Chapter 725 Gifts and the Imperius Curse

After breakfast, everyone gathered in the entrance hall.

Because of the tense atmosphere during this period, everyone seemed to be suffocated in the castle, and there were particularly many students going to Hogsmeade this time.

A long line formed in the entrance hall. Filch stood at the oak door as usual, checking the list of students who were allowed to go to Hogsmeade one by one, and repeatedly testing each person with the dark magic secret detector.

"What a waste of time, even if we take dark magic items out of the school, what's wrong?" Mikel muttered dissatisfiedly: "I think you should check the things we bring in."

"You don't need to teach me how to do it." Filch poked Mikel with the secret detector dissatisfiedly.

Although he said so, he still sped up the inspection and soon arrived at Kyle.

It was windy outside. To be honest, it was very uncomfortable to walk to Hogsmeade village in this weather. Many people began to shiver as soon as they left the castle, and their ears and cheeks were also frozen red.

But everyone didn't want to stay in the castle, so they could only speed up their pace, wanting to get to Hogsmeade as soon as possible, and then go to the warm and comfortable Three Broomsticks to drink a cup of hot butter beer.

Of course, there were also students who were not in a hurry to travel, such as Kyle and Connor. They wore warm-up badges with waterproof and moisture-proof spells on their chests, and this bad weather had no effect at all.

The two chatted, slowly crossed the venue, and followed the path to Hogsmeade Village.

It should be notified in advance, and for safety reasons, all the wizards from other places here disappeared. Looking around, whether on the street or in the shop, there were only Hogwarts students.

"Oh Kyle, look there." Ryan suddenly pointed to a shop not far away, "Zonko is closed."

Kyle turned his head and looked.

Sure enough, the door of Zonko's Joke Shop, which was closest to the entrance of the village, was closed, and many students next to it were looking through the crack of the door.

"It's really closed, there's no one inside..."

"What a bummer, I wanted to buy a few exploding bees."

"Forget it, you can't take them back even if you buy them, don't forget that Filch is still checking at the door."

"Maybe I can find a place to hide first..."

After wandering around the door for a while, everyone left. Since it was confirmed that Zuko had closed the door, there was no need to stay here any longer. It would be better to go shopping somewhere else during this time.

...

Fortunately, the most popular Honeydukes candy store was still open.

The small store was crowded with students. Everyone waved Galleons and swept the candies on the shelves like locusts. In just a few minutes, half of the full bucket of multi-flavor beans placed at the door was gone.

"Hey, leave some for me!" Mikkel couldn't help it and strode into the store.

"Kyle, do you need help to bring you some?" Ryan ran two steps and turned back to ask: "How about multi-flavor beans and chocolate frogs, these are the most popular things."

"No need." Kyle shook his head and said.

"Are you sure?" Ryan glanced at Kyle. "I guess I won't have many opportunities to come to Hogsmeade again in the future. It's better to buy more this time..."

"That's true, but I really don't need it." Kyle said, "I still have a lot of candy. You know, I really don't need to buy more."

I don't know since when, probably for several years, Kyle has never been to Honeydukes again.

The main reason is that he can receive a lot of candy and chocolate every Christmas and birthday. Even if he uses some of them as gifts in return, he can't finish the rest, so he doesn't need to spend money to buy them.

"We always have to change to different flavors, and we are embarrassed to eat your candy all the time." Ryan said, and then he followed Mikel to Honeydukes.

Kyle and Connor did not stay any longer. While most people were at Honeydukes, they decided to go to the Three Broomsticks to get a good seat.

Drinking a cup of hot butter beer in this weather is really an irresistible temptation.

When the two came to the door of the Three Broomsticks against the strong wind, they suddenly found that there were still a few familiar faces standing here.

That iconic red hair is really too conspicuous.

"Fred, George?" Kyle asked tentatively.

Hearing someone calling their names, the twins turned their heads immediately.

"Haha, we were just discussing whether you would come."

"I didn't expect you to come just after we finished talking..." George smiled and waved his hand, "Hey, Connor, how is your seventh grade?"

"Not bad." Connor said, "What are you doing here, drinking?"

"To be honest, we don't have time to have fun now." Fred sighed, "There are a lot of things in the department. We have wanted to resign several times but didn't find a chance."

"You can resign, but you will definitely push those things to Dad." George said, "He is busy enough and can't go home until late at night every day."

"Then what are you doing..."

"Tracking a guy who resells fake amulets. There is news that he may come to Hogsmeade." Fred explained: "You should know that person, Mundungus."

"The one from the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Who else but him..." George gritted his teeth and said, "Now I finally understand why my mother doesn't welcome him. Although he can always get what we need, he also causes us a lot of trouble."

"Then have you found him?" Kyle asked, "Do you need any help?"

