My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 229, Section 226: The Story of Hogsmeade

"Hogsmeade Village was founded a thousand years ago, around the same time as the neighboring Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was established by the medieval wizard Hanges of Woodcroft to help wizards escape persecution by Muggles."

Lynn came to hear stories, not to watch these people fight over telling him stories.

He paid the pub owner, Aberforth Dumbledore, who appeared to be a filthy, mutton-smelling waiter but was actually Dumbledore's younger brother, an extra fifty Galleons, to book the pub and have him maintain order. The storytellers had to line up one by one, and he would be paid another fifty Galleons after the event.

Aberforth readily agreed. Even at its peak, his tavern couldn't earn a single Galleon a day, but now it was booked for 100 Galleons. Even if Lynn booked it for 100 days, he wouldn't lose money.

Soon after someone maintained order, a long queue formed at the Pighead Bar, with wizards who had heard the news constantly joining at the end of the line.

Lynn, holding a glass of butterbeer, was sitting with his legs crossed, listening leisurely as the first wizard he had approached told him the story of Hogsmeade.

However, this wizard was clearly not a local. He mumbled and rambled on for a long time, only recounting the history of Hogsmeade's founding, something that almost any British wizard would know.

The wizards in the queue behind him couldn't help but sneer, making this wizard blush. But he held the Galleon that Lynn had thrown to him tightly in his hand, clearly not going to return the money to Lynn.

Lynn certainly knew about the history of Hogsmeade; they had learned about it in their second-year history of magic class. However, Lynn had no intention of backing down and instead took out a silver coin from his pocket.

The currency system in the magical world is extremely inhumane: 1 Galleon = 17 Sickles = 493 Nats.

The purchasing power of a Galleon is quite high. When converted, one Sickle is not a lot of money, but it is not a small amount that can be ignored either.

He threw the scimitar in front of the wizard opposite him.

"I told you you're lucky today. Even if you tell a story that everyone knows, I'll still give you an extra Xico. It's the smallest denomination of currency I have on me. Alright, you can move aside now, next person."

The wizard left happily with the money. He had only come to Hogsmeade as a tourist, and he was already pleasantly surprised to have made a profit. He hadn't expected to get any more.

The next person to sit in front of Lynn looked familiar; it was Ambrose Froome, the owner of Honey Duke Candy Store.

Today wasn't Hogsmeade Week, so the candy store wasn't very busy. His wife could manage on her own, so Froome took a break and came here to drink. Taking advantage of his height and build, he managed to snag second place in the queue.

Unlike the previous wizard, Ambrose Froome was not only the owner of the candy store, but also a permanent resident of Hogsmeade, where his ancestors had lived for three generations. He knew far more about the village than most people did.

"Is the starting price for each story one Sico?" After sitting down opposite Lynn, he wisely asked about the price first instead of starting immediately.

Lynn took a swig of butterbeer and casually shook his leg as he spoke to the others still in line.

"Of course not. As I said, that guy was lucky. I approached him first, so even if he told a story that was worthless to me, he could still get one Gallon and one Sickle. But if you guys treat me like a sucker and just spout nonsense, of course you won't get a single penny. I'll judge the value of the story. As for the starting price, I think I only have one Sickle on me, so let's set the starting price at one Gallon, and the maximum at one thousand Gallons. That's the rule."

The wizards lining up immediately looked at Lynn with intense fervor.

Most wizards' time is very cheap. They generally live longer than normal people and have very little entertainment. Telling a few stories doesn't take much time, even if you have to wait in line, but the rewards are enormous.

However, discordant voices also emerged within the team.

"Why should you have the power to set prices? What if the story we're telling you is exactly what you need and is worth a thousand gallons, but you say it's worthless?"

Lynn turned his head and glanced at the wizard who had spoken, and said indifferently.

"You're not satisfied? Then you can get out now. I'm in a good mood and giving everyone a chance to earn some extra money, but there are always people who want to take advantage of me. If anyone still has objections to the rules I've proposed, they can leave now. I won't stop them."

The wizard who had spoken immediately froze. He turned to look around, and the wizards in line were all looking at him with mocking eyes, none of them agreeing with his suggestion.

This situation made him look like a clown.

"Don't forget this is Hogsmeade, you just wait!"

