It was not safe to wait outside until nightfall.Moreover, that dirty old man seemed like a very cautious person; it could not be ruled out that he had implemented other protective measures for his shop after closing.Therefore, renting a room directly in this pub was undoubtedly the safest decision.
They walked into the dirty, messy pub. Once inside, they could clearly feel the light dim suddenly, and the air was distinctly filled with a pungent smell, like that of a goat.
In the pub's main hall, a few Wizards were scattered here and there, most of them covering their heads and faces. Vera Hilke's attire had become the norm here, while Sherlock stood out as an anomaly.
The Hogs Head Inn was not noisy at all; it was very quiet inside. Even if Wizards were conversing, their voices were deliberately kept very low, never to be heard by a third person, making it completely out of place with the bustling street outside.
After Sherlock and Vera Hilke entered, they walked straight to the bar. The dirty old man, who was using the same rag he had just used to wipe glasses to wipe the table, looked at them.
"What would you like to drink?"
He clearly did not recognize that Sherlock and the others were the ones he had kicked out of the backyard two months ago.
Sherlock did not answer his question but turned his head to look at Vera Hilke.
"One room or two?"
The dirty old man's gaze toward them suddenly became subtle; he chuckled twice and then recommended:
"I still have a couple's suite here. The price isn't expensive, only..."
Before he could finish his introduction, Vera Hilke had already tossed a sickle onto the counter.
"One room each."
The dirty old man smacked his lips and tucked the sickle under the counter.
"Room Three, miss."
Then he turned his gaze to Sherlock.
"One sickle is only enough for the room charge of one room."
Sherlock shrugged and pulled a silver sickle from his own pocket.
"Room Two. Mind you don't disturb the guest in Room One; he has a bad temper, and I don't want you causing trouble in my shop."
The dirty old man muttered as he took their money, then continued wiping his bar.
Sherlock and Vera Hilke went up to the hotel on the second floor together. In front of the doors to Room Three and Room Two, they whispered to agree on a time.
"One in the morning, or shall we wait a bit later?"
"I'll come to you."
"Alright, then I wish you a good res—"
"Bang!"
Watching the door being slammed shut, Sherlock couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
"How rude."
He grumbled and pushed open the door to Room Two.
Just like the environment of the pub outside, the entire Hogs Head Inn was looked after only by that dirty old man. You couldn't expect someone who used a rag for wiping glasses to wipe the table to keep the room very clean.
The quilt on the bed was folded quite neatly, but that didn't require hands at all; a Wizard could accomplish it with a wave of a wand.
Of course, the quilts and such had definitely been treated with a cleaning spell, but Sherlock still didn't want to touch the bed. Instead, he scrubbed the chair in the room several times to remove the layer of aged grime, then sat on it to rest his eyes.
Time passed gradually, and the sky slowly darkened.
The streets outside Hogsmeade were no longer bustling, and the students had all returned to the Castle by six o'clock.
Today was not only Hogsmeade weekend but also Halloween.
And at this Halloween feast that Sherlock did not attend, the students were still having a good time.
After Sherlock left, Harry spent the afternoon in Lupin's office with him. He saw with his own eyes Lupin drinking the Potion that Snape had brewed for him.
This really made Harry sweat for him.
Everyone in Hogwarts knew that Snape had always wanted the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, and Harry and the others could clearly see that when Snape looked at Lupin, the hatred and disgust in his eyes were undisguised.
Ron and Hermione brought back many sweets for Harry from Hogsmeade and told him about meeting Sherlock on the streets of Hogsmeade.
"Hermione was right when she guessed at the start of the term; the other things Professor Cavendish has to be busy with this semester are related to that Witch," Harry said with conviction.
He told Hermione and the others about what he had encountered in the Castle. The three of them discussed it for a long time without reaching any conclusion, so they simply went to the Great Hall to attend the Halloween feast.
Although there were Dementors patrolling around the Castle and the threat of Black had not yet been resolved, there hadn't been any problems since the start of the semester, making both the students and the Professors very relaxed.
Therefore, everyone had a great time at the feast, but such happiness only lasted until the end of the feast.
But ever since Harry Potter entered the school, it seemed that the annual Halloween feast at Hogwarts was the beginning of a year of turmoil.
In his first year, a Troll broke into the Castle; in his second year, the first attack occurred; and this year, in his third year, it was naturally no exception.
Students were chatting and laughing as they left the Great Hall and returned to their respective dormitories. Only then did the Gryffindor students discover that the portrait of The Fat Lady had been torn open with a large hole, and their Common Room had been broken into!