"No, I guess he has received the message and escaped." Fred pushed open the door of the Three Broomsticks, "Now that we have met, how about a drink? Let's treat him."

"Then I want the most expensive one." Kyle said.

"Don't even think about it, there's only butterbeer." George looked at Kangna again, "Of course, you can order whatever you want."

As he said that, he raised his eyebrows at Kyle provocatively.

Kyle didn't tolerate him either. As soon as he entered the bar, he ordered a glass of the most expensive Ogden gold mead for Connor.

The price of a glass of ten galleons made the twins' faces contort with distress.

"You don't want to regret it..." Kyle said deliberately: "But it doesn't matter, I can pay."

"Ha, how is that possible!" George frowned and took out ten gold coins and lined them up neatly on the bar. "Just drink this, I'll treat you."

"Then I'll thank you on behalf of Connor." Kyle said cheerfully, and he handed the cup of golden mead to Connor.

"I'm so lucky. I didn't expect someone to treat me to a drink."

Seeing Kyle's proud look and the Weasley brothers' exaggerated expressions, Connor couldn't help but laugh.

"Stop pretending, you guys are getting two salaries, can't you afford these ten galleons?" After a few people found a seat and sat down, Kyle brought three more glasses of butterbeer. "What's the situation outside now?"

"Not very good." Fred sighed, "I see the Dark Mark almost every day, which makes people panic."

"There's no movement from the Auror side?"

"I have captured a few Death Eaters, but they are all small and of little use." George said, "By the way, do you know Stan Sampak?"

"That Knight Bus conductor?" Kyle said.

"That's him," Fred said. "He was also arrested, this morning, on charges of participating in Death Eater activities."

"Wait, am I mistaken..." Kangna raised her head, "He is just a conductor, how could he be a Death Eater?"

"We don't think it's possible either," George said, "but this is what Stan Sampark himself admitted."

"And it was in a bar, in front of at least a dozen wizards... The Aurors received several reports."

"Also Gula, a goblin, was also found to have been in contact with Death Eaters many times, but Gringotts insisted that it was just a normal transaction process."

"But I don't think so. If it's a transaction, why not do it in Gringotts instead of outside. I guess they are worried that goblins and Death Eaters collude, which will affect Gringotts' reputation."

A few people were chatting and drinking butterbeer. In the process, Kyle noticed that they were looking out the window from time to time, as if they were looking for someone.

There was another one who did this, the brown-haired wizard sitting at the door.

It wasn't until Harry, Hermione and Ron walked into the Three Broomsticks that they stopped turning their heads frequently.

"By the way, are you still responsible for protecting Harry?" Kyle asked softly.

"How do you know?" Fred was stunned for a moment.

"Guess." Kyle shrugged.

"Well, there's nothing to hide." George said, "The Ministry really can't spare any manpower... plus we happen to be coming to Hogsmeade, so we can help."

"Then how dare you come to drink just now."

"It doesn't matter, there are Aurors here, we are just helping."

"The wizard sitting at the door?"

"You know what?" Fred was even more surprised. He even suspected that Kyle was not at Hogwarts these days, but had been in the Ministry of Magic.

"Is it hard to guess?" Kyle said calmly, "Anyway, I've never seen any wizard with a beard come to the bar and only order a fruit soda."

"Well, she's actually Tonks," said Fred. "It's so obvious. No wonder Dad asked us to come over and help."

"Fred, George!"

At this time, Ron, who had just entered, also spotted the two of them.

"Why are you here!"

"We are here to inform you that Hogwarts will be on holiday tomorrow." Fred said, "Mom asked us to pick you up."

"What, Hogwarts is going on vacation?" Ron froze on the spot, "But Professor McGonagall never told us!"

"Seriously." George patted Ron on the shoulder, "Sometimes we really don't want to admit that you are our brother. This is simply a stain on our wisdom."

Ron immediately understood that what Fred and George said about Hogwarts holidays just now was just teasing him.

His face turned red with anger and he glared at the two of them angrily. However, Fred and George didn't care at all about this situation and continued to chat with Kyle as if nothing had happened.

Seeing this, Harry and the others also sat at an empty table next to them.

To be honest, meeting classmates who have graduated in Hogsmeade is quite a wonderful feeling.

About ten minutes later, the door opened again, and this time it was Slughorn who came in. He was wearing a huge plush hat and a matching velvet coat. He looked like a big elephant.

Fortunately, the door of the Three Broomsticks was wide enough, otherwise he might not have been able to get in.

"It's so cold, Rosmerta, give me a glass of mead."

"Oh, crap..." When he saw Slughorn, Harry quickly lowered his head and tried to hide himself under the table.

It can only be said that his idea was good, but Slughorn still found out.

"Harry, kid." Slughorn strode over, and he looked even happier after noticing that Kyle and Connor were also here.

