326 Pig’s Head Bar, Brothers, Quarrel (6k)

326 Pig’s Head Bar, Brothers, Quarrel (6k)

night.

Hogsmeade village.

Pig's Head Bar.

It was already closed, and Aberforth was sitting alone behind the counter. He was holding a gold galleons tightly in his hand, but there was no number unique to the goblins on it, but lines of small text were engraved on it.

His face was hidden in the shadow of the candlelight, and there was no way of knowing what he was thinking, but his light blue eyes revealed an indescribable meaning.

After a long silence, Aberforth poured himself a glass of Firewhiskey. He was about to pick it up and take a sip, but was interrupted by a guest who came in a hurry.

It's Albus Dumbledore. His beard is similar to Aberforth's, both pure silver-white, but their temperaments and outfits are completely different - Aberforth is wearing a piece of clothing that is instantly recognizable. He wore a simple witch robe that had been worn for a long time, and his glasses were covered with a thick layer of dust. His whole person looked like he had been transformed from the Pig's Head Bar - they were all the same slovenly appearance, full of traces of dust and filth.

But Principal Dumbledore is simply the opposite of Aberforth - he wears a neat wizard robe, printed with star patterns, and half-moon glasses hang on the bridge of his crooked nose. His temperament looks much more restrained and calm, and at the same time Also more kind and kind.

It's just that tonight Principal Dumbledore's footsteps seemed more hurried, and as soon as he came in, he asked Aberforth: "Where is the news?"

Aberforth glanced at him - the blood-related brothers didn't seem to be as close as they imagined, at least Aberforth didn't. He threw the gold coin out with a cold expression, not at all like the others who treated Dumbledore. Principal Lido was in awe.

Dumbledore seemed to have been used to this scene for a long time. Although he had not become calm enough to face Aberforth's bad attitude, he still immediately looked at the gold coins he received - he had to do this. Voldemort's power and influence are increasing day by day. He has no time to waste. As the principal of Hogwarts, he must at least ensure the safety of the students.

After seeing Principal Dumbledore's actions, Aberforth laughed mockingly - this really seemed like something his brother would do with his own hands. In the face of family ties and the so-called "great" cause, Dumbledore He will always make the choice that Aberforth despises the most.

In fact, Dumbledore had already made his choice.

"Humph!"

As if deliberately provoking, Aberforth vented the dissatisfaction in his memory without any scruples.In his eyes, Dumbledore will always have unforgivable mistakes under the aura of brilliant achievements. He is not like Elphias?6?1 Dorje who thinks that Dumbledore radiates sunshine from every pore, and he never Respecting and admiring his brother - maybe he had it when he was a student at Hogwarts. At that time, he was still young and thought he understood the importance of honor, and occasionally felt a little bit envious of Dumbledore.

But now Aberforth is old, as old as the Hog's Head Bar - full of dust and full of violent accidents. He no longer cares about any honors, even the first-class Order of Merlin. Time has dissipated the envy that once existed, leaving only strong dissatisfaction and anger.

Aberforth drank all the whiskey in the glass, and then poured another glass alone, without sharing his thoughts with Dumbledore.

Amidst the deliberate rumble, Principal Dumbledore stared at the gold coin in his hand. He had been looking at it for a long time, long enough for him to memorize the words on the coin one by one.

But he still looked at it again, and then again and again, without raising his head. The eyes behind the lenses showed a thoughtful look, and seemed to be examining.

[The material for making parchment comes from the basilisk shedding for more than a thousand years, perhaps from the ancient Greek wizard-the despicable Herbo. 】

[The magic gold coin cannot contact Professor Meadows. 】

These are all the words on the gold coins, each representing different contexts and meanings.

Callan did not hide his little thoughts - he originally wanted to deliver the news through Meadows, and did not want to have any direct contact with Dumbledore or Aberforth.But Meadows' criminal record was so tragic that Karan was afraid that she would die under an incurable curse, or that she might run back to the ancient tombs in Egypt and encounter even more terrifying threats.

In Karan's knowledge, this is definitely something that Meadows can do.Since he had taken the initiative to reveal his unwillingness to face Dumbledore, he naturally no longer cared about this trivial matter.

"You really recruited a good student."

