Chapter 222 - 222 Hogsmeade is covered in silver light
Chapter 222: Hogsmeade is covered in silver light
Harry actually couldn't wait inside, he tore open the long, strip-shaped package, and a beautiful, shiny flying broom appeared right in front of their eyes.
"Wow..."
A cry of awe went up.
Harry gasped in surprise. Ron dropped the wizarding chess pieces in his hand and practically jumped from his seat to get a closer look.
"It's, it's ..." Ron pointed at the broomstick, shivering and unable to speak.
In response, he ran madly back to his dorm room and rummaged through his bunk to find a newspaper.
The big headline on page two of that newspaper read, "The most expensive and luxurious flying broom ever officially hits the shelves of the Quidditch Boutique!"
Below the headline, a picture of a Quidditch Boutique stood out, and on a pierced pedestal standing up by the store's window was a broom that the young wizards recognized as the most beautiful, amazing, and state-of-the-art broom they had ever seen.
Beside the broom hung a note - the
Fire Crossbow Arrow:
This flying broom represents the highest level of craftsmanship available, with a high quality ash wood handle, diamond polished, and hand-engraved registration number. Each carefully selected birch twig at the end of the broom is ground into a streamlined shape, giving the broom unrivaled balance and subtle accuracy. The crossbow arrow is capable of accelerating from a standstill to 150 miles per hour in ten seconds and has an unbreakable braking spell attached. Price negotiable.
"A Fire Crossbow Arrow, this must be a Fire Crossbow Arrow!" Ron exclaimed, "Harry, it's the fastest broom in the world!"
Ron's yell of alarm drew the other students in the common room with him, and then they let out an even louder gasp than Ron had.
"Merlin's big pants!" Fred's eyes widened in shock, "I heard from the owner of the Quidditch boutique that the Irish international team just ordered seven of these beautiful brooms. This product is a favorite at World Cup matches!"
"I can't believe it." Harry muttered dumbly.
During his temporary stay in Diagon Alley before school started, he had made daily trips to the Quidditch boutique to view the coveted broom.
And now he had the exact same one in front of him as the one he'd had back then!
Harry picked up the gleaming fire crossbow arrow, he could feel it quivering, and let go of his hand - the
The fire crossbow arrow hung obediently in mid-air, unsupported, and just the right height off the ground for him to ride on. His eyes traveled from the golden serial number at the very top of the flying broom all the way to the completely smooth, streamlined end of the broom, his gaze transfixed.
No Quidditch player could resist the gift!
"Harry, where on earth did you find a rich brother or woman to be friends with?" George said with no small amount of envy, "'Price is negotiable', O Merlin, I bet this broom will never cost less than two thousand Galleons!"
Ron was curious about this as well, and ripped open the wrapping paper of the fire crossbow arrow that had fallen to the side for Harry.
"Come look, Harry, there's a letter here addressed to you!" He yelled suddenly.
Harry turned his head in surprise and took the letter from Ron.
After a few moments, a big grin grew on his face.
"Follow me, Ron!" Harry held the firebow arrow and the letter in the package in one hand, while with the other he tugged Hermione, who was still trying to read, along the way.
He called his two best friends into the boys' dormitory and then carefully locked the door.
"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
While it was true that Gryffindor girls had the right to enter the boys' dormitory, being forced into the boys' dormitory just like that still made Hermione blush a little, so she gave Harry an uncharacteristic glare.
"Listen to me, Ron, Hermione ...," Harry said to the two in a low voice, not caring about Hermione's expression, and after glancing at the door again to make sure there was no one else there, "This broom was sent to me early by Sirius Christmas present!"
"Sirius Black?!" Ron's mouth dropped open in surprise, but then lowered his voice, "Oh yeah, he said he was your godfather ... only I didn't realize he was that rich!"
"A decade or so ago, the Brecks were definitely no less wealthy than the Malfoys." The knowledgeable Hermione explained from the side, "Even though it's gone down, it should still be no problem for Mr. Blake to find out a few thousand Galleons to buy a broom."
Of course, none of them knew that although Sirius was nominally the last heir of the Blake family, young master Regulus Blake, whom the house elf Kreacher identified with, was rescued and quickly took control of the power of life and death of the Blake family's wealth.
