Chapter 3 3, The Leaky Cauldron

Tom Riddle didn't come to trouble Hoffa. In fact, after receiving the invitation from Hogwarts, he behaved unusually low-key.

Hoffa will not foolishly seek trouble with the other party. All he has to do is eat, exercise, and get familiar with the environment.

A month later, Hoffa had basically toured the area around the orphanage. He also figured out the approximate location of the Leaky Cauldron.

At the moment, Hoffa is on his way to the Leaky Cauldron, holding a paper map of London.

He wore a workman's cap and his Martin boots had dirty socks. Dressed up like a child laborer selling newspapers.

The streets of London in 1938 were not as prosperous as later generations. The roads here were paved with gray bricks and full of potholes. Some old cars with their tops on the road tooted past, emitting black exhaust fumes. They are monotonous in color, not at all colorful like the cars of later generations.

Many hungry people wandered around holding signs looking for work, and some decadent young people were smoking cigarettes on street corners. This is the aftermath of the economic crisis in 1929. The decline of the empire on which the sun never sets was evident after World War I.

At the corner of the street, Hoffa saw a group of workers painting the walls with pipes and paste. He took a closer look and found that these people were pasting black and white posters of the British royal family's conscription.

Seeing this poster, Hoffa's heart suddenly turned cold.

For this point in time, he forgot the most important thing. This incident is not from the wizarding world, but from the Muggle world.

That is the Second World War is about to start! !

Hillett is still alive! A large number of devil-level characters in the same period are all alive!

Hideki Tojo, Mussolini...

Compared with Voldemort, the dark wizard who has not yet grown up, these guys are genuine demon kings! The destruction and killing caused by Voldemort may not be as much as a fraction of others.

Hoffa doesn't know much about history, but he knows that World War II began in 1939, which is only a year away from now.

After seeing the poster, Hoffa froze on the spot holding the map.

He wanted to cry but had no tears.

My God, what era is not good, why must we come to this war-torn era! ?

...

Beep beep!

The honking of the car brought Hoffa back from his lost state.

He turned around and saw an old-fashioned motorcycle approaching. The last time Hoffa saw that kind of motorcycle was in an anti-Japanese drama. It's the kind of motorcycle that one person drives and the other sits in the body of the motorcycle.

Two soldiers in dark green stopped in front of Hoffa, and a smoking soldier lay on the back of the car and asked loudly.

"Is it Hoffa Bach?"

Hoffa was taken aback, and looked at the two young soldiers wonderingly, thinking that he didn't know these two guys, could it be that his name was written on his face?

He nodded: "It's me."

Immediately, the soldier sitting on the cart took out a stack of tied letters from behind his buttocks. He dipped in his saliva, flipped through them, took out one and handed it to Hoffa.

"Your letter, little fellow, take it and don't lose it."

After finishing speaking, the soldier who was driving stepped on the pedal, and the motorcycle drove away again with a beep.

Hoffa turned the letter around in amazement.

London

Bonnington Market Street

532 meters west of the Leaky Cauldron

second corner

Mr. Hoffa Bach

Just like in the novel, the words are written in emerald green ink, without stamps, and it feels as heavy as parchment in the hand.

Hoffa opened his mouth wide to look at the two soldiers who had long since disappeared, and then flipped through the letter. There was a wax seal, a coat of arms, and a capital "H" surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.

Well, although after Dumbledore told himself that day, he estimated that he would receive a letter, but he didn't expect it to be in this situation at all.

He looked up at the sky, terribly puzzled.

How did these guys position themselves so precisely.

Putting aside his doubts, Hoffa opened the letter with great excitement. He couldn't be more excited.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Principal: Armando Dippet

(Vice President of the International Federation of Wizards, Royal Honorary Magician, Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot)

Dear Mr. Bach:

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of required books and equipment.

Semester is scheduled to start on September 1. We will wait for your owl to bring your reply before July 31st.

