A broken Hogwarts

Chapter 126

The simply and neatly arranged study room was lit with dim yellow lights, and the ink bottles and book covers on the desk reflected the bright light.Outside the window was a dark and narrow alley, the pattering rain washed the dark road, and the whole world was so quiet that only the sound of pattering rain remained.

Owen sat on the armchair behind the desk, rubbed his brows with his fingers, and looked at Natasha standing opposite him with some headaches.Natasha curled a strand of long red hair hanging on her chest with her right hand, and looked at him with a somewhat smug expression, like a child who expects to be praised by his parents after getting full marks in an exam.

Standing beside her was a man in gray clothes. The tattered robe was still clean, and there were many traces of mending on it.The man looked quite young, but his light brown hair was already a little gray, and his face looked sick, as if he was about to fall down at any time.

At this time, the man was also looking at Owen calmly. After showing a little surprise when he first saw that the owner of the bookstore was a child, he always had such an expression of neither humble nor overbearing.The gentle and humble appearance looks like a refined scholar, but the clothes are extremely poor.

Owen covered his eyes with a slap. Didn't he just want to open this bookstore as a secret base that he could freely control?Was this recruited because Dumbledore didn't have more channels to understand himself, or did he think he didn't have enough things to do with him?
"Mr. Remus Lupine, right?" He breathed out lightly, folded his hands on his chest, and smiled politely and distantly, "As an outstanding Hogwarts graduate, you with such talents , why do you want to work as a clerk in this small bookstore like mine?"

Hearing the rejection contained in Owen's words, Lupine, who had experienced countless similar scenes, said with a melancholy and calm expression: "Because of my identity, no one wants to work with a werewolf."

"With all due respect, Mr. Lupine, you know that you will be rejected for revealing your identity, why don't you conceal it?" Owen raised his eyebrows.

Lupine smiled wryly, and said hoarsely: "I tried it before, but this kind of deception can't last long, and it is easy to cause danger to others. So I have never stayed in one place for a long time in these years, and I can't call one everywhere." Monthly job." He glanced at Natasha: "I didn't expect Miss Valente to hire me after knowing my identity..."

"Call me Natasha, Lupine." Natasha scratched her hair irritably.She loathes the surname she inherited from her father.

"Yes, Miss Natasha," said Lupine apologetically, and then regained his usual composure, waiting to be rejected and sent away as before.In fact, after seeing that the owner of this bookstore was a little wizard, he knew he shouldn't be here.

Owen tapped the table lightly with his index finger, and when he was considering the pros and cons, he heard Natasha say to Lupin gently: "Lupine, can you go to the store first? I'll talk to the boss later. .”

Lupine walked out without hesitation, gently closed the door, and went down the wooden escalator to the first floor.

After hearing the footsteps going away, the kind expression on Natasha's face instantly became sly, looking like a cunning little fox.She raised her eyebrows at Owen complacently, as if to say: Am I good?

"What do you think, Natasha?" Owen had a thoughtful expression on his face, looking at Natasha as if he were looking at a red-haired husky.

"Lupin was selected by me from thousands of applicants. After all, your salary is very good." Natasha's deep red eyes shone with shrewd light, "He is very powerful, I can't beat him , I even think he didn’t use his full strength. And he’s good at arithmetic, which is a rare skill in Knockturn Alley.”

"Cheap and able to fight, but also willing to work hard, one person can be used as three." She said with her fingers, "If you miss such a clerk, you won't find it."

Her expression immediately became serious: "The most important thing is that he's honest, he hasn't thought anything wrong, he's barely worthy of initial trust, he's not as evil and irritable as those evil werewolves hiding in the gutter .If he hides his identity from me, I will definitely drive him away, and I can smell the werewolf on him from a long distance."

"Aren't you afraid that he will bite you if he loses control?" Owen said with a smile.

"I've seen werewolves a lot, and they're actually not as scary as in the legends. They only turn into irrational beasts on full moon nights." Natasha's face once again showed a hint of complacency. "Because he is a werewolf, he can accept a lower salary than ordinary people, and is willing to sign a more demanding contract..."