Aberforth seems to have had enough of the silence, but his words of praise are still full of ridicule: "And he is also an amazing student. I remember he is only in the second grade, but he can already do so many amazing things." The incident came out, and he even managed to escape from the hands of a mysterious man."

Aberforth was counting Callan's "accomplishments" in detail, but Principal Dumbledore didn't pay attention to Aberforth's bad attitude, and he didn't have the heart to pay too much attention to it. All his attention was focused on this. Two short sentences above.It seems that these are not just two sentences, but two thick books filled with obscure knowledge.

Just like a person with a naturally closed brain, it is difficult for others to understand his true thoughts and intentions.

Finally, Dumbledore slowly raised his head and placed the magic gold coin on the counter again, but Aberforth did not reach out to take it.

"You should put it away yourself." Aberforth said: "Your students will only contact you anyway, and I have had enough of being an owl delivering messages."

But Dumbledore did not compromise.

He slowly sat across from the counter, shook his head and said, "We should respect each other's ideas and attitudes, otherwise it will cause students to have a rebellious mentality."

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Aberforth snorted: "This doesn't seem like something you would do, at least you haven't done it before."

There was a brief silence.

Dumbledore understood what Aberforth was referring to - the Dark Lord in the wizarding world today: Lord Voldemort.

He had been vigilant when Tom was in school, but he still failed to stop Tom's ambitions, nor could he restrain the rise of the Death Eaters.

"Mistakes may not be punished," Dumbledore slowly repeated Callan's words again: "But they must be corrected. For this, I have learned enough lessons."

Dumbledore sighed softly, looking a little tired.

The old man sitting opposite him, who was not much younger than him, had a panoramic view of this scene. At the same time, Aberforth also noticed Dumbledore's inexplicably trembling palms from the corner of his eye, and the eyebrows on his old cheeks wrinkled slightly.

He had seen with his own eyes the process of Dumbledore paying the price - the painful howl, the unstoppable trembling, the weakness that had never been shown on Dumbledore, like a man who had been punished and The torture of a prisoner was countless times more painful than the Cruciatus Curse - this was the only reason why he could tolerate the other person sitting opposite him without punching him hard.

This time, the whiskey was no longer just poured into one glass. A second glass appeared silently in front of Dumbledore, filled with brown liquid, which had a more narcotic effect than Dumbledore's favorite sweets.

Dumbledore stared at the wine glass, his eyes full of complexity and emotion, but when he raised his head, Aberforth deliberately turned his head to the other side, unwilling to look at him, let alone see the other person's eyes. of gratitude.

The wine glasses were intertwined in silence. Two people drinking alone sat together. No one spoke a word. Only the sounds of constant filling and swallowing filled the surroundings.

The wine bottle was gradually emptying, and one of the brothers had already put down his glass, silently waiting for the other man's pain to slowly subside.

Finally, both wine glasses were put away, and Aberforth wiped the glasses with a rag that looked like it had never been cleaned. His eyes were fixed on the glasses, and he asked his brother sitting across the counter.

"When are you going to take action?" Aberforth asked, "Or have you already done something?"

Dumbledore seemed to be a good drinker, and his eyes were still clear after drinking so much whiskey. He stared at the magic gold coins that Aberforth had not yet confiscated: "What are you referring to?"

Aberforth's movements in his hands paused slightly, and his eyes were slightly angry: "What else do you think I care about?"

Dumbledore raised his head, and his calm eyes met with angry ones - there was only one thing, or perhaps only one person, that could make Aberforth so concerned.

"They saw Ariana!" Aberforth suppressed his angry voice and growled in a low voice: "Your students, your dear damn students saw Ariana with their own eyes! Are you going to do nothing? We have protected her for so long, are you going to do nothing?!"

Dumbledore's tone remained calm, and the alcohol did not affect him at all: "What do you want me to do?"

"The Forgetting Curse!" Aberforth said immediately: "Don't tell me you can't do it! This doesn't even require you to use a wand. No one will notice. At least it must completely eliminate all those people's suspicions about Ariana's appearance. memory!"

There was another short silence.

Dumbledore didn't answer, but Aberforth grew angrier.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked.

Dumbledore finally spoke: "Did Ariana tell you why she showed up?"

