“The store is closing!”
Aberforth glanced at the clock on the side wall, put down the cupcloth in his hand, came out from behind the counter, and prepared to kick everyone out and close the store.
"Come on Aberforth, what time is it now?"
The last table of guests were obviously reluctant to leave.
"Ten o'clock, it's late. Also, if I were you, I wouldn't be hanging around here with Percival. I thought you had left England." Aberforth looked at the guy sitting there raising his glass to him, frowned and reminded him, "I don't think they will let you go easily, and please don't mess with my bar."
"The Death Eaters have completely lost control of this place now. What else do you think those cowards can do?"
Percival raised his glass to the other companions who lingered in the shop, all of whom looked down on the group of dark wizards in Britain who called themselves Death Eaters.
They are all rotten fish and shrimp. They really think they can bully others just by changing their titles.
In the community of dark wizards, the weak have no human rights.
"I don't understand why you are afraid of them."
The black witch at the same table spoke broken English.
Aberforth refused them permission to drink in the bar more than once, but none of them took it seriously.
After all, this is the most convenient place to make money.
"Because the You-Know-Who is very dangerous. Otherwise, why do you think the British wizarding world has become like this? Even the British Ministry of Magic has collapsed and is controlled by the You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters." Aberforth used a spell to make the rags wipe the tables automatically and put them away one by one.
"Why don't you get yourself a waiter?"
Seeing the boss cleaning the bar himself, they were a little surprised. They thought the business in the bar should be pretty good.
"Do you think anyone would dare to work for me?" Aberforth said unhappily, "If anyone had the guts, they would have gone somewhere else to make money. In the current British wizarding world, as long as you are brave enough, you can earn Galleons anywhere."
"That's true."
The reason they gathered here was purely to make money.
There are a large number of eight-eyed giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest. Those little cuties are all good stuff. They plan to get more venom and sell it slowly. There is no need to worry about not being able to get rid of it. It is difficult to find such a large-scale nest of eight-eyed giant spiders elsewhere.
Not to mention that those little cuties are dangerous. The fact that they dared to hunt the Acromantula shows that they are among the top dark wizards.
"Okay, don't stay here. Believe me, those people won't give up easily." After Aberforth cleaned up their table, he started to drive people away.
After seeing off the last customer and closing the shop door, Abuforth seemed to sense something and turned around abruptly, seeing a young man sitting at the bar.
"Good evening, Mr. Aberforth, I hope I didn't disturb you." Albert greeted him with a smile.
"Are you crazy?"
Aberforth stared in disbelief at Albert who appeared in the bar without any warning, and hurried to the window of the bar to look outside, fearing that someone would see him here.
"Don't you know that the You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters are looking for you everywhere?" He really couldn't understand why the man in front of him was so calm. He even looked like his dead brother.
"Don't worry, they won't be able to find me. Even if they do, those Death Eaters can't beat me. What's more, all the Death Eaters here have been driven away by the dark wizards."
Albert reached into his cloak pocket and pulled out two Sickles and placed them on the counter, then he got himself a bottle of butterbeer from under the counter, opened the rusty bottle, and poured it into the cup he had prepared for himself.
"They will come back," said Aberforth.
"I know. It should have been in the past few days. That's why I came to see you." Albert took a sip. It was no different from the Three Broomsticks' Butterbeer, except that the rusty bottle cap made it look uncomfortable.
"What do you want from me?"
Aberforth returned to the bar, looked at the excessively young man in front of him, and recalled their first meeting.
When he first met Albert, Aberforth expected that he would become a great man in the future.
But he could never have imagined that the boy at that time would become a remarkable guy like Albus in just a few years
When he met Albert, Aberforth finally understood why many people said that Albert was Dumbledore's successor.
Yes, they are very similar.
Albert was not like the young Dumbledore, but he was very much like the Dumbledore in his memory, just as genius, just as humble, just as unfathomable, just as calculating, just as confident and even conceited, and just as annoying.
"I hope you can provide a little help to the students of Hogwarts?" Albert put down his glass, smiled and told Aberforth why he came.
Dumbledore's Army at Hogwarts needs support, confidence, and a channel to communicate with the outside world, and the Hog's Head Inn is very suitable for this role.
"I... provide help to the students of Hogwarts..." Aberforth pointed at himself, then pointed in the direction of Hogwarts, and said in a joking tone: "Provide help?"
"I know that after the Death Eaters took control of Hogsmeade, they sealed off all the secret passages leading to Hogwarts, but you actually have another secret passage here." Albert looked at Aberforth and smiled meaningfully: "It's a very secret passage. It just takes some time to go there and back, but I don't think they should mind."