As she spoke, she pulled out a thick paper contract from the desk and pushed it in front of Owen: "So, we can sign him with only 35 Galleons, which can save 15 Galleons... And don’t worry about food! In fact, I think it can be lowered, because there are not many jobs in the bookstore after all.”

"There is a stipulation in the contract that he has to stay away from the bookstore on the night of the full moon every month. Once the bookstore suffers any loss due to his own situation or negligence, he needs to compensate according to the amount of the loss. Deducted directly from salary..."

Natasha explained the strict contract to Owen with a smile, looking like a shrewd and capable housekeeper.Being used to living a poor life, she is always thinking about saving money. She usually wants to split a copper Knut in half and spend it in half. She knows how to squeeze employees without a teacher.

Owen listened indifferently, but his mind began to wander.He didn't feel that Lupine had come here on Dumbledore's instruction, that it was unnecessary at all, that is to say, Lupine's behavior was completely voluntary.Being able to accept such a salary and contract, it seems that he has had a miserable life all these years.

He was silent for a moment. It seemed that the salary of 35 Galleons was also the average salary level of the shop assistants in Diagon Alley.There are not many customers in the bookstore in Knockturn Alley, and the work is leisurely. Although it is dangerous to a certain extent, for Lu Ping, who is wandering around doing odd jobs to make a living, this is already a good job...

Am I really being taken advantage of?Owen thought with wandering eyes.

"Owen, what do you think?" Natasha stopped after talking dryly.She licked her slightly thick lips with the tip of her tongue, waiting for Owen to make a choice.If he did not agree to keep Lupine, then she could only resolutely ask him to leave, at most she would feel a little regretful, after all, such cheap and easy-to-use employees were hard to find.

"That's it," Owen said.Now that people have been attracted, he has no intention of driving them away. At most, he can take it easy when using black magic in the store in the future.Wouldn't it be nice to be able to recruit a professor-level employee at the price of cabbage?The most important thing is to have a high moral level and not have any bad intentions.

"Add one more item to the contract, keep the store's secrets, especially about my situation. Natasha, don't tell him too much about me." Owen warned, "Also, he is not A dark wizard."

Natasha nodded as if realizing something, and said, "I understand."

Owen gave her a puzzled look, not understanding what she understood.He didn't want to ask too much, just leaned lazily on the back of the chair, squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "Ask him more about magic, this is a free personal trainer."

Natasha nodded seriously, and said sincerely: "Lupine is really easy to use."

She picked up the quill pen on the table, added a clause to the contract with her own ugly and characteristic font, and then brought it to the first floor, with a gentle smile on her face again.Such an easy-to-use clerk must appease the other party's mentality.

"The boss is very optimistic about you, Lupine. This is the contract, if you have no objections, please sign it." Natasha shook the paper in her hand.

Lupine was silent for a while, took the contract and struggled to decipher the dog-like font on it, then looked up at the little wizard who was slowly going downstairs, and said hoarsely, "Thank you."

Natasha turned to Owen and said, "Are you going back?"

"Well, school is about to start, I have to go back and pack my things." Owen glanced at Lupin lightly, and slightly raised the corner of his mouth, "Speaking of which, there are two more professors with unusual backgrounds in the school this year."

"I know, that famous writer, who seems to be called Logit, is your new black magic professor?" Natasha thought for a while and said.

"No, he is a security consultant. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts class is not taught by him, but a hero who has been resurrected from the dead..." The smile on the corner of Owen's mouth gradually widened, "I remember his name is... Pettigrew Peter."

Lupine looked up suddenly, his pupils trembling violently.He tightly squeezed the contract in his hand, crumpling the thick parchment.

"Lupine, what's wrong with you?" Natasha looked at him suspiciously.

"It's nothing." Lupine handed her the signed contract, but his brows were tightly wrinkled, and his pale and haggard face looked even more ugly.

"Peter Pettigrew...resurrected from the dead?" Natasha asked Lupine's question.

Owen briefly talked about what happened 11 years ago, and then said: "In short, he came back, sought asylum at the Ministry of Magic, and told everyone that he just lost his memory these years..."

"Heh, the ability of the Ministry of Magic never disappoints." Natasha said sarcastically, and then stopped caring about such things.

Lupine's brows were furrowed even tighter, and he stared blankly at the narrow alley where the sky could not be seen outside the window, as if he could see a distant place through the dark wall.