The wizard glared at Lynn fiercely, uttered a harsh remark, and then slunk away.

Lynn didn't care at all; he nodded to Froome sitting opposite him.

"You can begin."

"There's a dilapidated shack on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Decades ago, before the Mystic lost power, there were strange noises coming from there in the middle of the night. People said that ghosts had taken over the shack, but I heard them clearly for several nights. They were all howling wolves." Froome said seriously, dropping a bombshell right off the bat.

"And every time the wolf howled, it happened on a full moon night. I suspected then that what occupied that house wasn't a ghost, but a werewolf!"

Lynn certainly knew about what he was talking about; that werewolf was Remus Lupin, Harry's father's best friend and one of Snape's archenemies.

It was Dumbledore who arranged for Lupin to transform in the Shrieking Shack; it's surprising that there are still people who understand this in Hogsmeade.

Lynn looked at the candy store owner in front of him and asked curiously.

"Since you guessed it back then, why didn't you tell everyone?"

Froome shook his head: "Who knows who that werewolf is? What if I leak the information and he gets revenge on me?"

Lynn nodded. Although he already knew this from the original story, what Froome said was clearly true. Lynn immediately slapped a Galon in front of him.

"Anything else? What other strange places are there in Hogsmeade?"

Froome took the Galleon, licking his lips excitedly: "One person can tell many stories?"

Lynn shrugged: "Of course. If you can tell me all the legends about Hogsmeade, then all the money is yours."

The wizards queuing behind were immediately displeased. Lynn was their sugar daddy, so they didn't dare to get angry at Lynn, but they did dare to threaten Froome.

"Know when to quit while you're ahead, Froome. Don't forget you still have a shop on this street."

"Yes, we're all waiting here. Everyone gets a share."

Froome wasn't afraid of them at all. He turned his head and glared at the group of wizards who were threatening him with a cold smile: "You dare to cause trouble in my shop? Come and try."

Lynn didn't get involved in their dirty dealings; he just paid for the stories and didn't care who told them to him.

Making money with Lynn is much easier than selling candy at a candy store. If you don't make money, your whole family is an idiot. Froome doesn't think anyone in his family is an idiot.

"In the seventeenth century, a goblin rebellion occurred near Hogsmeade. They took over the entire village and set up a temporary command post at the location of the pub where we are sitting now. It is said that they imprisoned many captured wizards and established a prisoner-of-war camp in Hogsmeade. Many of the captured wizards died there and became ghosts. This prisoner-of-war camp is said to be located somewhere underground in Hogsmeade."

Lynn knew that Pighead Bar had been used as the Fairy's wartime command post, but this was the first time he had heard of the Fairy's prisoner-of-war camp.

Lynn made no attempt to hide his interest, asking, "How did you find out about this?"

Froome didn't think Lynn was a fool. He had run a candy store in Hogsmeade for so long and had seen all sorts of people, and Lynn didn't seem like a fool who would just throw money around without thinking.

He didn't lie about the POW camp incident either; he looked intently at Lynn and explained where he knew the information.

"If you were to ask the goblins about this, or the Ministry of Magic, not a single one of them would admit it. After all, the goblins have been defeated for so long, and the wizards and the goblins have rebuilt a relationship of mutual trust that cannot be shaken by anything. The reason I know about this is because one of the wizards who died in the prisoner-of-war camp was an ancestor of my family. Three generations ago, my family moved to Hogsmeade to find the remains of this ancestor, but until now I have not found where this place is."

As Lynn listened to Froome's story, she gently tapped the greasy tabletop with her fingertips.

Although the place he mentioned had absolutely nothing to do with the treasure's location, Lynn still found the information very useful.

A treasure trove isn't necessarily a place where treasures are actually hidden. Perhaps it was a treasure trove before, but was later used for something else?

Therefore, Lynn would pay special attention to any place in Hogsmeade that seemed like a place to hide things.

"Your story is very interesting. Are you Mr. Froome?"

Froome looked at Lynn expectantly: "Yes, it's me. My family owns the Honey Duke candy shop in this town."

Lynn didn't even flinch as he tossed a handful of coins onto the table.

"Ten Galleons, this is your reward for this story."

One more chapter

(End of this chapter)