"What do you want me to do?" Aberforth repeated.
"Provide them with water and food. The children who rebelled against Snape and the Death Eaters are still holding on in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. They need supplies and a way to leave Hogwarts."
"With your ability, there should be a way!" Abuforth asked puzzledly.
"Yes, but according to the latest news I received, the professor of dark arts at Hogwarts has disappeared. The school's defenses will become more stringent. There is no need to cause trouble for the professors and students in the school."
"So, you come to trouble me?"
"Someone needs to hold up a torch to show everyone the way forward. If we lose even the last bit of courage to resist, the entire British wizarding world will be completely finished." Albert finished the butterbeer in his glass and motioned for Aberforth to lead the way.
"My brother and his clever plans have gone to hell." Aberforth said to himself, "I thought you were so smart that you had left the country, but I didn't expect you to still be here..."
"I have indeed left the UK, but that doesn't stop me from coming back." Albert interrupted with a smile, "Let's go, the situation is not as bad as you think. We will eventually defeat the mysterious man."
"Depending on you and Harry Potter"
"Of course it's Harry, he's the savior."
"Damn the Saviour," Aberforth muttered. "If you don't stay away from his plans, you will sooner or later follow his footsteps."
"Don't worry, it's all going according to plan."
"Still in the plan?"
Aberforth gave him a look that said, "Don't lie to me."
"Yes, everything is part of the plan, but Dumbledore is dead after all, so I will help him perfect the plan later." Albert looked at Aberforth's wonderful expression and continued, "Harry is alone, so he needs help, and I will help him find help and prepare for the final battle."
"So, you plan to drag all the students of Hogwarts into this?"
"No, that was their own choice. I was just carefully protecting the flame that had just been lit." Albert came to a portrait and nodded in greeting to the girl inside.
"And what on earth makes you think that defeating You-Know-Who has nothing to do with anyone else?"
"Peace is never achieved by someone, but by everyone's desire for it. You are as naive as Dumbledore in this respect."
"You seem to know him well." Aberforth raised his eyebrows slightly.
"At least, better than Harry knows him."
Albert stared at the portrait for a while, and then the portrait was pushed open from the back, and Neville Longbottom walked out.
"Hello Mr. Anderson, I didn't expect to see you here." Neville looked very excited and wanted to go up and give Albert a warm hug, but in the end he changed the hug to a handshake.
"This is Aberforth, Dumbledore's brother and the owner of the Hog's Head Inn. Perhaps you know him." After Albert introduced Neville, he said to Aberforth, "Frank and Eliza's son."
"I'm not blind," Aberforth muttered.
"Wasn't it good the way it was before?"
Neville asked in confusion after greeting Aberforth.
"Yes, but after Parkinson's disappearance, Snape will definitely strengthen the security of Hogwarts. There is no need for us to take risks, and other people will pass through here to Hogwarts when they have time."
"Are you planning to turn this place into a train station?"
"Don't worry, I'll cast some magic on you so that they won't disturb you when they Apparate over here, and they won't come to disturb you during your business hours, I promise."
"You can take them all away. I know you take in the expelled students." Aberforth didn't feel it was safe here.
"I've said before, staying in Hogwarts will be more conducive to motivating the remaining students, rather than abandoning them. No one wants to be abandoned." Albert took out a bag from his pocket and handed it to Neville, saying, "Here is the food Dobby prepared for you. Don't run around in the next few days."
"I see."
Neville took the bag, looked at Aberforth again, and turned back to Hogwarts. Everyone else was still hungry.
"Is Dobby with you?" Aberforth asked suddenly.
"Dobby loved working for me," Albert said.
"You are just like him."
It was a rare sight to find a wizard willing to pay a house-elf a salary.
"Yaxley will be back with the Death Eaters soon. You know they won't give up their own interests easily, so you'd better be careful in the next few days. I'm afraid many people will die next. Of course, they won't come to bother you in the next few days."
After Albert gave his final instructions, he planned to go back and rest.
"It's you. It's all you, right?"
Aberforth seemed to have thought of something and looked at Albert with disbelief.
"Who knows?"
Albert shrugged and Apparated away.
Dark Wizards vs. Death Eaters!
This scene was all too familiar to Aberforth.
Once upon a time, the Ministry of Magic also fought against the Death Eaters, resulting in the loss of a large number of Death Eaters' lives.
Now it has just become a dark wizard, and both sides are fighting each other for their own interests.