harry potter book of crimes

Victor is an old professor, and a "not very highly respected" old professor of astrophysics.

Because of his long-term drinking, he was half asleep almost every day, so his neighbors also disliked him and kept away from him.

But he didn't care, because for him, this life was almost over. One more friend and one less friend would have no impact at all - it would be the same after being buried in the soil anyway.

However, there is only one thing that seems to matter to him.

Even though he has already retired from the position of professor and no longer has to lead students to do research and projects. But he still chose to continue "working"...

Yes, even if he was just a volunteer cleaner, he would go out on time every morning and almost never miss a day.

Early this morning, old Victor got up from bed on time again. He put on his clothes, took the wine bottle, and then went to the volunteer center to pick up tools as usual and came here.

But now, it is already noon.

To be honest, there are a lot of tourists here. When there are too many tourists, no matter how good everyone is, there will always be garbage of one kind or another.

In addition, there has been a lot of snowfall recently, which makes it even more difficult for Old Victor to clean up.

However, it happened that on days when even the snowplows were on holiday for Christmas, he would still come here silently and sweep for half a day.

After a while, old Victor finally slowly stopped what he was doing.

He raised his head and punched his sore waist. Then he took out a stainless steel wine bottle from his pocket as if no one else was there, unscrewed the lid and poured two or three mouthfuls into his mouth, then smashed it and relaxed.

Take a long breath.

For others, drinking wine in this winter is to warm up; but for old Victor, it is just to fool his gradually waking up brain.

"Ahem——"

Victor coughed twice, then closed the bottle again, tightened it, and put it back in his pocket.

"Damn stainless steel tank..."

He stomped on the snow at his feet for no reason, but nothing happened except some snow splashing up.

Old Victor did not lose his nerve anymore, but picked up the garbage bag and continued to pick up garbage from some nooks and crannies in the snow-covered square.

Work for a while longer, and then it's time to settle for today's lunch.

"How am I still alive..."

He muttered in a low voice in a voice that even he himself could not hear clearly.

…

At the same time, at the entrance of this park located on the south bank of the Thames River in southeast London, Maka, who had just left the Fisher couple's house, quietly appeared here.

In fact, he was somewhat troubled by the fact that he was looking for Muggle experts to ask about the meteorite fall.

For a person who knows nothing about astronomical observation, let alone how to intercept meteorites... even "where to go to ask about this" will be a very big problem.

But if you can think carefully, you can at least think of a way out.

That is - "Observatory".

If he wanted to find an observatory in the UK, the first thing Macca thought of was the Greenwich Observatory, which determined the prime meridian and divided the earth into east and west halves.

Now, Maka is standing at the entrance of Greenwich Park where this famous observatory is located.

Yesterday, the sky was clear all day long, and the snow in London did not melt at all. And although it did not snow today, the gloom in the sky made people understand that the next snow might fall unexpectedly at any time.

Maka looked around a few times. Since it was the Christmas holiday, there were quite a few Muggles coming in and out of this park. Everyone was stepping on the snow on the ground, making a constant crunching sound...

That's right, the snow here has long been trampled into ice slag by visitors.

He shrugged and stopped wasting time. He raised his legs and joined the "crunching army" that solidified the snow here, and walked all the way to the park.

Speaking of which, in the past few years, Maka has come to the Muggle world to do business quite a few times, and sometimes she will shuttle among the Muggle people. But when it comes to the opportunities for real contact with Muggles, they are still very few.

Very few.

Now that he had returned to Muggle society, when he found that he really had to talk to Muggles again, he actually noticed a strange feeling emerging from his heart.

But I don't know whether I should say it was a "coincidence"? Or should I say "not a coincidence"... Just as he was vaguely surrounded by this slightly inconsistent feeling, a middle-aged uncle walking in front of him suddenly paused.

footsteps, and then looked around a few times.

Immediately, Maka saw him turn around and walk towards her.

"Sir, have you ever seen an old volunteer picking up garbage in the park? He is very old, has fluffy white hair, and must be wearing an old gray-brown coat under his volunteer uniform.

…”

Just as he was speaking, the middle-aged uncle added apologetically:

"Uh, by the way, there should be a strong smell of alcohol when he approaches, which is particularly easy to identify."

