Albert had just come out of the clothing store, holding packages in both hands, and complained: "Alas, why did Fengya Wizard Clothing Store suddenly stop supporting mail delivery?"
In fact, Albert knew the reason. The notice on the door of the store clearly stated that Dementors would patrol the streets of Hogsmeade after sunset every day.
All right.
Dementors frequently harassed Hogsmeade Village, causing the Hogsmeade Post Office to stop mailing after dusk. After all, animals have the instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm. The owls in the post office could not withstand the repeated threats of Dementors, and the manager of the Fengya Wizard Clothing Store obviously did not have time to help him mail the items before closing the store.
"Help me check if there's anything I haven't bought yet. The list is in my left pocket."
As he spoke, Albert turned slightly and handed the task of checking the shopping list to his girlfriend beside him.
Isobel reached into Albert's robe pocket and pulled out the frighteningly long list: "This list just got longer."
"It can't be helped. I know more people now. Maybe I should ask Beetee to help with the shopping."
Although he said this, Albert would usually choose gifts by himself whenever he had free time. He always had to find something for himself and Isobel to do, otherwise coming to Hogsmeade with nothing to do would actually be quite boring, especially for women, who are always keen on going shopping.
"I've bought all the clothes, what should I do with the rest?"
"I've asked my family to help buy the rest."
Wizards who can exchange letters with Albert usually don't care about his Muggle identity, so they don't mind if Albert occasionally sends them gifts from the Muggle world. For example, the champagne that Albert brought back from France last time was very popular with them.
The two walked towards a secluded alley not far away. Isobel pretended to read the wanted list posted on the wall, while Albert walked into the alley and handed the package in his hand to the invisible house-elf.
"Bit, please take the things back first."
"Yes, Master."
The house-elf stuffed all the packages into a large bag, then hoisted the packages over his shoulder like Santa Claus, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"No wonder many wizards want a house-elf to help with housework." Isobel looked at Beetee's departing back and asked, "Where are we going next, Honeydukes Candy Store?"
"Well, I remember Professor Slughorn likes candied pineapple." Albert took the list and added a portion of candied pineapple to it.
"I thought you didn't like Professor Slughorn very much."
"He's not that annoying. Professor Slughorn is a vain, sophisticated, selfish, and hedonist." Albert noticed that Isobel was looking at him, so he asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's rare to see you evaluate someone like this."
"Professor Slughorn is not a bad person." Albert said self-deprecatingly, "In fact, most people are like this, including myself, who is a sophisticated egoist and hedonist. This is the status quo, you can't ask for too much, not to mention that Professor Slughorn has done nothing bad."
"It's a good idea to keep in touch with him and give him a Christmas present. I think Professor Slughorn will be very happy. This is the cheapest way to make friends. Besides, he knows a lot of people who may come in handy someday."
Isobel finally understood what those wool socks, wool scarves, and wool hats were all about.
Well, price is not the issue, what matters is the thought.
The two walked towards Honeydukes candy store. Near the candy store, Albert saw a red lollipop floating next to Ron and Hermione.
Isobel followed his gaze and apparently saw it too.
"Harry Potter?"
"He should be wearing that invisibility cloak, which is not a good idea." Albert said softly. He suddenly wanted to play a prank and pull Potter's invisibility cloak down a little, exposing his head to everyone's eyes, which would definitely cause a sensation immediately.
However, Albert finally suppressed the idea and went to Honeydukes Candy Store with Isobel to buy sweets.
"Are you losing weight?"
Albert raised his eyebrows and asked when he noticed that Isobel didn't buy him any snacks.
"Eating too much sweet food is bad for your health."
"Exercise more. There's no need to force yourself to diet."
As we came out of the candy store, snowflakes began to fall from the sky.
Albert looked up at the snowflakes flying in the sky and said, "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks and have a cup of hot butterbeer."
"Yeah." Isobel helped take a package and walked towards the three brooms not far away. On the way, when passing through the alley, Albert stopped and his eyes fell on the black dog that was rummaging through the trash can.
Blake
Albert couldn't be sure, but it made sense, as it was hard to find food in the forest in winter.
"What happened to the dog?"
Isobel followed Albert's gaze and also noticed the black dog rummaging through the trash can.
"Very rare." Albert's voice was very soft, as if he was worried about scaring the black dog away.
"Dogs are rare?"
Isobel looked at Albert in confusion, then her eyes returned to the black dog.
The black dog seemed to notice someone was staring at it, and ran away quickly with half of the bun in its mouth.
"Except Hagrid, I've rarely seen wizards keep dogs, and I've never seen a second dog near the school." Albert looked at the dog's disappearing back and was sure that it was Sirius Black.
"Is there something wrong with that dog?" Isobel immediately realized why Albert said that. "Did you predict something again?"
It’s no wonder Isobel thought this way. Albert suddenly paid attention to a dog, and the dog looked suspicious no matter how you looked at it.
"I'm not sure, but that dog gives me a sense of disharmony. Forget it, it's none of our business anyway." Albert withdrew his gaze from the alley and looked in the direction of the Three Broomsticks. He happened to see Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick and Hagrid appear outside the Three Broomsticks together. With them was a man wearing a dark yellow-green bowler hat. Hagrid deliberately fell behind and talked to the other man.
As Albert got closer, he saw who the man was: Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge.
Fudge was very perfunctory about the talk of the Hippogriff, but Hagrid didn't seem to notice. He was still talking to himself, trying to change the Minister of Magic's mind with words.
Albert and Isobel arrived at the door of the Three Broomsticks Inn. Hagrid seemed to notice their arrival and greeted Albert with a smile.
"Minister, perhaps you have heard of his name, Albert Anderson, the genius who has won several international awards." Hagrid introduced him to Fudge.
"Oh, of course. But this is the first time I've seen one in person. It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Anderson."
Cornelius Fudge, who was about to enter the bar, stopped and turned to look after hearing Hagrid's words. When he saw Albert, the expression on Fudge's face changed slightly, but soon returned to normal.
Isobel raised her eyebrows slightly; she could not hide the Minister of Magic's thoughts from her.
After entering the bar, Albert felt that the atmosphere in the bar was a bit strange. It seemed that everyone was very restrained because the professor entered the bar.
Isobel reached out to take the foaming hot butterbeer handed to her by Albert, looked at Fudge's back and whispered, "Now I know why you don't like him."