The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 69 Puppy Garlon
A few days after receiving the letter from Hogwarts, Mrs. Weasley rushed to Diagon Alley with her entire family, and Ada even took a day off for this purpose.

Mrs. Weasley held Ginny's hand to prevent her from being swept away by the crowds in Diagon Alley, Ron tugged at the hem of Mr. Weasley's robes, and Charlie took the twins and Ada.

Percy was not with everyone. As soon as he arrived at Diagon Alley, he ran to Flourish and Blotts to read a book.

The twins have always wanted to visit Knockturn Alley. They are full of curiosity about the place, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would not allow them to go there because there are all kinds of people there and the shops in the alley all sell items of dark magic.

Such a dangerous place is not a place for a little wizard to go!

Mr. Weasley took Charlie, Ron and the twins to a second-hand bookstore to buy books, while Mrs. Weasley took Ada and Ginny to Madam Malkin's robe shop, as Ada needed to buy new school robes.

Mrs. Malkin still remembered Ada. She remembered that Ada came to her to look for a job a month ago. She warmly welcomed Ada and her friends into the store.

Ada stood on the footstool again, and Madam Malkin measured her again to adjust the size of the school robe. After the measurement, Ada also selected two different styles of robes. She originally chose a dark color, but Mrs. Weasley suggested that she choose a light color. Mrs. Weasley thought that Ada should wear brighter clothes at her age. In the end, Ada listened to Mrs. Weasley's advice and changed the color of one of the robes to sky blue.

After coming out of Madam Malkin's robe shop, Mrs. Weasley went to Flourish and Blotts to find Percy. She wanted to take Percy to buy robes.

Ada took Ginny to Florin's Ice Cream Shop. She had wanted to eat the ice cream there for a long time. The sun was bright, and Ada and Ginny sat under the parasol and ate delicious ice cream. Ada also fulfilled a small wish.

Several customers were enjoying cold drinks together, showing each other what they had bought, and many parents were sitting here with their children to rest. As school was about to start, parents and children could be seen buying school supplies in Diagon Alley every day.

After a while, the twins, who got the news from somewhere, came to the cold drink shop with Ron. They didn't bother to be polite with Ada and directly ordered a large portion of raspberry ice cream.

The shop owner Florin Fusco also gave Ada and her friends a free ice cream of a new flavor, which he had just developed and had not yet been officially launched.

Ada paid for her ice cream and the five of them crossed the street and walked towards the Fantastic Beasts store.

The twins suggested that Ida buy an owl for ten Galleons, but Ida didn't have anyone to send letters to, so instead of going to Eeyore's Owl Shop, they went to the Magical Creatures Shop to buy another pet.

Inside the small shop, the walls were densely covered with cages, the air was smelly, and it was very noisy. There were many animals for sale: poisonous colorful snails, giant tortoises with jewels on their shells, black rats full of desire for performance, shape-shifting rabbits, and so on.

This shop is as magical as its name. The animals here are all magical. The most ordinary looking ones are the cats (except for the ginger cat that looks as big as a tiger cub).

Ada didn't want to keep a cat, let alone these strange animals. She scanned the cages in the store one by one, and none of the animals here made Ada want to take them home.

"Ginny, what are you looking at?" Fred walked to his little sister and found that Ginny had been looking at a cage for a long time.

"This puppy seems to be sick and has been ignoring me." Ginny said. In the cage in front of her lay a motionless beige puppy. The puppy looked to be about three or four months old.

"Hey! Look at me, or you can move a little!" Fred flicked the cage a few times with his fingers.

The off-white puppy ignored Fred and didn't even open its eyes. If it weren't for its belly still moving up and down, Fred would have thought the puppy was dead.

Ada also came over when she heard the sound. The puppy looked very much like a Labrador, but it was neither sunny and cheerful nor lively. Its cold appearance was completely different from the impression of a Labrador.

"Maybe it's sick..." Ada said. The puppy opened his eyes, looked at the noisy crowd, and then closed his eyes again.

"It's not sick, it's always been like this." said the witch who manages the shop. "It's been a month, and no one is willing to take it away like this." "Is it sure it's not sick? Why does it look like it's dying?" George turned around and asked the witch.

The witch shook her head. She didn't know. The puppy was in good condition. If it had been more lively, it would have been sold long ago. The witch said, "No, we checked it many times and there is no problem at all. Maybe... it's just lazy!"

"Why don't we buy it and take it back?" Ada asked, holding Ginny's shoulder.

I know you made money, but you can't do such harm with just a little money! The twins quickly stopped the impulsive Ada, fearing that Ada would run over to the witch and hand over the money and the dog.

"Did the ice cream just now freeze your brain? Isn't it a waste of money to buy such a sickly thing?" Fred whispered in Ada's ear.

"It's the only one that looks good in the whole store. It's quiet and doesn't run around. The other animals are too lively. I don't like them."

At this the black mice, who were desperately trying to show off themselves, stopped playing their jumping games; the shape-shifting rabbits stopped turning themselves into satin top hats; and the funny custard-colored balls of fluff stopped buzzing.

The off-white Labrador, which had been as quiet as a dead dog, suddenly stood up, paced back and forth in its small cage, and made low threatening noises.

The dog successfully attracted everyone's attention with its abnormal behavior before and after. Now it doesn't look sick at all. Its low barking seems to tell Ada: A forced melon is not sweet.

"Look, it's very healthy!" Ida said to everyone with a smile, "It's decided, let's buy it."

The puppy stopped barking. It tilted its head and looked at Ada, with a big doubt in its little eyes.

After leaving the Magical Creatures Shop, the five of them walked on the road. They were now going back to the Leaky Cauldron to meet up with the Weasleys. Fred was carrying a cage and dog food, George was holding a dog bed, and Ron was holding a puppy toy. The three of them lowered their heads and followed behind Ada and Ginny.

Ada held the puppy in her arms and named it "Galon", but Ginny wanted to call it Little G, and the Labrador seemed to prefer the name Ginny gave it.

The puppy leaned listlessly in Ada's arms, without struggling, as if it had accepted its fate. Ginny kept teasing it, but it didn't react at all, and became a dead dog again.

When they returned to the Burrow in the afternoon, Ada and Ginny placed Garlon's kennel in the corner of the room. Ada spent the whole afternoon educating it, mainly telling it not to urinate or defecate anywhere.

After the trip, Ada's wallet was much thinner, which made her work harder in the bar afterwards, and she would no longer return to the Burrow at five o'clock on time, which made Tom's toothless mouth crack even wider.

The dog, Garlon, was very obedient during this period, he did not bark randomly, nor did he urinate or defecate anywhere, and everyone liked him very much. Ginny would walk him once in the morning and afternoon, and before going to bed at night, Ada and the twins would take him with them when they went out for a walk.

The person who disliked Garlon the most in the entire Burrow was Percy. Garlon was always interested in Percy's pet mouse Scabbers. If Percy hadn't discovered it in time, Scabbers would have died at the dog's claws.

It is understandable that Garlon is not close to Percy because Percy is always mean to him, but he is also not close to his owner Ada.

When others called it, it would run over happily, unlike the aloof attitude it had in the pet store. Ada was the complete opposite. If Ada didn't threaten it, Garlon would simply ignore its owner, being extremely aloof.

Ada had no idea what to do with it. She bought the dog herself and kept it even if she cried.

Perhaps it was because there were too many people in the Burrow and it couldn't tell who its owner was. Maybe things would be fine once it got to Hogwarts. This was the only reason Ada could think of to comfort herself.

(End of this chapter)