Chapter 68: Gloomy Crookshanks
On the busy street of Diagon Alley, Hermione Granger was trying to squeeze through a group of excited men and women.
The sun was glaring and the summer heat wet her forehead. She tucked a strand of damp hair behind her ear and emerged from the narrow gap between the two girls in a somewhat embarrassed manner.
Not far away, a young boy screamed at the top of his lungs, "That's the fastest broom in the world. Isn't it, Dad?"
"Son, I don't think you can use this yet--" the father said in embarrassment.
"Firebolt! Fresh samples—" the owner of the Quidditch boutique shouted to the potential customers around him.
Draco would be very interested. She glanced sideways at the crowd and saw the corner of a broom. The broom's branches were neatly symmetrical and beautifully crafted, more exquisite than any broom she had ever seen. He would like it.
Although a thousand thoughts raced through her mind, she didn't stop walking, her eyes darting past the baskets of bat spleens and eel eyes, past the grocery stalls piled high with spellbooks, quills, rolls of parchment, medicine bottles, and lunar globes, and finally peering into the window of Madam Malkin's robe shop.
A pale boy with a pointy chin was standing on a footstool, waiting for the clerk to come and measure him.
"Draco!" Hermione beamed. She called his name loudly and hopped into the shop.
"Hermione." His eyes lit up and he jumped off the footstool to greet her.
"Ron really didn't lie to me! He told me he saw you nearby, so I came here to try my luck," she said happily. "I thought you wouldn't come to Diagon Alley. Aren't your parents very worried about your safety? They even banned communication."
"They made a fuss. But today is fine. My father said that almost all the Aurors have been sent to Diagon Alley. This should be the safest place in the UK right now." Draco explained to her.
"Oh, that makes sense. I always felt that there were some suspicious people in the Leaky Cauldron. They were always looking around furtively." Hermione suddenly realized.
"Are you staying at the Leaky Cauldron today?" Draco asked sharply.
"Yes, Harry and Ron are staying there today too. Mr. Weasley is so nice. He's willing to let me take his car to King's Cross Station. I haven't seen Harry yet, but I guess he'll be here soon..." Hermione said excitedly.
"Very good," Draco said dryly.
It seemed that she had lived a very fulfilling month without him - there was no sense of emptiness at all.
"Are you staying at the Leaky Cauldron, too?" Hermione asked, eyeing him curiously. He looked a little pale, perhaps because he hadn't gotten enough rest recently. He looked completely different from when they'd met in Bath.
"No, my family owns property in London," Draco said unhappily.
"So - are you here alone today?" Hermione looked around.
"My mother is buying books for me, and my father is buying potion ingredients and other things for me." Draco said calmly, looking out the window. "Where are Mr. and Mrs. Granger?"
"Oh, they dropped me off at the Leaky Cauldron and then went back. So, after you've been measured, why don't we go get some ice cream together? Ron and I have agreed to meet up there," Hermione said cheerfully.
"I'm afraid it's too late. I'll be leaving as soon as I finish measuring the clothes. Enjoy your meal." Draco said with a lost look.
He didn't know what was causing the sudden feeling of loss that came over him. He wanted to smile at her, but his heart felt blocked and he couldn't smile.
Hermione gave him a sympathetic look.
She was about to say a few more words to comfort him when a thin female clerk came over with a tape measure and pins, ready to measure Draco.
"If you are not a customer and are not buying clothes, please go outside the store. It's too crowded here!" said the female clerk angrily.
"What's your attitude?" Draco glanced at her coldly. "Is this how you treat customers?"
The shopgirl was about to say something when she was interrupted by Hermione.
"It's okay, Draco, I'm leaving now." She shook her head slightly at Draco, signaling him not to get angry. She waved at him, "See you on the train tomorrow!"
Then the girl said "sorry" to the female clerk and hurriedly left Madam Malkin's robe shop.
Draco watched Hermione leave, her long, curly brown hair standing out in the crowd.
She came and went like the wind, leaving without saying a few words.
She looks very happy, happy with or without him.
He stood on the footstool again and was absentmindedly put on a dark green robe by the female clerk.
Through the window, he saw Harry walking down the street. Hermione seemed very surprised and rushed over to hug Harry.
They hugged for several seconds, then, laughing and saying something, they happily walked together towards Fusco's Ice Cream Shop.
She didn't even hug him. She just smiled at him. Draco thought grimly, feeling as if a weight was hanging on his heart.
He was being manipulated stiffly by the inconsiderate female clerk, and always felt like he was being pricked by a needle.
"Where are you sticking that needle?" he said stiffly.
"I'm sorry. You shouldn't be so angry!" The female clerk was startled by him and said immediately.
"Watch out!" he said haughtily, watching Hermione and Harry disappear into the crowd.
"I understand." The female clerk nodded silently and rolled her eyes at the grumpy young customer behind his back.
At this moment, the perpetrators who caused Draco's depression were sitting in the seats of Florin Ice Cream admiring Ron's new wand.
