harry potter book of crimes

Melodious music, warm fire, pleasant light, and fragrant refreshments.

At a time when the whole of London had just suffered a disaster, this elegant yet noble afternoon tea seemed somewhat out of place.

After entering this quiet and comfortable spacious room from the hustle and bustle outside, the contrast becomes particularly strong.

Looking at the graceful Queen sitting on the exquisite armchair, Maka inadvertently raised her eyebrows, and then went with Ajinbad.

Also enjoying this afternoon tea here today are the old Bishop Davidson and Maca’s old acquaintance Mr. President Scrimgeour.

Well, let's not talk about the old bishop's calm and slightly curious face. The anxiety in Scrimgeour's expression at this moment was much more obvious than that of the other two.

Seeing Maka and Ajinbad coming together, the queen and the old bishop immediately stood up and walked around the table to greet them.

When Scrimgeour saw it, he seemed to be a little slow. He paused for a moment before remembering that he should follow.

"Good afternoon, you three! You see, I finally invited the people here on time!" Akinbad said with a relaxed smile, "Oh, Mr. Scrimgeour must be more familiar with Mr. MacLean than I am.

, so please forgive me for not introducing you two——"

Ajinbad greeted him first, and then said to the old bishop and the Queen of England:

"This is the youngest professor in the history of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—Mr. Maka McClane. There are many anecdotes about him. I won't go into them now. I think I can sit down for a while.

Let’s have a nice chat when we come down for tea!”

Following Akinbad's introduction, Maka just smiled and nodded towards the two "big men" who had high status in the Muggle world, but didn't say anything for the time being.

When Ajinbad next to him saw this, he immediately turned around and introduced Maka:

"This lady is the current Queen of England, and I believe I don't need to give any more description; and the old gentleman sitting here is the previous head of the Davidson family in the British wizarding world, and once served as the second-in-command in the Muggle world.

Archbishop of Canterbury for more than ten years..."

"Of course, he is indeed a wizard, and he is also very knowledgeable in ancient magical literature - McClain, I think you will have something worth talking about."

Seeing that Ajinbad had finished the introduction, this time it was the Queen who took the initiative to extend her hand and invite her:

"Mr. MacLean, please come and sit with us! To be honest, I would rather sit with you wizards. Because in front of you, I can often relax and enjoy a leisurely afternoon tea time without having to worry about it all the time.

With one's own identity and etiquette..."

She said so, but her "elegance" that had already been engraved in her bones could still be seen in every move she made. Although, Maka felt a little uncomfortable with this seemingly calm sense of restraint.

Comfortable.

At the table where there were many snack racks and porcelain plates, Maka casually picked a chair with a back that could look out the window and sat down. After everyone else had sat down, he suddenly tilted his head slightly.

"Oh! Your Majesty, you seem to have a wide range of musical tastes?"

Maka looked at the record player on the side of the room from a distance, and right next to the high table with the record player, there was a relatively low-key record rack placed side by side.

After a short pause, he continued:

"Well, although I don't actually hate Tchaikovsky, if we want to be more relaxed, I think... let's start by changing a piece of music!"

He smiled at the queen and the old bishop. Regardless of the fact that the two seemed a little dazed, he raised his hand and moved his fingers gently.

Immediately, a record bag jumped out of the shelf, and the record inside slid out quietly, and was replaced under the record player's needle in the blink of an eye.

"Oh, that's-"

When she saw the record bag, the queen sitting opposite Maka couldn't help but show a slightly embarrassed expression, but with a hint of joy in it.

When the dance music with a light rhythm sounded in this huge room, Maka's smile suddenly became more relaxed and brighter.

"ABBA's 'Dancing Queen'... I remember my mother loved this song when I was a kid," he recalled. "Of course, I think she might have liked it more on the dance floor late at night than at tea time.

Just enjoy the song.”

"Then your mother must be very good at dancing."

Given the Queen's age, it was natural that she would not be able to hear the inexplicable emotion in Maka's tone. So she did not follow Maka's wishes, but slightly shifted her focus.

"You may be surprised, but I really love this Swedish pop song from the 1970s," she explained calmly. "After all, before I was a queen, I was still a beautiful woman..."