Vice-Chancellor

Sincerely, Adebe Gorshak

Hoffa tossed and read the paper several times, and there was no doubt that the letter was the same as in the novel, yet completely different.

In this letter, he got three pieces of information. First, his principal is not Dumbledore, but a man named Armando Dippet. Second, the vice-principal is not Minerva McGonagall, but a stranger named Adebe Gorshack. Third, the Muggle world is not completely separated from the wizarding world, at least in the royal family, some people know the existence of the wizarding world.

For example, the two soldiers just now are very likely to be wizards. Otherwise, he would not have handed this strange letter to himself so calmly. Of course, the possibility of them being cursed is not ruled out.

However, after seeing Principal Armando Dippet's title of Empire Honorary Magician, Hoffa felt that his previous speculation was a little more real.

This is not surprising. People at the top of the world must have more information than ordinary people. With such a large group of wizards, without the cooperation of high-level Muggles, it is impossible for a Ministry of Magic to completely conceal the existence of wizards.

Secretly writing down the information he got, Hoffa pulled out a second page.

This page is very ordinary, it only records some textbooks and props necessary for Hogwarts, which is similar to what I saw in my previous life.

But after reading it through, Hoffa was shocked.

He remembered something very important.

That is he has no money...

Yes.

He is truly destitute, poor and white. Meals are all funded by the orphanage.

He didn't have any property left by his dead parents, and he didn't know where to apply for Hogwarts' poverty fund. There wasn't even a relative like Uncle Vernon in this world.

He couldn't ask the people in the orphanage for money to study at Hogwarts, right? Those people are also poor people, and it's not easy to raise himself so big.

Standing on the streets of London in 1938, Hoffa was blown by the cold wind of reality and felt chilly on his body.

A penny stumps a hero, even a traveler feels helpless at this moment.

"Do you want to do this, Boss... Is it giving hope and shattering it?"

Hoffa sighed to himself and put the letter in his pocket.

No way, Hogwarts must go, it was his childhood dream in his previous life.

Even begging for food and working part-time! He also has to collect the tuition fees!

Gritting his teeth, Hoffa walked towards the Leaky Cauldron.

If you want to beg for food and work, you have to go to the wizarding world to ask for it. After all, there is no Muggle world for wizards.

The only good news was that he already knew the exact location of the Leaky Cauldron on the envelope.

...

The Leaky Cauldron was now in the middle of a suit shop and an umbrella shop, and the Muggles walking around ignored it, and Hoffa stepped in with the map in his pocket.

This legendary bar is just like the one described in the book, dark and shabby, full of fish and dragons.

A drinking wizard, a smoking witch, and a few goblin-like creatures playing cards in the corner. The table is full of coins.

The only difference is that the boss in front of the counter is not so hunchbacked and old. Although the Mediterranean sea on his head has already shown his fate of bad hair, at least he is not bald now.

On the wall of the bar, rows of dark oil paintings are particularly eye-catching.

Everyone in an oil painting moves.

Hoffa looked over slowly, at the end of the group of oil paintings, he saw an oil painting of an old woman. In the painting, she wears a wooden hairpin and smokes a pipe, resembling a charter woman.

Seeing Hoffa, she exhaled the smoke viciously: "What are you looking at, little poor man!?"

Hoffa frowned.

I saw it under the oil painting.

The Leaky Cauldron - Founded by Daisy Doddridge

(1467-1555)

Hoffa didn't want to bother with an oil painting, he came to the bar of the boss Tom.

The young boss Tom was wiping glasses in front of the bar at the moment, and he just looked up at Hoffa who pushed the door and walked in, and didn't care much about it.

Hoffa thought of the grand occasion when Harry Potter entered the bar for the first time in the future, and compared himself to the predicament that no one cared about, he could only lament that people are more popular than people.

He really doesn't have the aura of the protagonist in the legend.

He glanced eagerly at the Gold Gallon in the hands of the card-playing goblins, and then walked to the bar seriously.

