However, the thought of Ron being all warm and fuzzy with his enemy every day made Harry quite unhappy.
“As for the Rocket Crossbow, you should be able to receive this gift before your next match.”
Ethan believed Sirius wouldn't pass up this opportunity to get closer to Harry.
As for the so-called ordering period, what was that in the face of money?
As long as Sirius was willing to pay extra, he could acquire a Rocket Crossbow in minutes.
“Didn't you say you didn't have a Rocket Crossbow?”
Harry now knew that the Rocket Crossbow was just an excuse to lure him out. In reality, Ethan had only ordered one in the first place.
But even though he had deceived him, he still had to thank him. If not for this, he wouldn't even know who his real enemy was.
“I don't have one, but Sirius can. Just wait!”
Harry then remembered Sirius's identity. Like him, he had also inherited a family fortune.
The Black family was more prominent than the Potter family, so their inheritance was probably much larger than his.
Sirius seemed very concerned about him just now. They said he was the godfather his deceased father had found for him.
But would he really send a Rocket Crossbow?
This was worth five thousand Galleons, after all. Harry wasn't sure.
Soon, in the eyes of the other young wizards, Harry and Ethan walked into the Great Hall, chatting and laughing.
Ethan went to the Ravenclaw table, while Harry returned to the Gryffindor table and sat directly next to Ron.
“Did you buy the Rocket Crossbow?”
Ron asked curiously while eating smoked sausages.
The surrounding young wizards also perked up their ears. Many of them had heard Harry and Ron's conversation in the dormitory.
They wanted to know if Harry could get the Rocket Crossbow and then lead Gryffindor to win the Quidditch championship.
“I bought it, but the thing is still at his house and hasn't been brought over yet. Ethan originally intended to collect it, but now he doesn't want it. After returning from Hogsmeade, he'll send something home and have his family owl the Rocket Crossbow over.”
Harry tried his best to appear calm.
Fortunately, Ron's attention was mostly on the food, and he didn't pay much attention at the moment.
“I see!”
“Tell him to hurry up. There's a match next week.”
Ron said without looking up.
“Yeah, I know.”
“I'm in a good mood today, Ron. Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me? Buy whatever you want, and I'll pay for everything. Consider it a celebration of me getting the Rocket Crossbow.”
Harry said this loudly, and the surrounding young wizards all turned to look at Ron.
Many young wizards were very envious of this. How come they didn't have such a generous friend?
Even Dumbledore at the professor's table was attracted by the attention. Usually, when Harry was present, his attention was mostly on Harry. Harry had deliberately spoken loudly just now, making it difficult not to attract him.
If there was nothing to deal with, Dumbledore usually dined with the young wizards of Hogwarts at the professor's table, and this morning was no exception.
Hearing Harry say this, Ron's face changed on the spot. He hadn't expected this move!
Originally, he had made up his mind not to go.
Looking at the gazes of the surrounding young wizards, and looking at the gazes of Dumbledore, Snape, Lupin, and others from the professor's table, Ron quickly lowered his head.
“Harry, I don't lack Galleons right now. You don't need to pay. I'll go with you another time. Let's just forget about today.”
Ron was still trying to salvage the situation.
“Ron, you only have so many Galleons. By the time you buy new textbooks and wizard robes this year and next year, they'll probably be used up. Maybe you'll need to prepare dress robes or something later, and it might not be enough.”
“I'm happy today, so I'll pay for you if I say I will. You don't need to save. I still have a considerable amount of Galleons in Gringotts.”
As before, Harry's voice was not small, and it attracted even more attention.
At this moment, many young wizards were planning to befriend Harry.
He's so considerate of his friends. I'm really going to cry!
Why doesn't my dormitory have someone like this!
At the same time, the surrounding young wizards began to talk quietly, most of them praising Harry and envying Ron.
“Since you've said so, then I'll go with you. I won't save you any money when the time comes.”
Ron's forehead had already started to sweat. He had no choice but to agree at this moment.
Unless he had a legitimate reason, but he spent every day either chatting about Quidditch or playing wizard's chess. He didn't even practice spells anymore. How could he have a legitimate reason?
If he said he wasn't feeling well, he wouldn't dare go to Madam Pomfrey, so he could only bite the bullet and agree.
But it's just a trip to Hogsmeade. Things haven't gotten that bad.
“Just buy whatever you want. Speaking of which, this will be the first time I've gone to Hogsmeade with you.”
Hearing Ron agree to go, a joyful expression appeared on Harry's face.
This made the surrounding young wizards secretly hate Ron one by one. How could this unlucky guy have such a good relationship with Harry?
Everything that happened next was the same as usual. After eating breakfast, the young wizards who were preparing to go to Hogsmeade went to gather at the main entrance after waiting for a while.
There, Filch would confirm that everyone going to Hogsmeade was of age and had obtained the consent of their guardian.
After confirming, Harry and Ron got on the same Thestral carriage.
Ethan, using a Disillusionment Charm, stood at the main entrance, watching all of this, while holding the Marauder's Map in his hand to determine Peter's location.
Only after Peter and Ron got on the carriage did Ethan send a message to Lupin using the wizarding mail, asking them to go to the Shrieking Shack and wait.
Then, Ethan used Shadow Stealth to hide directly in the Thestral's shadow.
At this moment, Ethan could feel that the Thestral had noticed him, but it didn't react, only looking at the place where Ethan was a few more times.