"It's made of willow wood with unicorn hair inside." Ron happily put it away carefully. "It's much more convenient to use than Charlie's old wand."
"It's so beautiful! I heard that willow wood is particularly good for casting advanced silent spells." said Hermione.
"My mother used to use willow," said Harry. "Olivander once told me it was a good wand for magic."
Hearing them say this, Ron's face lit up with joy.
A few friends were enjoying large portions of ice cream in the sunshine, updating each other on their summer vacation.
The topic shifted from "The twin brothers almost locked Percy in the Pharaoh's tomb" to "The strange items in the old Black house at 12 Grimmauld Place", and finally, Hermione talked about Draco with concern.
"I think he must be feeling very bored at home. I just met him and he looked so listless and pitiful," she said with a frown.
After parting with him, she had been a little worried about him, as he didn't look well.
"I think I can understand how he feels. It was tough when Uncle Vernon locked me up and you had no news at all," Harry said sympathetically.
"He'll be free soon. He can go back to Hogwarts tomorrow," Ron reassured them. He took a big bite of ice cream and said to Harry, "Show me your Golden Goblin Stone. I've been wanting to play with it for a long time."
So Harry temporarily forgot about Draco's helpless mood of being locked up at home. He excitedly took out his birthday present and showed his best friend his Gobstones that were shining brightly in the sun. After a while, the two good brothers started a fierce battle.
Hermione's attention was not on the Gobstone.
She thought for a moment, opened her wallet and looked at her pocket money, then said to the fighting boys, "I'm going to leave for a while. I want to buy myself a birthday present."
"What? Books?" Ron said with mock kindness.
"Buy a pet." She glared at Ron unhappily. "I want an owl, too. Harry has Hedwig, you have Piglet, and I want one too... to deliver mail or something..."
——Instead of waiting for other owls to deliver her letter so that he can take her letter back.
"Look, there's a Magical Creatures shop over there." Harry dodged the slime sprayed from the Gobstones and pointed to the side. "Do you want us to go with you?"
"No need, you guys go ahead and have fun." She glanced disapprovingly at the smelly slime on Gobstone, said something, and hurried towards the store door.
Hermione returned by the time Harry and Ron finished their first game of Gobstones.
She wasn't holding any owl, but rather a large ginger cat.
"Where's your owl?" Harry asked in surprise, looking at the bad-tempered cat suspiciously.
The cat, with its sullen expression and odd, persimmon-shaped face, as if it had been bumped headfirst into a brick wall, had been snoring in Hermione's arms when it suddenly woke and glanced sharply at Harry.
"I bought this cat. Look how cute it is," said Hermione, stroking its soft, fluffy fur with delight. "I'm going to name it Crookshanks."
Harry and Ron looked at each other and wisely did not continue discussing with Hermione what "good looking" meant.
They hurriedly gathered up the Gobstones and walked back along the cobbles to the Leaky Cauldron.
As they passed by Flourish and Blotts, they saw a large iron cage behind glass. About a hundred copies of "Monster Books of Monsters" were tangled together, fiercely battling each other. Behind the cage was a sweaty clerk, about to put on a pair of thick gloves and pick up books for several impatient customers behind him.
"That book is a disaster. I wonder what kind of professor would choose that book." Ron was speechless. Through the window, he could hear the clerk screaming as he was bitten by a book.
"Do you know how to make that book quiet down?" Hermione asked vexedly. Her books were thudding and banging in a separate metal box, tied up in a pile.
"Oh, I know. Sirius told me I needed to run my hand along the spine of the book. It worked quite well." Harry grinned.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.
"Of course." Harry said confidently.
"Wait for me," said Hermione.
She ran straight to Flourish and Blotts and said something to the clerk whose arm was bitten by the book. The clerk, as if he had been pardoned, stroked the spine of the book, and the book immediately gave in.
Through the window, Harry saw the clerk thanking Hermione gratefully. Hermione waved to the sweaty clerk, then quickly came out of the bookstore and returned to them.
"Tsk, she's going to get involved in everything, isn't she?" Ron said to Harry.
Hermione just glared at him and followed the crowd forward, passing the Firebolt display again. Harry and Ron followed her, looked at the display for a few seconds, and then couldn't move forward.
"Harry, like this?" Sirius Black's voice suddenly appeared behind them.
"Sirius!" Harry heard the voice and turned to greet his godfather, asking shyly, "How did you know I liked it?"
The Blacks were all tall, standing out from the crowd. As he spoke, he glanced around the bustling crowd warily, as if he was afraid there might be some bad guys around.
He looked a little arrogant, but his grey eyes were gentle as he looked at Harry. "I was the one who gave you your first broomstick when you were a child. Of course I know that."
"What? I rode a broomstick as a kid?" Harry asked in surprise. "I didn't even know—"
"Of course. Your mother wrote to me at that time and told me that you loved that broom very much. I really hope I have the chance to watch you play. You know, the way you look at the flying broom is exactly the same as your father's." Sirius smiled slightly.