"I'm leaving first, bye." Owen recited the water-avoiding spell to himself, and then opened the black umbrella in his hand.

"Do you need me to take you out of this alley?" Lupine came back to his senses and asked gently.

"I can go back by myself." Owen turned his head and smiled slightly, and recited a disillusionment spell for himself, and even the person and the umbrella disappeared in the air, and then walked into the gray rain.

……

Just after dawn, Owen was called by the alarm clock.He sat on the bed in a daze for a while, then got up, washed and dressed as if sleepwalking.

As soon as he walked down the stairs, he saw Mr. Albert stuffing a large bag of coins into his suitcase, probably worth thousands of Galleons.

"Your pocket money." Albert blinked at him, "Don't save it for me, especially you are at the age of making a girlfriend now."

"I'm only 12, Dad." Owen said calmly.Let him attack girls around 12 years old?He is not an animal.As for finding an older girlfriend... Is she an animal?He even attacked a 12-year-old boy!

"It's getting late, Owen." Albert sighed, "Every minute and every second of a teenager's time is extremely precious and must not be wasted."

"So I have to devote my limited time to unlimited learning." Owen replied with a smile.

"Remember what you said today, you will regret it, Owen." Albert raised his hand and was about to pinch Owen's cheek, but was avoided without accident.He continued to stretch out his hand reluctantly: "Don't you want me to pinch it? I think you liked to be hugged by me when you were very young..."

Don't think I don't have any memories of that time... Owen skillfully avoided his father's palm, recalling the unbearable past.When he was still a baby, he was pierced by his beard, kneaded as dough, and thrown up and down like a basketball by his father without any resistance, which made him suspect that he was being regarded as knowing how to press the ball.

Ms. Adeline leaned against the door and rubbed her chin with one hand, watching the father and son fight with a smile on her face, and then helped Owen tidy up his robe that was skewed due to the fight.

When it was almost time, they came to King's Cross Station together, passed through the partition wall between platforms nine and ten, and came to platform nine and three-quarters.

The crimson Hogwarts Express was parked next to the platform, and smoke from the steam locomotive hung in the air.The platform was full of chattering crowds, cats of various colors shuttled under people's feet, and owls hooted piercingly.

"Ahem... When will they abolish this heavy and heavy iron bump?" Mr. Albert coughed from choking, "Obviously it's just a matter of a moment to use Floo powder."

"Then they'll have to spend a lot longer looking for the little ones who accidentally or purposely said the wrong destination." Ms. Adeline said with a smile in her gentle words.

"Well, it makes sense." Albert pouted.

"Remember, Owen, if anything happens in school this year, you must write to us. Don't take any risks." Adeline put her right hand on Owen's shoulder and urged her seriously.

"I will, Mom." Owen nodded obediently.

The family talked for a while, until the train whistled harshly. Then Owen stepped onto the train with his suitcase, waved goodbye to his parents, and looked for empty cars along the aisle.As the departure time approached, there were not many empty carriages.

He saw Draco, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle in a car that was empty.Blaise spread his hands at him and pointed to the next carriage.

Owen came to the outside of the next car and glanced in through the window on the door.Daphne and Pansy sat inside, next to Millicent Burst in the same grade, and two unfamiliar girls.

He walked on and saw Neville sitting in a carriage with a strange little girl.He knocked on the door, and then asked, "Can I sit here?"

Neville was holding his toad Rifle, nodded quickly after seeing Owen, and then looked at the girl sitting opposite.The girl who had been turning her back to the aisle finally turned around, and it was only then that Owen saw clearly that she was breathing on the car window and drawing pictures on the window glass.

"Of course." She said in a sleepy tone, a pair of slightly protruding light-colored eyes stared intently at Owen's face, looking a little surprised.

Sitting next to Neville, Owen smiled and nodded at the girl opposite, his eyes calmly passed over the butterbeer cork necklace on the other's neck and the orange radish earrings on his ears, and finally stopped at her On the long blond hair that was messier than Hermione's.

Well, it's a little itchy, and I miss a spell to tidy her up.

The little girl raised her hand to straighten her hair as if aware of it, but it messed it up even more.