It seems that the energy cubes I fed them when I went to the Forbidden Forest weren't wasted. Although I also plucked some Thestral tail hair, I've built a good relationship with them!
Harry and Ron, sitting in the carriage, didn't notice anything and were chatting as usual.
Because of Ron, none of the other Gryffindor students chose this carriage.
This led to only Harry and Ron being in the carriage until now.
On the other side, having received Ethan's message, Lupin also began to act with Sirius.
He directly put him in a box with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Hagrid!"
Quickly arriving at Hagrid's hut, Lupin knocked loudly.
Originally, I planned to talk to Hagrid during breakfast, but Hagrid didn't come to the professors' table for breakfast today.
As for the reason, Lupin also knew that it must be because he patrolled the Forbidden Forest too late yesterday. There was no need to teach classes today, and Hogsmeade held no appeal for him, so he slept in.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Bang!
The sound of barking and something falling to the ground rang out one after another. With a creak, the heavy wooden door was pulled open, and Hagrid, squinting, sized up the person who disturbed his sleep.
"Lupin, it's you! What's the matter?"
Seeing that it was Lupin, Hagrid immediately invited Lupin into the house.
The two were also good friends for many years. After Lupin returned to Hogwarts as a professor, he visited Hagrid several times and also taught Hagrid some tips he had learned on how to improve the classroom atmosphere.
"I need a Thestral to go to Hogsmeade. The carriages there are already full of students, and I don't want to squeeze in."
"I finally made some money, and I plan to go and have a few drinks."
The Thestral carriages were naturally not full, but Hagrid would definitely not think of this, so Lupin thought there was nothing wrong with saying this.
If he wanted to arrive in Hogsmeade before Harry and Ron, who were riding in the Thestral carriage, he had to use some special means, such as Apparition like a phoenix, or a Portkey.
Other than that, there was only riding magical creatures left. Those that needed to pull carriages were definitely not as fast as those that flew bare.
"Alright, wait for me to clean up, and I'll go find a Thestral with you."
Hagrid nodded, planning to wash his face and change his clothes.
He wouldn't refuse his friend too much, as long as it wasn't too excessive or asking about things he couldn't say.
"No need, I have to hurry over there."
Lupin didn't have time to wait for Hagrid to clean up. He estimated that the Thestral carriage would leave in a while.
"Alright, I'll take you there now. Tell me the truth, do you have a date with someone in Hogsmeade?"
Walking on the road, Hagrid gossiped for once.
After all, Lupin looked so impatient, there must be something urging him to go there early. Thinking about Lupin's age, he was not young anymore, maybe he was taking advantage of being a professor at Hogwarts to hook up with a witch.
Now the two of them were meeting in a tavern or teahouse in Hogsmeade. Otherwise, why would he be in such a hurry, not even giving himself time to clean up?
"No!"
Lupin shook his head quite firmly. He naturally understood what Hagrid meant.
Seeing that Lupin denied it, Hagrid didn't insist anymore. He wasn't the type to get to the bottom of things, although sometimes he couldn't keep secrets.
Soon, Hagrid took Lupin to the place where the Thestrals were managed. Since Caretaker left, he was in charge of the Thestrals.
Not all of the Thestrals were going to pull the carriages this time. After all, only five grades were qualified to go to Hogsmeade.
And Hogwarts' Thestrals were enough to bring the students of all seven grades back to Hogwarts from the station.
Soon Hagrid found a fairly strong Thestral for Lupin. After stroking it a few times, Hagrid slapped the Thestral's butt.
The Thestral flapped its wings and took Lupin into the air. Although they were all wild and free-range, the Thestrals had been pulling carriages at Hogwarts for many years, and occasionally they would act as aerial mounts, so there were no problems at the moment.
Soon it took Lupin to the outskirts of Hogsmeade. After dismounting, Lupin fed the Thestral the dried meat he had prepared in advance.
[Thank you to大佬 donghua for the monthly ticket, thank you大佬!]
Chapter 203: Stalker Snape
On the small road outside Hogsmeade, one Thestral carriage after another began to slow down.
When the Thestral passed through the shadows of a grove of trees, Ethan left Ron and Harry's carriage.
He took out the wizarding mailbox, which had unread messages. He looked at it and, sure enough, Lupin had already arrived one step ahead, three minutes earlier.
When the carriage stopped steadily by the side of the road, Harry and Ron walked out of the Thestral carriage together, and Ethan came to the two of them from behind.
It was as if Ethan had gotten off the carriage behind them.
Ron frowned slightly when he saw Ethan coming with him, but he didn't say much.
"Ethan, you came at the right time. Do you want to join us later? My treat."
Harry nodded slightly when he saw Ethan coming, then showed a happy expression and said.
"Okay, I'm alone today too, so I'll act with you guys."
As he spoke, Ethan followed on Ron's left.
Ron, who had been looking down, glanced at Harry suspiciously, then glanced at Ethan.
At first, he thought he was just coming to say hello and leave, but he was going to act together?
And Ethan wasn't short of money, he might even be richer than Harry, did he need Harry to pay?
Ethan wasn't the type to take advantage of others!
How could he agree?
He didn't see any of the little witches who usually surrounded him today, something was wrong!
"Harry, where are we going?"
Ron, who had been thinking about what was going on with Ethan and Harry today, hadn't carefully observed the route.
