused by them, and the day before yesterday, a person fainted inexplicably at my workplace, and Hermione also said it was caused by this monster.

"At that time, many police came and even the road was blocked. Because of this, many customers who were going to see a dentist cancelled their appointments."

As they talked, several people walked upstairs. When they came to the third floor, they happened to meet Hermione running over.

"Dad, why are you up here? "She looked at Mr. Granger in surprise. "The room is ready, I'm just about to pick you up."

"Oh, no thanks." Mr. Granger said, "Kyle brought us here."

He looked around and couldn't help saying, "Is this where wizards live? I have to say, it's really an eye-opener."

In this short journey, Mr. Granger saw stairs that bite people, portraits that chat with people, and decorative armor that lubricates himself.

All this overturned his inherent understanding of the previous decades. For the first time, he felt that it was not a bad thing to live here for a while.

"Thank you, Kyle." Hermione said quickly: "I originally wanted to wait until everything was settled before picking them up."

"It's just a small favor, you're welcome." Kyle waved his hand and said, "How does the room feel?"

"It's great," Hermione said. "It's similar to a dormitory. Although it's not particularly big, they have no problem living here."

"That's good." Kyle said, "By the way, I just have something to ask you."

"What?"

"I just heard Mr. Granger say that there were dementors near your house?"

"It should be right." Hermione said, "Not far from where my father works, someone was attacked by dementors. To be honest, if it weren't for this, I wouldn't have thought of bringing them to the Leaky Cauldron. bar."

"What about the specific location?" Kyle asked.

"Hertfordshire..." After Hermione gave a list of addresses, she took the Grangers to see the room.

The room was much more normal, and Mr. Granger looked curiously at a faded cabinet by the door.

"I'd say it's at least two hundred years old."

"Perhaps longer," Hermione said. "The Leaky Cauldron was founded in the sixteenth century, and wizards rarely change the furniture."

"Then it must be very expensive here." Mr. Granger frowned and said, "Do you have enough wizard coins? Do they charge pounds?"

"Definitely not, but my money is completely enough." Hermione took out a bag and shook it, and there was a jingling sound inside. "Look, I still have so much left."

Mr. Granger felt relieved, and then he noticed a pile of newspapers on the table... The people on it were all moving, as if they were watching TV.

"Oh, that's the Daily Prophet," Hermione explained: "The wizard's newspaper. The photos on it are made of developing potions, so they move."

"You have never told us before that wizards have newspapers." Mr. Granger said in a somewhat complaining tone.

Hermione said nothing.

I didn’t tell my parents about the Daily Prophet because I didn’t want them to worry.

But now living in Diagon Alley, these are definitely unavoidable.

Mr. Granger picked up a newspaper and looked at the contents curiously, then he was suddenly stunned.

"Hermione, is this man Kyle's father? His name is actually the same."

"What?" Hermione looked over, "No, this is Kyle."

"That's not right." Mr. Granger looked at the contents of the newspaper with confusion. "It says that he is the senior assistant minister of the Ministry of Magic... Shouldn't Kyle be a student?"

"Oh, he was specially hired as the youngest assistant minister." Hermione explained the matter simply.

After hearing this, Mr. Granger didn't know what to say.

According to his understanding, the Minister of Magic should be equivalent to the Prime Minister of wizards...

A seventeen-year-old assistant to the Prime Minister?

Although Mr. Granger had seen a lot of the world, he was still shocked speechless by this discovery.

No wonder the bar owner's attitude changed so much.

Then, knowing very little about the magical world, he read the newspaper seriously as if he had discovered a new world.

Hermione accompanied Mrs. Granger to briefly pack her luggage, and then looked up at the time.

"Mom, I have something to do later, so I have to go."

"If something happens, you should go quickly." Mrs. Granger said.

Hermione walked to the door, then turned back again and said: "You can go to the bar downstairs to eat, or you can ask them to bring it up.

"If you feel bored, you can go down to Diagon Alley for a walk."

"Is that okay?" Mr. Granger raised his head, "We don't know magic."

"It doesn't matter..." Hermione said, "Many parents of students will come here. This is not uncommon. You only need to follow a wizard to get in."

"Oh, by the way, there's this..." Hermione took out a few more Galleons and put them on the table, "If there's anything you like, you can buy some too."

"No, you can keep it. If necessary, we can go to the wizard bank to exchange it." Mr. Granger patted his pocket.

This time he came out with a lot of pounds.

"You guys can use it first. I'll change it when I have time." Hermione looked at the time again and ran out of the room quickly.