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall quickly arrived at the scene, and the fleeing The Fat Lady was found shortly after.
The person who had broken into the Common Room was obviously Black.
...
Sherlock was unaware of everything that happened in Hogwarts tonight.
He leaned back in the chair, wearily spinning his wand on his fingertips while looking at the night sky outside the window, where the moon was nearly full.
The weather had been quite nice these past two days, with the night sky filled with stars, which made it easy for one to calm down.
Sherlock raised his hand to look at the watch on his wrist; it was already two in the morning, and he could clearly hear the faint sound of snoring coming from Room One next door.
It wasn't that the person living in Room One snored loudly, but that the soundproofing of the room was really too poor, or rather, that wooden board which could only block the view had no soundproofing to speak of.
Just as Sherlock was wondering why he hadn't heard any movement yet, his room door was knocked on gently.
He perked up, gripped his wand firmly, and opened the door lightly. Vera Hilke was standing outside the door.
Neither of them spoke; they went straight out and walked down the stairs along the corridor.
The pub hall in the dead of night was pitch black. Sherlock gently waved his wand and cast a silent spell.
A faint light lit up at the tip of his wand, clearly showing that the intensity of the Lumos Charm was intentionally controlled.
With the help of this light source, they arrived in front of the bar.
"So what are we going to do next?" Sherlock asked in a low voice.
Vera Hilke did not answer him but drew her wand and tapped the floor under the bar gently, as if confirming a location.
Soon, she found the target she was looking for.
"Grab me."
Sherlock reached out and grabbed her arm. Then, Vera Hilke gripped her wand and gently drew a circle on the ground while chanting a spell.
"Open Sesame."(TN: I can't find where I've heard that before.)
This was an ancient Alohomora, and before the Alohomora spell was invented, it was the only unlocking magic Wizards had.
But because the method was too violent, it was later replaced by the more refined "Alohomora" and "Portaberto" spells.
However, after Vera Hilke finished using this spell, the circle her wand was pointed at had no reaction at all.
Sherlock was stunned for a moment, just as he thought something had gone wrong with Vera Hilke's steps, or that the spell hadn't been used correctly.
His body suddenly twisted!
A feeling similar to Apparition came over him; Sherlock felt his body spinning rapidly, as if he had been put into a tumble dryer.
This feeling only lasted for an instant; the next moment, he was stepping on solid ground.
It was pitch black all around. Sherlock waved his wand again, casting the Lumos Charm that had been interrupted during the teleportation.
The bright white light illuminated the space around him. Vera Hilke was standing beside him, and Sherlock's other hand was still tightly gripping her arm.
"How much longer are you going to hold on?"
Hearing her speak, Sherlock snapped out of it and awkwardly let go.
"Sorry."
Although such thoughts were not gentlemanly, he still felt that it felt quite good—very soft and tender.
"Are we underground now?"
They were in a narrow, dark space, which looked like an underground passage. Behind them was a sealed wall, and in front of them was a deep darkness.
"Underground Hogsmeade." Vera Hilke walked to the wall behind them, where some blurred text still remained faintly.
Sherlock also noticed those words, and he could still understand the meaning of a few passages among them.
"Beware the lies of the Wizard's peace talks!"
"We will fight to the end!"
"Every Goblin will guard their own treasure!"
These words were quite in line with the meaning behind why this underground secret passage was built. During the Goblin rebellion two hundred years ago, this was exactly their underground command post.
"Weren't you chanting an Alohomora just now? Why were we teleported over instead?" Sherlock asked curiously.
Vera Hilke said a few more words than usual this time.
"It's a special device set up by the Goblins. By using an Alohomora to violently open the door they reserved underground, the pre-set Apparition magic behind the door is released, teleporting the person who opened the door underground while leaving no trace on the surface."
"A very ingenious design," Sherlock praised.
Since ancient times, Goblins had always been skilled craftsmen; even the Sword of Gryffindor was crafted by them. Being able to create such a secret underground command post was indeed consistent with their craftsmanship.
After resting for a moment at the entrance, Vera Hilke also used the Lumos Charm, and they headed forward together, walking into the depths of the secret passage.
I don't know if it was an illusion or something else, but the further they walked inside, the darker Sherlock felt the surroundings were.
The most significant change was that the visible range illuminated by the Lumos Charm was getting smaller and smaller.
After walking forward for about twenty minutes, Sherlock frowned and stopped in his tracks.
"Something's not right."