For a moment, he seemed to be looking through Harry at his best friend.
At this moment, Ron and Hermione turned around and looked at Sirius curiously. He didn't lose focus for long, as he was keenly aware of their gazes. He smiled at them kindly and said, "Oh, so this is Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, right? Mrs. Weasley asked me to find you back at the Leaky Cauldron for dinner."
So they joined the Weasleys, had a lively meal, and finally settled into some comfortable armchairs in a corner of the Leaky Cauldron.
While chatting, Hermione mentioned what she saw in the pet store.
"When I entered the pet shop, an Auror was checking the cage of mice to make sure that none of the mice's toes were missing... It's ridiculous, isn't it?" Hermione showed an incomprehensible expression on her face.
"They probably thought Peter Pettigrew was up to his old tricks again, pretending to be a pet rat or something. Speaking of which, there were so many Aurors in Diagon Alley today. I saw quite a few of my dad's colleagues from the Ministry... I thought they were all being sent out to catch Peter Pettigrew," said Ron.
"If I'm not mistaken, it's because of me, to some extent." Harry confided calmly to his companions, "Draco told me a long time ago. Peter Pettigrew might be looking for one of us."
"How could he know? Even my father doesn't know, and he still works at the Ministry of Magic!" Ron asked in surprise.
"I guess Mr. Weasley should have known about it a long time ago. He might be afraid that you would worry," said Harry.
He simply took out the letter Draco had written to him and showed it to them. Ron was stunned by the contents of the letter, while Hermione read the letter for a long time and then covered her mouth with her hands.
Hermione was terribly worried.
She only knew that Peter Pettigrew had escaped from prison, but she didn't know there was such an inside story - the prisoner actually said such words, which sounded very targeted.
Both Draco and Harry were in extreme danger. No wonder Draco hurried home at that time.
"You must be very careful, Harry, and don't get into trouble." After a long time, Hermione found her voice and said fearfully.
Ron also asked worriedly, "Harry, do you really think he's coming to see you?"
"Maybe it's me, maybe it's Draco, maybe it's someone else." Looking at their expressions, Harry became a little irritated. "Why are you acting so scared?"
"No one knows how he escaped from Azkaban. No one has ever done it before," said Ron anxiously.
Harry opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated and stopped.
He wanted to tell them about Draco's guess, but Sirius seemed reluctant to bring up the subject.
"They're going to get him, aren't they? The Aurors?" said Hermione seriously.
"Don't forget, he can turn into a rat. Aurors can check pet shops, but it's impossible for them to check every rat that appears in Diagon Alley. I don't believe there are no rats in the sewers here." Harry said sarcastically.
"Tell me, why did he capture you? Capture you or kill you? Does dealing with you mean the You-Know-Who can make a comeback?" Ron asked.
"It's Voldemort," Harry corrected him sternly.
The three of them suddenly fell into silence.
Crookshanks meowed softly on Hermione's lap, and his furry tail swung left and right, almost hitting Harry. Harry frowned, not paying any attention to the cat's unusual behavior.
"Have you forgotten who has the most powerful magic in the wizarding world today? It's Professor Dumbledore. As long as he is in Hogwarts, no one dares to make trouble!" After a while, Hermione said cheerfully.
"That's right." Ron's eyes lit up and he agreed, "And maybe he's here to see me!" He made a joke, but was startled by the possibility of the joke and shrank his neck on the spot.
"Have you told Sirius about this?" Hermione asked.
"Sirius is not afraid at all. He even taught me a few evil spells!" Harry smiled at them easily.
"Has he been home with you this holiday?" Hermione asked with interest.
"Mostly home—he likes to stay in his room. But I've seen him sneak out of the Black house a few times in the middle of the night," Harry said. "He seems a little paranoid about everything he does."
"Azkaban must have taken a toll on him..." Ron said fearfully.
"That place must be horrible," Harry agreed. "I found some old photos of him the other day, and he looks completely different now. He's still a little weak, but he's better than he was a month ago. He's a little quiet, but he's very nice to me."
"What does the Black house look like? I heard the Blacks are a very old wizarding family and should have house-elves," Ron asked curiously. His mother had been complaining the day before yesterday about needing a house-elf.
"There is a very old house-elf, but he is already crazy and he doesn't like us very much. The old Black house is quite magnificent, but it has not been cleaned for many years. Thanks to Dobby from the Draco family, he stayed at the old Black house for several days and helped us clean up. He also helped us remove a lot of dangerous dark magic items." said Harry.
"Oh, Dobby. I know him," said Hermione, remembering how Dobby often opened doors for her in Bath. "He's a very nice elf. Very clever and friendly, too."
"That sounds wonderful," said Ron enviously. They didn't have a chance to continue their conversation because Mrs. Weasley came over with her hands on her hips and ordered them to go upstairs and get some sleep.
As if their sleepiness were contagious, they yawned as they climbed the creaking stairs of the Leaky Cauldron, each returning to their own room, where they soon fell asleep.