Speaking of this, the Queen suddenly touched her cheek and then added:

"Oh, I mean—I was."

Accompanied by music with an early rock style, Queen's playful little joke really leads to a light-hearted main melody.

Following closely behind, even the old bishop, who was always somewhat reserved, couldn't help curling his lips, as if he was cooperating with the queen's self-deprecating joke.

On the other side, Ajinbad shrugged helplessly.

"It's a pity that I wasn't very interested in music when I was young, and I could never tell the difference between good and bad music. Now that I think about it, if I had followed the trend earlier, I might have gotten a good hobby!

"

"Don't forget, you can at least play the drums!" Maka spread her hands and said, "Don't many of your African magic rituals require the sound of drums? I don't believe you can't-"

"Oh! Drum?" Ajinbad said with regret, "I have never regarded it as a musical instrument. To me, it is just a magic prop that must be struck at a specific time!"

"That's a really disappointing way to describe it."

Maka waved her hand, signaling him to stop talking quickly, causing the queen to laugh softly...

After that, except for Scrimgeour who entered the state late, the other four people talked about various topics very harmoniously.

From the Muggle world to the wizarding world, from classical opera to rock music, from one or two jokes to ancient runes, the breadth and jump of topics far exceed the limits of Buckingham Palace, a royal venue.

"...So, the reason why Dumbledore likes the ten-pin bowling game is actually because he is very good at this game. If it were Gobstone, he would not even watch it!"

When the position of the sun slowly moved from the roof to the upper window sill, and was once again obscured by increasingly dense clouds, this long tea party seemed to have finally come to an end.

But when Akinbad finished telling this interesting anecdote about Dumbledore, and when Old Bishop Davidson and Scrimgeour, who had finally integrated into the relaxed atmosphere, laughed at the right time, Maka suddenly took out the half-eaten fruit.

He threw it into his mouth and started chewing it.

Even during this relaxing tea time, his behavior seemed a little too rude.

However, he, the guy who took the lead in suggesting that he should be more relaxed, suddenly became inexplicably serious after swallowing the dessert.

The rapid transition from "rude" to "serious", this contrasting transition immediately attracted the attention of the rest of the people present.

Only Scrimgeour, who had been a little slow from beginning to end, still couldn't react as quickly as the other three.

"Um?"

When he felt that the room suddenly became quiet, he looked around blankly.

"What's wrong? Why did you stop talking all of a sudden... Wasn't Mr. Akinbard's words very interesting? If he hadn't said it this time, I wouldn't have known that Mr. Dumbledore would be bad at something!"

Maka glanced at him, then shook her head helplessly.

"That's nonsense - Professor Dumbledore used to be the head of the Gobstone Club at Hogwarts!"

After that, he ignored the surprised Scrimgeour and turned to look at the Queen and the old Bishop Davidson sitting not far from her.

"You two, it's almost time. I have to go back to St. Mungo's later to do routine examinations on the injured." He said calmly, "If you have anything to say, it's time to say it!"

The two of them did not expect that Maka would turn the atmosphere into a somewhat stiff state so suddenly, but since they had almost been walking in Maka's rhythm this afternoon, they couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

To be honest, this young man is really good at controlling situations, and his weapon is this kind of smooth transition that is unexpected but never unacceptable.

Fortunately, today, neither the witch nor the old bishop objected to Maka taking the lead in this conversation, because they actually both wanted Maka to help.

Of course, if it's Davidson's side, he might even add some admiration for Maka's amazing magical power.

"Yes, it's time to say it..." The old bishop took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and sighed suddenly, "To be honest, I really want to be immersed in the relaxed and comfortable feeling just now. It's just that

It’s a pity that we may need it to relieve some stress, but we cannot rely on it uncontrollably.”

"What you have to face is what you have to face." Maka nodded and said, "Although I don't hate having fun."

Hearing what Maka said, the old bishop put on his glasses again, and then looked at him deeply.

"Having you here at Hogwarts is the luck of the entire school, and also the luck of Dumbledore..." He said quietly, "In this case, you should have guessed what we mean. In fact, I and I

The Queen has discussed it and we want to invite you——"

"Sorry, I refuse."

Before the other party could finish speaking, Maka spoke crisply. (To be continued)