Aberforth became inexplicably angry: "What? You don't even believe Ariana? She is just a child. What do you want her to explain? Children can do anything. What does this mean to you?" What’s important?!”

"It's not important to me." Dumbledore said slowly: "But it is important to Ariana, even crucial. We must find out Ariana's intentions - at least know whether this is her Active will, rather than...subject to the control of the Obscurus."

He expressed the worries in his heart, but what he got in exchange was deathly silence.

Aberforth's whole body trembled with anger, and he clenched his fist tightly, as if he would hit the opponent's nose hard in the next second.

"That's Ariana!" He roared with great anger: "It's not your test subject, nor is it a dispensable thing. It will only be Ariana! It will only be Ariana!"

He kept repeating loudly, as if he was crazy, suddenly grabbed a dirty wine glass and threw it at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore showed strength beyond his age and dodged easily.

He did not stop Aberforth's evil deeds. Compared to his younger brother, he was not qualified, far from it.

"I also believe this." Dumbledore said while dodging left and right: "But you have to admit one thing, her age has never changed, but we are constantly getting older, and we cannot last forever. Protect her!"

Aberforth's body suddenly froze. How could he not understand what Dumbledore meant? He was the person closest to Ariana and the person who cared for Ariana the most...how could he? You won't notice anything strange about Ariana.

After they really die, who can continue to hide Ariana so that this child who will never grow up will not be discovered by the magical world?

"Then what are you going to do?" Aberforth asked through gritted teeth, without putting down the wine glass in his hand: "Are you going to let those students remember all this? Don't forget, Callan Sangster is also here Here, you and I both know what’s unusual about him—he poisoned all the Acromantulas in the Forbidden Forest when he was in first grade, and you’re going to just watch and do nothing?! He will do it sooner or later! Having found Ariana, are you going to leave this secret in the hands of others?!”

"He has already seen her." Dumbledore suddenly stood up: "Karan has already seen Ariana, in that house."

Aberforth narrowed his light blue eyes and looked at his brother mercilessly.

Dumbledore continued: "I believe that with his ability, he has found out what Obscurus is and what the black mist that appeared in the house is. But he has done nothing, at least for now."

"Is this the case now?" Aberforth asked, "You mean he might expose this matter in the future?"

Dumbledore was silent, his light blue eyes once again showing contemplation.

"He must know the contents of the Statute of Secrecy." Dumbledore said slowly: "He also understands that the existence of Obscurus is not allowed in the magical world."

"But we have no way of knowing what he was thinking, we can only see what he did."

The second half of the sentence was muttered by Dumbledore, and Aberforth didn't understand why Dumbledore suddenly said such a sentence.

Between the two brothers, they confessed a lot to each other, but there were still secrets.

Aberforth, on the other hand, had been accustomed to this since he was on his mother's knee.

"So what are you going to do?" Aberforth asked again: "If I understand correctly, you seem to have been deliberately pampering him. When did you start to indulge your students like this?"

Dumbledore sighed slightly.

"Start by understanding that pure vigilance is useless." He whispered: "Mistakes must be corrected. Even if this person is myself."

This was also a sentence that Aberforth could not fully understand. He frowned, and all he wanted to do was throw another wine glass and hit the other person in the face!

"You are using Ariana!" Aberforth let out a dull roar, just like a ferocious beast: "Since you plan to do nothing, then you are using Ariana!"

"Use her to test the students' loyalty to you!"

Dumbledore didn't answer. He tapped his fingers lightly on the magic gold coin, making a crisp clicking sound.

"Don't pretend to be with me here!" Aberforth roughly threw the magic gold coin aside: "His concern for Meadows doesn't mean anything. You and I both understand that he just wants to find Meadows because he doesn't want to face you. Doss!”

"Yes." Dumbledore suddenly sighed: "After all, they are all my students."

Aberforth's frown deepened. Dumbledore seemed to be deliberately avoiding the topic related to Meadows. He was about to continue questioning when he suddenly heard a small noise coming from upstairs.

The two brothers looked at each other silently, and they immediately stopped all confrontations. Dumbledore took out the Elder Wand and returned the first floor to normal. Aberforth picked up the magic coins on the ground again and immediately put them away.

Just as they were cleaning up all the mess, a voice of inquiry slowly came from the stairs.