"Cough, hello. I'm Owen Shafik, and like Neville, I'm a second-year student." Owen coughed lightly.

"Hello, I'm Luna Lovegood, a freshman." The little girl said in a trance, still staring at him with silver eyes without blinking.

Owen let her look at it, and turned his head to look at the picture the other party had drawn on the car window before.Well, stream of consciousness, abstract art, he can't understand.

When the train began to move slowly, he found that Luna was still looking at him, with a hint of confusion and surprise in her eyes, as if she was about to fall asleep.Only then did he speak softly, breaking the awkward silence in the carriage: "Excuse me, is there something on my face?"

"Black." Luna said lightly, then she looked away and turned to look out of the car window.

Owen wiped his face and looked at Neville.

"Nothing." Neville honestly searched Owen's face several times, then raised his hand in assurance.

"Okay." Owen can only say that she is indeed a crazy girl, and her brain circuit is really different from ordinary people.

At this time, the door of the box was pushed open again, and a red-haired head came in, panting and asking: "Hey, can I sit here?"

The three of them had no objections, and Luna enthusiastically walked over to help bring the girl's luggage in.

"Thank you." The girl brushed her hair away from her ears, sat opposite Owen, and introduced herself, "Ginny Weasley."

The speed of the car began to accelerate, and the scenery outside the window was quickly thrown behind.The four people in the carriage chatted, but the atmosphere gradually became harmonious.Although Ginny cast a strange look when Owen mentioned the college he was in, but if he wanted to, he could always make himself very popular.

"Ginny, why aren't you with your brothers?" Owen asked nonchalantly at the right moment.

"They're all busy with their own business," said Ginny nonchalantly.

"What are Fred and George up to? Last year they persuaded me to invest in their business, but I lost all my money." Owen said with a smile, as if he had a very good relationship with them.

Ginny gave him a sympathetic look: "It's better to be busy playing pranks." She rested her chin and looked out of the car window with some distress, like a mother who worried about her children: "They seem to be having conflicts recently, which is really true. A curious thing, isn't it?"

"They...will have conflicts?" Owen raised his eyebrows.

"It's also the first time I've seen them. They have been as good as one person since childhood, but their relationship has become a little weird recently." Ginny pretended to be a mature little adult, and sighed deeply, "Probably Like Dad said, they're finally starting to grow up."

Luna on the side seemed to hear a very funny joke, and laughed like no one else, laughing until tears came out.The remaining three people all looked at her. After a long time, she stopped laughing, raised her hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes, and took out a copy of "The Quibbler" to cover her face.

"How is Ron doing?" Owen continued to ask, as if he really cared about his friend.

"His mouse has been lost, and it's been a sad time... probably." Ginny seemed a little annoyed, and she started talking more, "Secretly shutting herself in the room all day long. And Percy , I write letters every day, and I feel weird when I see people... The atmosphere at home has become extremely weird recently because of this."

Owen blinked his eyes, his expression became a little serious.The Weasley twins are having conflicts, Ron is mysterious, and Percy is eccentric. Although it doesn't sound too abnormal, but combined with the missing crown... the Weasley family is going to heaven.

"Who is wrong? Or, they all have problems?" He tapped the table lightly, a card was rolling smoothly in his hand, changing suits constantly with the ups and downs of his thoughts, sometimes spades , Sometimes it is a heart, and in a blink of an eye it turns into a diamond and a club.

Luna stared at the movement of Owen's hand without blinking above the magazine, and suddenly said, "This is not magic."

Owen looked up at her in surprise. After a while, he suddenly clenched the cards in his hand, and then let go of his clenched fist. A white rose appeared in his palm.He handed the flowers to Luna, and said under the stunned gazes of Ginny and Neville, "I like you." She was the first person in the world who could see that Owen's magic was not magic at a glance, such a child really Be a little more likeable.

"Thank you." Luna also took the flower very naturally, and pinned it to her left ear.

Owen nodded politely and continued the unfinished topic just now.Luna raised the magazine in her hand again, reading it calmly and intently.

Ginny and Neville exchanged glances, and they suddenly felt that the two people's brain circuits were equally weird.

　Thank you book friend 20180127183357667 for the reward of 1000 starting coins, thank you big brother~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)