Sirius is stunned to see Regulus when he returns to 12 Grimmauld Place!
Later, the two brothers had a deep conversation and thoroughly explained what they had done, which led to the realization that their final goal was all to fight Voldemort, and the two were able to unravel quite a bit as a result.
However, the wealth of the Breck family had already been taken in hand by Regulus, and Sirius, in order to purchase a new broom for Harry, begged and begged Regulus to say a lot of good words, which led to enough Galleons to buy a fire crossbow and arrows ...
In the Gryffindor boys' dormitory, Harry pulled out the piece of parchment that had been clipped into the package and waved it at Ron and Hermione.
"This is a letter from Sirius, he told me he bought me this broom." He said excitedly, "He also told me he's safe now and not to worry about him!"
Ron and Hermione came over in surprise and looked at the letter in Harry's hand.
On the parchment it read-
"Dear Harry: I hope your life at Hogwarts is going well. I have returned to the ancestral home of the Brecks and am safe now.
No Dementors will be able to find me, although the wanted notice has not been canceled. I'm sure Dumbledore and your Professor Dracula will be able to help me with the wanted issue soon, but hopefully it won't be too long before we'll be able to meet up bright and early.
This broom will be your Christmas present, I don't know if you will stay at school during Christmas vacation, so I asked the owls to deliver the present to you in advance, so I wish you a merry Christmas in advance!
By the way, that Dementor invasion of the Quidditch pitch earlier cost you your Lightwheel 2000, but they did pick up my trail. Because I wanted to see you so badly, I turned into a black dog and went to the game.
I was there for your last match, great job! Those guys from Slytherin just owe it to themselves. The broom you used in your last match was clearly not worthy of your level though, so hopefully this broom will make up for my previous transgression of causing you to lose your Light Wheel 2000.
Also, I think I gave you a scare. It was the night you left your aunt's house before school started, and I would like to apologize for that. I just wanted to visit my godson for a moment, but I think you were frightened to see me at the time.
Enclosed in the letter is something for you that I think will make your time at Hogwarts more enjoyable. If you need me, write. Your owl will find me. I will write to you again soon.
Your godfather, S.B. (Sirius Black)"
Harry saw the last paragraph and, as if realizing something, searched eagerly in the envelope.
There was another piece of parchment stuck in the envelope.
He read it quickly, suddenly feeling warm and full in his heart, as if he had downed a bottle of warm butterbeer in one gulp.
The sentence on the parchment was simple-
"I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, hereby grant him permission to travel to Hogsmeade Village for the weekend."
A smile of joy bloomed on Harry's face.
"See, Ron, Hermione, I get to go to Hogsmeade with you guys this weekend too!" He hugged his two best friends hard.
"Cool!" Ron exclaimed with equal excitement, "It's so cool to have a godfather like that!"
Hermione happily patted Harry on the back as well, when suddenly her expression became a little surprised as she looked over at the letter.
"Wait, Harry ...," she poked Harry's arm, "I think there's an enclosure on the back of that letter, it seems to be addressed to Ron."
"What? Harry's rich godfather has something else to say to me?" Ron let go of Harry almost immediately and swooped down next to the letter, "Make a wish first, I wish I could have a fire crossbow arrow too!"
"You're afraid you're not dreaming, Ron!" Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
Ron didn't take the hit from her and still picked up the letter with gusto, mumbling under his breath:
"I've earned it when a rich man like that can just give me a galleon off the top of his head ..."
The back of the letter's parchment reads thus-
"I thought your friend Ron Wesley might like to adopt the owl that sent you this letter and the flying broom. Because due to my problems, he lost his pet rat."
Ron's eyes widened.
"What? I'm going to have an owl?!" He yelled in excitement, "Where's the owl? Where is that owl?"
"It seems to have stayed in the common room after delivering the mail." Hermione pointed to the door.
"Ow! Nobody move that owl, it's mine!
"
Ron wailed and stormed out of the dormitory, running towards the owl that had delivered the flying broom and the letter.
...