Seeing him suddenly asking, Maka was stunned for a moment before shaking her head.

"Sorry, I don't think I have seen him... I suggest you ask others."

"Oh! Really? But thank you for your answer... Maybe you don't know, that's my father. But he is drunk every day, and he insists on being a cleaning volunteer... My wife and I are

Even if I want to deliver lunch to him, I often can't find him because the route he takes is never fixed..."

The uncle smiled, but did not go to find someone else as Maka said. Instead, he continued to have a bitter relationship with Maka. Seeing his familiar face, Maka could only let him continue talking.

Go down.

Although he had a lot of means to drive him away without leaving a trace, it didn't seem necessary, after all, they didn't hinder his walking.

"Then have you asked him why he wants to be a volunteer?" Maka looked at him casually as he walked, "I guess your father is very old, right?"

"That's right!" The other party sighed, "My wife and I have tried to persuade him many times, but he just insists on doing it and won't listen no matter what! What's more terrible is that he never tells me why - every time

When I asked him about it, he drank heavily and lost his temper..."

The two of them walked forward side by side, and the uncle kept talking as long as they walked. But if you look closely, you will find that although he never stopped talking, he never forgot the original intention of looking for his father. Every few steps he took

I will glance around.

Fortunately, although Greenwich Park is very large, it is also exceptionally open and flat. When people walk in the middle, there are basically no buildings on either side that block the view. It is difficult to miss anything as you walk along.

Unfortunately, the "alcoholic old man" the middle-aged uncle called him didn't seem to be in the first half of the park, so the two of them walked to the hillside deep in the park.

Walking further, when you reach the top of the highest slope, you should be where the observatory is. I don't know if the other party's father will be there.

Not long after, a building with red brick walls and white railings finally came in front of Maka, and he immediately stopped here.

When the middle-aged man saw this, he immediately said:

"Oh, sir, are you planning to visit there?"

"Yes, let's go in and have a look..."

Maka nodded and looked towards the small square in front of the building, where a statue of a character stood.

The middle-aged man saw that he really wasn't going to leave anymore, so he had no choice but to wave goodbye to him, and then went to the back of the observatory with some unfinished business.

After being separated from the chatty son of the drunkard father, Maka hurried towards the building without any further interference.

However, the closer he got, the more confused he became - what exactly is this place?

"...'Old Royal Observatory'?"

Looking at the nameplate at the door, Maka tilted her head inexplicably.

…

Not to mention the confused Maka, right now on the other side, the middle-aged uncle who had just been chattering to Maka was walking along the road that went around the back of the observatory.

The trees here are obviously much denser than before, and perhaps because it is too far away from the main entrance, there are obviously fewer tourists.

And after he walked for a while, when the field of vision widened in front of him, a garden covered with white snow suddenly filled his entire field of vision.

"Oh, it is indeed here..." He looked at the hunched back in the garden, then shook his head and said, "Well, I've looked for it before, so where else can it be but here?"

After muttering to himself a few words like this, he shouted loudly and walked forward.

"Hey! Dad—it's time for lunch—"

"Shut up!"

As soon as the figure heard this figure, he immediately turned around and roared with great energy. Just by hearing that voice, it didn't matter that his son was young at all.

"You have to eat it yourself! Drinking is enough for me——"

After saying that, Old Victor threw away the garbage bag and actually took out his wine bottle and took several big gulps.

When the middle-aged man saw that his father was getting angry and drinking again, he quickly ran over and grabbed the wine bottle, and then stuffed the bag he had been carrying forward.

"Stop drinking. After eating..." He was only halfway through his sentence, but he quickly turned around and said, "No, no, no, if Deeks hears that I agree to your drinking, I will be doomed! I said, Dad, you

Just think about my son and stop drinking, right?"

"Can you take care of me?"

Old Victor said so, but he did not grab his own wine bottle, but took the bag handed over by his son in his hand.

"Boy, give it back to me when I finish eating, don't forget!"

As he spoke, he carried the bag and walked aside. He was about to sit down on a bench not far away to fill his stomach full of alcohol, when he accidentally saw a young man walking over.

From the looks of it, it seems like they are here to find one of their father and son? (To be continued)