The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 644: Familiar People

The sunshine in Hogwarts in the summer is always so bright. Even though Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic under his control are lurking in the south, Ryan and his friends still see many students sitting or lying on the lawn basking in the sun.

After checking the road permit in Ryan's hand, the patrol captain opened the iron gate of Hogwarts Castle. After nodding and thanking the patrol captain who was a member of Percy's team before, Ryan and Hermione walked along the dirt road towards Hogsmeade Town.

Hogsmeade is much bigger and cleaner than before. The scattered tents have disappeared, and there are now several rows of townhouses neatly arranged on the open space at the edge of the town. People can be seen coming in and out of the houses from time to time.

"Good afternoon, Ryan. Oh, and Hermione, good afternoon to you too." Just as Ryan and his friends were walking along the road to the center of town, a flaxen-haired young woman next to them greeted them. They were stunned for a moment before they realized that the young woman sitting there basking in the sun was Nymphadora Tonks, now she should be called Nymphadora Lupin.

Tonks was completely different from her previous handsome look with bright hair and leather jacket. Now she was lying on a recliner, wearing comfortable and loose cotton clothes, and her face was rounder than before.

"Hello, Mrs. Lupin." Ryan and Hermione walked down the road together and chatted with Tonks who was sitting in front of the door of a townhouse. "By the way, didn't you and Lupin go on a trip to Northern Europe? Why are you here now?"

"We were originally traveling in Northern Europe," Tonks said as she sat up. "But after the Hogwarts Express was attacked and the Ministry of Magic changed hands, we and Sirius responded to Headmaster Dumbledore's call and rushed back to England. But when we came back, you two were still holding out in Azkaban, and then you went back to school to prepare for the NEWT exam. So it's normal that you didn't know we were back."

"Oh, we have been quite busy recently and haven't even paid much attention to what is happening outside." Hermione nodded. "Then where is Professor Lupin now? Why are you the only one here now?"

"Lupin is now mainly responsible for the connection between the production of various magic raw materials here and in Northern Europe, to ensure that the local magic props and potion producers have enough raw materials." Tonks touched her belly when she said this. "As for me, I found out I was pregnant after I came back, so I'm staying here with my parents for the time being."

"You're pregnant? That's great!" Hermione congratulated Tonks. "You shouldn't go out to work for a while. Although the situation is dangerous now, it's not so bad that we need to rely on pregnant women to help."

Unlike ordinary people, when wizards are pregnant, they will try to reduce the making of potions or casting of certain magics, because these things may affect the development of the fetus. In addition, the fertility rate of wizards is not very high, so the newborn is more important. Therefore, traditionally, wizards will stop working once they are pregnant.

"That's why I'm here in the sun." Tonks said helplessly. "If you ask me, I'd rather go to the Auror Headquarters right now than stay here and not be able to go anywhere."

At this point, Tonks looked at Ryan and said, "I really want to thank you. If you hadn't helped solve his problem, even my parents wouldn't have accepted a werewolf as their son-in-law."

"Nothing, this is what I should do." Ryan smiled. "And now they have shown their value. If it weren't for those hardworking werewolves, we wouldn't have enough raw materials to make various potions and magic props."

"But thank you anyway." After a while of small talk, an older woman with soft light brown hair and large eyes came out of the room.

Ryan and Hermione both subconsciously reached for their wands, but they put their hands down again. The person in front of them did look more like Bellatrix, but she looked much softer. "You are Ryan and Hermione, right?" the older woman said, "Thank you very much for helping Dora and Remus. I am Andromeda Tonks, Dora's mother."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Tonks." Ryan and Hermione greeted at the same time. The elderly woman in front of them should be Sirius' cousin and Bellatrix's sister. No wonder she looked like Bellatrix to Ryan and the others when she walked out of the dark room just now.

After a few pleasantries, Ryan and Hermione left quickly. Tonks returned to her room with her mother, who told her that she and her family were helping the Ministry of Magic deal with a series of documents and accounts at home.

"I was really scared when Mrs. Tonks came out just now." Hermione said as they walked down the street in Hogsmeade, "But if you look closely, there are obvious differences between the sisters. And Sirius also said that this cousin is his closest relative. Come to think of it, a member of the Black family chose to marry a Muggle-born wizard. She is indeed the same kind of person as Sirius."

Ryan nodded to show his agreement with Hermione, and then looked at the situation on both sides of the street with interest. At this time, they had arrived at the main street of Hogsmeade. Unlike the deserted place a week ago, there were many wizards walking around on the streets of Hogsmeade now, which seemed very prosperous.

After all, the situation has stabilized initially. Even though Voldemort is still a huge threat in the south, the lives of wizards still have to go on. In addition, various situations in the past period of time have forced many wizards to stay at home, so that their stocks have been consumed. So after the situation has improved slightly, they will naturally come to Hogsmeade to purchase. This has also created prosperity here.

After squeezing past a group of wizards from the countryside who were standing at the door of the Three Broomsticks and preparing to go in for a drink, Ryan and his team walked up a slope and arrived at the Screaming Shack. Unlike its original dilapidated appearance, the Screaming Shack is now completely new.

The wooden boards that previously blocked the entrance to the house had been removed, and the damaged parts had been repaired. The exterior of the building had even been repainted, making the entire house look as if it had just been built. From time to time, people hurriedly walked out of the house or walked in from outside.

"Ryan, it's class time today, what are you doing here?" Suddenly a familiar voice sounded from behind him, Ryan turned around and saw Sirius striding towards him. He was wearing a neat Auror uniform, his hair was neatly combed, and he looked radiant.

"Good afternoon, Sirius." Ryan waved and greeted Sirius, then showed him the appointment letter with his name already filled in. "As you know, Hermione and I have obtained the required NEWT exam certificates. Headmaster Dumbledore suggested that we temporarily serve as part-time special consultants in the Department of International Magical Cooperation of the Ministry of Magic, so we came here today to ask about the details."

"The Department of International Magical Cooperation?" Sirius looked at the appointment letter thoughtfully. "This department is indeed recruiting recently, and they are even accepting anyone who comes, because they are so short of staff that they can hardly operate normally."

After saying that, he looked up at them and said, "I just came back from a mission and I have some free time. I might as well take you there."

"Thank you so much. We haven't been here before. I was just wondering what to do if I couldn't find the place." Ryan put away the appointment letter, and then followed Sirius with Hermione towards the Shrieking Shack.

(End of this chapter)