The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

Another winter came, and Loren Morgan was 10 years old.

Heavy snow covers the hillside, the branches, and the thatch on the house, a vast expanse of white.

Peter no longer herds sheep, and everyone has also stocked up on winter grain and pasture for the sheep. The residents at the foot of the mountain are making some handicrafts at home and taking them to the city to exchange for money and buy some daily necessities.

When the sun came out, Mr. Bates wouldn't let Loren go to the mountains, saying it would hurt his eyes. When Loren has nothing to do, he will catch some animals in the forest and look for some plants that can be eaten in winter, but most of the time he has to go to school.

Mr. Bates prepared some old textbooks and a dictionary in advance, and Loren read them when he had nothing to do. He helped teachers and people in the church copy some documents and letters, and quickly mastered these contents. Mr. Bates said he would be a great person. A man of achievement.

The school was in a small town at the foot of the mountain. Every morning, Mr. Bates took Loren down on a sled, and in the evening he carried him back on his back. The days passed like this.

On Christmas Eve, a wandering band came to the town, and Loren made an appointment with Pete to watch their show.

Red cloth strips and small lanterns were hung on the trees on both sides of the road, and there was festive music in the shops. The restaurants and bars were crowded with people, and the warm yellow lights made people feel warm.

Pete and Loren were wearing baggy sweaters and sheepskin coats, and each wore a gray and white striped scarf.

Loren put his hands in his pockets and watched as Pete devoured the roasted sweet potatoes he bought on the street.

"This band is really weird. It's called the Norn Three Goddesses, but it turns out they are all male musicians." Loren thought for a moment, and there should be no 23 genders in Britain in the 1980s.

"Why do you care about this? As long as it's fun." Pete didn't care at all.

"The performance will have to wait for a while. There is a small market over there. Do you want to go shopping?" Loren was very interested and saved some pocket money.

"You go shopping. I'd rather go inside and sit here than blow the cold wind." Peter shook his head.

Loren goes to the market and asks Pete to help him get a spot. The small market is actually a small market where some vendors set up stalls in the alley behind the performance hall, selling some small things during the rare lively moments in the town.

Woolen socks, gloves, Easter eggs, Russian matryoshka dolls, all kinds of weird things are there. Loren even saw a Chinese nine-link ring. But he just walked around and took a look. He didn't want to buy anything. He was just curious.

When they came to the street, Loren saw a thin, white-haired old man in a neat dress, sitting there with a cup of steaming coffee and slowly drinking it.

In front of the old man was a blanket made of unknown animal skin, with two large books on it. The pedestrians passing by and the vendors setting up stalls seemed unable to see this person. Loren felt a little curious and walked up.

"Hello, sir. Can you read these two books?" Loren asked.

Listening to the childish voice, the old man looked up, seemingly a little surprised by the child in front of him.

Loren looked at the old man's sunken eyes. He could not describe the color of the eyes in front of him. He could only feel that the ancient and mysterious meaning was almost seeping out through his eyes.

"Of course, this is what is for sale." The old man showed a free and easy smile.

Loren knelt down and reached out to flip through the two books. One was an English book called "A Comprehensive Interpretation of Pictographic Symbols." It is thicker than a dictionary and looks like it was copied manually. The handwriting is very neat and the material is a bit like parchment.

The other book had no name. When Loren touched this book, his mind suddenly went into a trance. He opened the title page and the moment his eyes touched it, he felt as if he was about to be sucked into the book. This feeling flashed and disappeared in an instant, as if it was just an illusion.

The title page said it was written by a man named Abraham, and Loren couldn't understand the text behind it.

There are some illustrations at the back, the material feels like soft bark, very thin, there are not many pages, and they are connected together with copper rings.

The two books seem to contain some kind of occult content.

"How much?" Loren planned to buy it for fun.

"Oh, are you really going to buy it?" The old man in front of him looked very happy.

"Of course, if the price is right." Loren was afraid that the other party would take the opportunity to raise the price.

"With all due respect, I would like to ask if you are engaged in some kind of copying work." The old man was very interested and seemed to be more concerned about the person in front of him than about selling books.

Loren didn't quite understand what he meant, but he still answered truthfully: "Yes, I will help the teachers and church people copy some documents and letters."

"Hahaha, okay! It's so interesting." The old man laughed out loud.

When he first got the book, he was very happy. As a result, the text behind the title page was translated and read, "Except for the high priest and the book scribes, anyone else who reads this book will be viciously cursed."

Before sending off the Book of Abraham, he asked volubly whether Loren was engaged in some kind of copying work, and the result was as he expected.

The old man looked at the child in front of him as if he were seeing himself hundreds of years ago.

Seeing that Loren was a little frightened, he added: "Sorry, I remembered something from a long time ago."

The old man did not continue, but stretched out his hand to wrap the two books in a blanket and handed them to Loren.

"Then I'll charge you 13 pounds." The old man said casually.

Loren's heart moved. He only had 13 pounds on him. I don't know if it's a coincidence or another reason, but this old man looks weird.

He handed the money to the old man and accepted the book.

The old man collected the money, stood up, straightened his clothes, turned and walked away, "That's it, we will meet again, Loren."

There are already magic waves in this little guy, and the Book of Access must know his name. They will meet again.

Loren nodded numbly. On the way to the performance hall, he kept thinking about where the old guy had put the cup of coffee and the small bench. He was really like a magician.

He decided to read these two books as stories, and he didn't look up any information if he couldn't understand them.

It's like this in TV dramas. A mysterious person gives you a mysterious thing. The more you check it, the more you fall into the trap designed by him. This kind of person can't get any better!

Entering the performance hall, the performance has already begun. Loren looked around and found Pete in the front row, stage right.

Pete also saw him, stood up and waved, calling: "Hey! Loren! Here! This band is really interesting."

The two said hello, and Loren sat next to Peter and watched the show.

Almost all of the male musicians on the stage have long hair, and they are not overly rock and roll hip-hop as Loren thought. There are songs of various styles, and it is a performance by a serious band.

The musicians on stage set the mood, and the audience in the audience clapped, screamed, and laughed along with them. Such happy moments are rare in the small town.

People around Loren commented that most of the songs performed were unfamiliar, but the styles were all very special.

“This band is amazing!”

"They will definitely release their own record after the tour!"

"They will definitely become popular!"

A group of young people were shouting.

Loren's somewhat impetuous heart calmed down with the singing and dancing.

In this winter, this Christmas, he began to miss Grandpa Bates's cheese, Sister Joyce's arms, and the cookies Mr. Bumble gave him that day...

What did the biscuits smell like? Loren felt that time passed so quickly that he couldn't even remember what Mr. Bumble looked like...