Soon it was the end of the week and the three young wizards rushed outside the school gates with their hearts pounding.
Of them all, Harry, being the one who hadn't been to Hogsmeade yet, was the most emotional, looking around and feeling fresh everywhere.
It was snowing heavily in the sky, but that didn't dampen Harry's trio's enthusiasm in the slightest.
It was nearing Christmas, and Hogsmeade village looked like a Christmas card in the snow: the little cottages and stores were covered in a layer of crunchy snowflakes, there were wreaths of holly tied to the doors of every house, and enchanted candles hung in strings from the trees.
"It's a little chilly, why don't we go sit at the Three Broomsticks?"
Ron suggested after visiting the shrieking shack that had once been used by Professor Lupin to transform into a werewolf.
Harry and Hermione both nodded in agreement.
All three, their faces red from the cold but in good spirits, bounced towards the tavern called the Three Broomsticks.
There were obviously a lot of people who shared their thoughts, and the tavern was crowded and noisy, warm and smoky inside.
A shapely, bespectacled woman was at the bar tending to a group of noisy male witches.
"That's Ms. Rosmerta." Ron introduced with a slight blush as Hermione rolled her eyes dismissively beside him.
He then added, "What can I get you guys to drink? I'll go order you all drinks."
Before Ron could go forward to order a drink, however, Ms. Rosmerta thoughtfully volunteered to come over.
"What would the three of you like to drink?" She asked with a delicate smile.
"I ... would like a butterbeer." Ron couldn't help but look up and down towards Ms. Rosmerta's face.
Hermione gave a small 'hum' and then said, "I'll have a hot cocoa juice."
Ms. Rosmerta shot the two of them a sardonic look before she looked over at Harry and asked, "What about you, what would you like to drink, lad?"
"I ..."
Before Harry could name the drink he wanted, there was a sudden gust of cloudy wind blowing in the street outside the tavern.
A couple of grim-smelling dementors heaved through the door and squeezed in, recklessly sucking up inside the jolly atmosphere of the tavern, still nominally searching for wanted criminals who had escaped from Azkaban.
The noisy atmosphere inside the tavern fell silent.
Everyone looked scornfully and disgustedly at the dementors that came in through the door, but not a single person dared to do anything to resist for fear that they would be targeted by the dementors and receive the "Dementor's Kiss" from them. ...
"It's these annoying guys again, coming to affect my business all day long." Ms. Rosmerta whispered, "You three can hide better, these dementors love to stare at you little wizards and absorb happy emotions ..."
"Do these dementors ... come over often?" Harry asked in a small voice.
"Yeah, basically they patrol the stores once a day, claiming to be looking for criminals but actually coming to feed." Ms. Rosmerta said, "Business has gotten so much worse in all of our stores these days because of these monsters!"
Harry's eyes flickered for a moment, then he locked eyes with Hermione and Ron.
Ron looked righteously indignant and occasionally peeked at Ms. Rosmerta out of the corner of his eye, and Hermione was a little surprised at first, then nodded firmly at Harry.
The next moment, to the stunned gazes of Ms. Rosmerta and all the wizards present, Harry suddenly stood up.
Recalling in his mind the joy he had felt a few days before when he had received the letter from Sirius, seen the fire crossbow arrows, gotten his godfather's signature, and known that he had a kindred spirit, he lifted his wand and shouted-
"Hoo God Guard (Expe)!"
A bright silver-white light surged from the tip of Harry's wand and erupted towards the dementors, in which a lively fawn could be faintly seen leaping through the silver light.
Ron and Hermione raised their wands in unison as well, reciting the incantation of the Patronus spell.
Two slightly thinner flashes of silver light combined with Harry's Patronus to drive the dementors out of the door of the Three Broomsticks.
As if inspired by them, the other Hogwarts students in the other stores raised their wands as well.
The cry of the spell "Hogwarts Guard" gradually resounded throughout Hogsmeade, as one after another light or dark silver light erupted from within each store, and one after another Dementor was driven out.
Gradually, the silver light spread over the entire Hogsmeade village, intertwining with the white snowflakes flying in the air, illuminating the gloomy atmosphere brought about by the dementors through and through!