Chapter 32: The Hog’s Head Inn and Aberforth

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The battle in Godric’s Hollow sent shock waves through the entire British wizarding world.

Grindelwald had never before made a move in Britain, yet now he had appeared openly on British soil and even launched a riot!

The Ministry of Magic had gone to great lengths to make the Muggles living in Godric’s Hollow forget what had happened the previous night...

Early the next morning, Wade saw the enormous headline in a copy of the Daily Prophet that Dumbledore had brought with him.

**RIOT IN GODRIC’S HOLLOW! HAS GRINDELWALD OFFICIALLY DECLARED WAR ON THE BRITISH WIZARDING WORLD?**

The accompanying photograph showed a group of Grindelwald’s followers surrounding a house and attacking it relentlessly...

Wade had no idea where the photographer had been hiding, but the moving photograph was remarkably effective. The oppressive presence of the attackers came through with astonishing force.

By then, Wade and the others were no longer in Godric’s Hollow.

Because Grindelwald had set his sights on them, Dumbledore had taken them away in the middle of the night.

Wade felt that, given Grindelwald’s character, since he had let them go this time, he probably would not come back for them again.

After all, if Grindelwald had truly intended to drag them away by force, he could have taken them all the previous night, before Dumbledore arrived.

Why would he need to come a second time?

When they climbed down from the Thestral-drawn carriage once more, they found themselves in a new place.

It looked like a small town, but every building was steeped in the character of the wizarding world.

Since all those magical features had been left in plain sight, this had to be a settlement inhabited entirely by wizards.

“This is Hogsmeade,” Dumbledore said as he jumped down from the carriage. “It is the wizarding village closest to Hogwarts.”

Tom climbed down as well, gazing curiously at everything around him.

His eyes were filled with excitement at the unabashedly magical surroundings.

Since this was a wizarding village, he no longer had to hide every trace of the magical world as he had at the orphanage or in Godric’s Hollow.

In other words, he could cast spells as freely as he pleased.

Professor Hicks had suffered serious injuries while fighting Grindelwald’s followers and needed to remain under observation at St Mungo’s for some time.

That was why Dumbledore had brought them to their new home personally.

Wade suddenly asked, “Professor... The house in Godric’s Hollow was attacked. Are Mr. Kowalski and the others all right? I heard they were supposed to arrive today.”

When Dumbledore heard Wade asking after Jacob’s family, a trace of relief appeared on his tired face.

“I sent them back... This was my fault, Wade. I truly never expected Grindelwald to attack you. He nearly dragged an innocent friend into a life-or-death crisis as well...”

Dumbledore still looked shaken. Grindelwald might not have been willing to kill Wade and the others, but Jacob...

He would never have shown Jacob any mercy.

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If Jacob and the others had arrived early and fallen into Grindelwald’s hands, the fate awaiting him would certainly have been tragic.

They weren’t coming after all?

Wade felt speechless. So he had spent an entire day painstakingly learning Occlumency, only for it never to come in handy?

Still, it could not be said that Occlumency had been useless. At the very least, it had improved his acting skills and allowed him to tell the occasional little lie in front of Dumbledore.

All in all, gaining another useful skill meant he had not lost out...

“It isn’t your fault, Professor... Who could have expected Grindelwald to launch an attack because of us? We didn’t even know who he was before this.”

“I’m glad you can forgive me, Wade. In truth, you were dragged into this because of me as well. He was in London at the time, so there was no way my actions could have escaped his notice. I was careless...”

“No, no, this all started because of me. If I hadn’t acted on impulse, you wouldn’t have had to make so many arrangements for us, and none of this would have happened...”

“How could rescuing someone possibly be wrong?” Dumbledore shook his head repeatedly. “I was the one at fault. I failed to make proper arrangements and did not take sufficient precautions to keep things secret...”

Tom watched the two of them endlessly compete to take responsibility upon themselves. Unable to bear it any longer, he rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, “According to the two of you, then, the real source of the problem was me. I should have stopped Wade back then, shouldn’t I?”

At Tom’s words, Wade and Dumbledore finally fell silent.

Just as Tom thought they could at last have some peace and reach their new lodgings for a rest, Wade suddenly stared at him.

“That’s right! Why didn’t you stop me?”

Tom’s eyes widened as he stared at Wade in disbelief. “I didn’t stop you?”

“Did you?”

“I did!”

“Then how did I still end up going?”

“You... When did I somehow acquire the ability to stop you?”

“If you couldn’t stop me, then that makes it your fault! This is all your fault, Tom!”

Tom: “What?”

So Wade really was going to keep bullying him simply because he was an honest man, was he? He had never seen anyone so shameless in his entire life!

Just wait. Once he became strong enough to beat Wade...

He would settle both old scores and new.

“You two really are close,” Dumbledore said with a sigh.

Once, he had enjoyed a friendship like that himself. Back then, the two of them had bickered in just the same way. It was a pity that now...

Tom’s face darkened. “Close, my foot! I haven’t even known him for half a month!”

“True friendship reveals itself in times of adversity, Tom... What does the length of your acquaintance matter? After everything you’ve been through together, can you really say you haven’t shared hardship?”

“Ah! I’ve had enough! Professor... Can’t you send me somewhere else? If nothing else, you could dump me in another orphanage!”

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Of course, Dumbledore could never throw Tom into another orphanage.

With Tom’s temperament, only Wade could keep him under control. If he were sent anywhere else, he would certainly fall back into his old ways...

Dumbledore would never stand by and allow that to happen. He had no desire to see another person emerge in the future who was even more troublesome than Grindelwald.

A short while later, they stopped in front of a pub. Toby followed behind them, carrying all their luggage with a Levitation Charm.

There was no need for Toby to hide himself in a wizarding settlement.

Wade had also told Dumbledore where Toby had come from.

Dumbledore said that Wade’s kindness had been repaid with good fortune. After reminding Wade to treat Toby well, he said nothing more.

In his view, having another house-elf to look after them was a good thing.

“The Hog’s Head?” Tom laboriously read the name of the pub from the filthy sign, where the letters were almost impossible to make out.

“Yes. The proprietor is my brother. You’ll be safer here than you were in Godric’s Hollow,” Dumbledore said.

Yet he looked somewhat uneasy.

“Professor, what’s wrong?”

“Well... My relationship with my brother is a little... complicated. All right, let’s go in.”

Dumbledore drew a deep breath and pushed open the pub door.

The place was every bit as shabby as the Leaky Cauldron. In Wade’s opinion, even the clientele seemed much the same...

“Welcome. What can I get you...?”

Behind the bar stood a tall, thin man, his head lowered as he polished a glass.

Wade noticed that the man had the same deep blue eyes as Dumbledore, along with a small mustache above his lips.

This had to be Dumbledore’s younger brother, Aberforth.

Aberforth raised his head. The moment he saw Dumbledore, his already stern expression collapsed completely.

“So... that bastard managed to escape from you again last night?”