Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

As the new students arrived and Filch set off on a boat towards Hogwarts, a flash of light marked Charlie's apparition onto the main street of Hogsmeade Village.

He straightened his clothes and then looked up at the sky.

The crescent moon had already risen, its faint glow mingling with the surrounding stars, painting a rather beautiful picture against the backdrop of wispy clouds.

"Looks like I've been delayed for quite a while..."

Allowing the soft moonlight to bathe his hair and shoulders, Charlie's gaze returned to the road he had walked countless times during his student days, and he murmured to himself.

Compared to the wide, smooth asphalt roads of the Muggle world, the roads of Hogsmeade Village were noticeably less pleasant to walk on... even worse than some typical English country lanes.

Walking here, looking at the thatched-roofed cottages and other buildings on either side, one felt as if transported back to the 18th century, before electricity and even the steam engine.

Charlie's gaze softened, looking at everything here with a sense of familiarity.

"I don't think I've been here since I graduated... Look, Zonko's Joke Shop, Dervish and Banges..."

Charlie muttered to himself, but his pace didn't slow.

Soon, he reached the end of the most bustling part of Hogsmeade Village.

Charlie stopped, standing at the end of the main road, and turned his head to peer into a shadowy corner.

There, nestled between buildings in a small alley, was a dilapidated, dirty little house, lurking in the darkness like a monster, coldly watching the people passing by in the sunlight.

And next to this dirty, narrow house, hung a tattered sign that had been there for who knows how many years, depicting a bloodstained white cloth wrapped around a pig's head, clearly identifying its nature – the Hog's Head Inn.

This was the place he and Dumbledore had agreed to meet in the reply letter.

Charlie smiled as he looked at the familiar bar. All the memories he had of it slowly surfaced in his mind.

In his memory, the bar consisted of only one small, dark, and very dirty room.

Stepping inside, one was met with a strong smell of goats. Thick grime covered the few protruding windows, barely letting in any light. At first glance, the floor seemed to be packed dirt, but upon stepping on it, one realized it was a stone floor covered in centuries of accumulated filth...

It could be said that for someone entering for the first time, it was more like a haunted house abandoned for hundreds of years than a bar.

But Charlie didn't mind, because an old friend of his should still be inside.

The reason Charlie agreed with Dumbledore to meet here was precisely because he wanted to see this long-unseen friend of his.

"Ding..."

Inside the Hog's Head Inn, the faint orange candlelight was the only source of light.

In the dim environment, cloaked figures whispered to each other, occasionally raising their various cups and swallowing the contents in one gulp.

Compared to the cheerful and lively Three Broomsticks, and the chaotic Leaky Cauldron, the Hog's Head Inn clearly had a completely different vibe.

Behind the counter of the Hog's Head Inn, Aberforth Dumbledore, like his brother, a tall, thin man with graying hair and beard, stood as he had decades ago, drooping his eyelids and stiffly wiping a glass that could never be truly clean.

However, unlike his brother Albus Dumbledore, Aberforth was an extremely eccentric fellow, with a touch of vulgarity in his speech.

Hearing the sound of the doorbell at the entrance, Aberforth didn't even look up. Still wiping his glass, he said emotionlessly,

"What'll it be?"

"How about a butterbeer?"

Charlie pushed open the dust-covered door and replied loudly.

Walking once again on the grime-infested floor of the Hog's Head Inn, his smile remained.

His bright and clean attire, coupled with his handsome hair and face... all seemed out of place in this environment. For a moment, as he walked in, the entire bar seemed to brighten up a bit. Even the dust that had been falling freely and the stains underfoot seemed to deliberately avoid him, suddenly veering away just as they were about to touch him.

The whispers in the bar abruptly stopped, and everyone looked up, all eyes focusing on him.

Aberforth, who had been wiping the glass with his head down, also stopped and looked up.

His turbid gaze, hiding a hint of sharpness, fell on Charlie, slowly scanning him before sneering.

"A glamour charm?"

Aberforth's voice was full of disdain and contempt, mercilessly mocking him.

"Honestly, if you can't stand this place, you can just get the hell out... Go drink milk with the little brats at the Three Broomsticks and Hogwarts. Don't come here and offend our eyes."

Hearing Aberforth's words, Charlie wasn't angry. Instead, he walked straight to the bar, his eyes meeting Aberforth's, who was still staring at him.

"What's up? Wanna have a go at me?"

Aberforth snorted, his gaze unwavering, as he glared at Charlie and retorted.

"Seriously..."

Charlie suddenly relaxed and leaned forward, propping his elbows on the bar, instantly forcing the dust on the surface to retreat and fly around.

A flash of a ring on his finger, and a large oak beer mug appeared in his hand.

"After so many years, you've become more and more talkative."

As Charlie spoke, he raised his hand, clenched it into a fist, and gently bumped it against Aberforth's chest, pushing him back a few steps.

"If it were before, you wouldn't have wasted any words, but would have directly kicked people out..."

Charlie paused again, looking at Aberforth, his normally gentle and handsome expression gradually replaced with a hint of unusual playfulness and nonchalance.

He slammed the large beer mug heavily on the table and continued,

"So, stop wasting time and fill my butterbeer now!!"

Only then, after being pushed back two steps, did Aberforth finally react, staring at the beer mug and the face that suddenly overlapped with his memory.

"Charlie!?"

"What are you doing here!!!!"

The joy Aberforth had never shown before appeared on his stiff face as he looked at the man in front of him and asked happily.

"I'm going back to Hogwarts... and came to see how my dueling teacher has been doing all these years."