"You have missed several of my small dinner parties. This is not good. You must come and see them. Miss Granger likes these parties very much." He sat directly in the empty seat at Harry's table.

"How about tomorrow night? You won't have anything else to do, will you?"

"I... I..." Harry stammered and couldn't speak, while thinking frantically in his mind what excuse to use to refuse this invitation.

Ever since he was surrounded by seven or eight people doing homework last time, Harry has been avoiding Slughorn. Compared with that kind of dinner party, he would rather deal with a bucket of philoprogenitor caterpillars.

"Sorry, Professor." Kyle said calmly without changing his expression, "There are too many things to do in the Ministry of Magic."

He pointed at Fred and George, "Look, even if they come to Hogsmeade on weekends, they can come to me for work reports."

"Are you employees of the Ministry of Magic?" Slughorn looked at the Weasley brothers and asked.

Although they didn't know what Kyle meant, Fred and George still reacted immediately and nodded in agreement.

Slughorn's attitude changed immediately, and he greeted the two of them in a friendly manner, but that was all.

"I'm afraid I can't do it either." Connor said the same thing: "Professor Snape put me in detention for a... month, and I can't go anywhere during this time."

"What?" Slughorn almost jumped up in excitement, "How could Severus do this? Doesn't he know how talented you are in potions?

"One month of detention, my God, how can he bear it... No, I have to go to him to talk. "

After saying that, Slughorn didn't even drink the mead that had just been served, and rushed out three brooms in a hurry.

"What's going on? Is that the new Potions professor?" Fred asked curiously, and he had obviously heard about the teacher transfers at Hogwarts this year.

"Yes, Horace Slughorn, a professor who likes to hold dinner parties." Kyle briefly introduced what he had done and his famous Slug Club.

This shocked the two of them. They didn't expect that this professor would be so...special.

"By the way, doesn't he know about Connor and Snape's relationship?"

"Obviously not." Kyle said, "But this just allows Connor to get rid of those boring dinner parties."

If Connor doesn't want to go, she can even be detained for the entire semester. Even if Dumbledore goes to talk, it will be useless, let alone Slughorn.

"Ron..." George turned his head and said meaningfully, "I noticed that he didn't invite you just now. Is it a coincidence? Or neglected it. "

Ron's face turned red again.

In fact, Slughorn had never paid attention to him. Every time they met, he only talked to Harry, as if he was an insignificant decoration.

"I envy Ron." Harry said from the side: "His parties are simply a torture."

"Yeah." Hermione also nodded beside him, "It's really not a pleasant thing."

Ron's expression was better, and he muttered a few words in a low voice, but no one heard what he said clearly.

After that, everyone chatted for a while, and after drinking butter beer, Kyle and Connor prepared to go back.

Harry and others had the same idea.

The weather outside was getting worse and worse. Instead of staying outside, it was more comfortable in the warm common room.

They got up and walked towards the door.

At this time, two Gryffindor girls at a table not far away also stood up.

"Wait a minute, Kyle."

When they walked out of the bar, they shouted from behind.

"What's the matter? "Kyle turned around and asked.

He recognized one of the girls as Katie Bell from Gryffindor, who was also a member of the Quidditch team.

"This is for you." Katie came over and handed over a package.

Kyle was a little confused. He didn't seem to remember that he had any friendship with the other party.

But when he set his eyes on the package, he frowned suddenly.

The same was true for Fred and George next to him.

Having worked in a department that specializes in tracking down dark magic items and counterfeits for so long, they saw the problem with this package at a glance.

The reaction of the dark magic in it was too obvious, and there was no concealment. It was obvious that there was definitely something deadly in it.

Just as the two were about to say something, they were stopped by Kyle.

He shook his head slightly, and then looked at Katie.

"Who gave this to me?"

Katie didn't say anything, but just nodded slightly stiffly, and her movements were very unnatural.

"The Imperius Curse! "A terrible idea suddenly popped up in Fred's mind.

Damn it, someone used the Imperius Curse on the students of Hogwarts!

At the same time, after hesitating for a moment, Kyle slowly reached out to the package.

Fred's heart immediately hung in the air. He wanted to remind Kyle, but soon realized that there was no need to do so, and then immediately ran to Tonks who was following them not far away.

George stayed where he was and watched nervously, his hand already in his pocket, ready to pull out his wand at any time.

However, just when Kyle's fingers were about to touch the package, a gloomy voice suddenly came from behind the people.

"Don't block the way, you disgusting mudblood!"

It was Malfoy, who seemed to have just come out of the Three Broomsticks, and rarely brought any followers.

Then, to everyone's surprise, he pushed Hermione who was blocking in front of him very badly.

Hermione didn't react for a while, and her body stumbled and bumped into Katie.

Katie was hit by her, and the package in her hand fell to the ground.

...