"Albus?"

The voice asked tentatively, and the blonde girl walked down sleepily. She was still holding a goat doll in her hand, and a bright phoenix stood on her shoulder.

"Albus, is it really you?" Ariana shouted in surprise after seeing the figure downstairs clearly. She ran down the stairs happily and hugged Dumbledore tightly, watching this scene. Aberforth snorted with an ugly look on his face.

"Hello, Percival."

After greeting Phoenix affectionately, Dumbledore put his palm on Ariana's head and patted her twice.

"I brought you a gift, Ariana."

Dumbledore said as he took out a can of a new flavor of cockroach stack from his pocket. Ariana immediately took a few steps back and stared at it for a while before reluctantly accepting it.

"Next time you'd better give me a book." Ariana said this all-purpose excuse.

Dumbledore blinked, and Aberforth let out a loud, deliberate laugh.

"Ariana," Dumbledore suddenly said in a gentle tone after ignoring Aberforth, "I have a question to ask you."

Aberforth's expression suddenly changed, and Ariana's expression became much more nervous. Her fingers involuntarily pulled at the corners of her pajamas.

"Did it happen that night?" she asked weakly.

Dumbledore nodded slightly.

"But I've already told Aberforth." Ariana subconsciously avoided Dumbledore's gaze: "You don't need a reason to help others. Besides, I've been here for a long time and can't do anything. Every day I can only stay in my room, and I can’t even go out at night recently..."

She gradually became aggrieved as she spoke, and Aberforth's face suddenly became even more ugly. Percival comforted her gently.

"You did very well."

In the wordless silence, Dumbledore suddenly spoke words of encouragement: "We should really help others. As brothers, we have also ignored your feelings too much."

"Go to Godric's Hollow."

"Huh?" Ariana made a confused voice, and Aberforth immediately turned to look at his brother.

"Aberforth will also go." Dumbledore said with a smile: "He will accompany you, and the bar will be temporarily closed for a while."

"Go back to our hometown. There are very few people there and no one will find you. Maybe you can raise a herd of goats again."

After the gentle suggestion, he asked kindly: "By the way, how is your health lately?"

Ariana shook her head numbly, indicating that she was fine for the time being.

"But..." She looked a little yearning, but then became hesitant: "Did I cause you trouble, Albus? Otherwise, how could you let me leave Hogsmeade... ....”

Dumbledore smiled and shook his head, and this time, his tone became inexplicably firmer.

"You will never be a problem to us."

Under the leadership of Aberforth, Ariana returned to the bedroom after saying good night.

"Did you just quarrel again?" Ariana asked, looking at Aberforth who was tucking herself into a quilt carefully: "I thought I heard something just now."

"It must be Percival." Aberforth put the excuse on the phoenix perched on the branch: "It should have woken you up."

Percival immediately shouted twice, with a bright and beautiful voice, but this only made Aberforth's mood worse, and he glared hard at Phoenix.

"I'm ok."

Ariana suddenly squeezed Aberforth's hand: "Brother, I have forgiven Albus a long time ago. It was not his fault."

Aberforth watched Ariana's face silently, and finally he pushed the goat doll next to his sister.

"Good night," he whispered, "Ariana."

After gently closing the bedroom door, Aberforth walked back to the first floor alone, where Dumbledore was silently looking out the window at the night.

The two brothers stood together.

“The Hog’s Head doesn’t have to close.”

After a while, Aberforth took out a bunch of keys and said, "Send other members of the club over. This place can be taken over by others."

Dumbledore turned to look at Aberforth, but this time Aberforth did not look at him, but turned his head deliberately.

"Then let Effias Dorje come over."

Dumbledore showed a smile: "At least he knows you and won't make this place... worse."

This was really an unintentional statement. The Hog's Head Bar could not have gotten any worse. The filthy environment was almost as bad as that of the Leaky Cauldron, and it was even difficult to distinguish between good and bad.

Aberforth snorted and recognized this candidate. Effias Dorje was better than the other members who he had not even met a few times.

"So this is your plan?" Aberforth asked: "Let me take Ariana to escape, just because of that child?"

Dumbledore shook his head and said, "Of course not."

"He is much less worried than what we have to deal with next."