The bar was so high that Hoffa had to stand on tiptoe and coughed, "Hello!"

"Hello." The bar owner Tom's response was neither enthusiastic nor cold, just ordinary.

Hoffa: "I want to ask, are you recruiting here?"

Tom stopped wiping the glass and glanced at Hoffa with a little surprise: "What did you say?"

Hoffa: "Excuse me, I'm looking for a job, short-term."

Tom was surprised: "Merlin's beard, will wizard kids come out to look for work at such a young age?"

Hoffa was very mad, but the situation was stronger than others, he could only sigh: "I can't help it, isn't this an economic crisis outside?"

Tom grinned, shook his head and said, "Sorry, we don't employ child labor here." After speaking, he turned to the other side of the table and continued to wipe the glass.

Hoffa didn't give up, he also followed: "Wait a minute, do you know that there are other shops in Diagon Alley that recruit workers?"

Tom was upset, he frowned, and put down the rag heavily.

"Hey! You kid, if you don't go to Hogwarts to study well, what kind of adults do you want to come out to find a job. Do you think that working is such a simple thing?"

I rely on! Hoffa cursed in his heart. You think I don't want to go, if I have money, why would I put my hot face on your cold ass!

Why is this old guy so snobbish? He was so enthusiastic when he saw Harry Potter. Seeing himself was like seeing a plague god. He wanted to rush out.

Tom's voice attracted several wizards to look over. Among them, a tall and hunchbacked witch turned around, smoked a pipe and asked with a smile: "Little guy, are you short of money? Do you want to go to Knockturn Alley with my sister to see?" look……"

Before he finished speaking, Hoffa quickly replied: "No, thank you for your kindness. I still want to look for it in Diagon Alley."

Of course he wouldn't agree, this guy who looks good enough to be his grandma actually calls himself sister, it's not normal at first glance.

The tall witch curled her lips and blew smoke into his face.

Hoffa still lowered his posture, and he said to his boss Tom: "I want to go to Diagon Alley, can you open the door for me?"

It was Tom's job to open the door. He opened the bar here, and he was also half of the doorkeeper.

He didn't refuse, and said lightly: "Come with me."

Hoffa was thinking in his heart that there were so many shops in Diagon Alley, maybe one of them would offer him a job opportunity.

Standing in front of the wall, Tom said, "Count up to three dollars, down to two dollars, and finally knock three times, and remember to use some magic when you knock, if you have a wand afterward."

Hoffa quickly nodded and said yes, but what he thought was that he didn't have a dime, and Ollivander probably wouldn't give him the wand on credit.

Seeing that Hoffa's attitude was okay, Tom said a few words: "What's your name, why are you looking for a job?"

Hoffa felt that things seemed to have turned around, so he quickly said: "My name is Hoffa, and I am looking for a job to earn some money for buying books."

In the lobby of the bar, one of the elves playing cards suddenly turned his ears and his eyes drifted over.

The boss Tom frowned: "If you don't have money, you can write to Hogwarts to apply for a subsidy. They don't need this money. Also, if you want to find a job in Diagon Alley, I advise you to die." Don't worry. They are all official shops registered by the Ministry of Magic, and children under the age of 16 are not allowed to be recruited."

The hope that had just been ignited in Hoffa's heart was shattered at once, like a bulging balloon piercing the skin, and he was discouraged.

Write to Hogwarts to apply, he also wants to write.

People also said in the letter that they expect their owl to reply, but the problem is.

Hoffa has no owls....

Of course owls can be bought in Diagon Alley, but he has no money...

None.

However, just when Hoffa was feeling a little desperate, a card-playing goblin jumped off the stool and squeezed over the waists of several chatting wizards.

The goblin beckoned: "Wait a minute, little wizard, what's your name?"

Hoffa turned his head curiously, and saw a goblin wearing unilateral glasses, a cowhide jacket, leather shoes, and a suit on his arm walking over. He is only half the height of a normal person, that is, about the same height as himself. With a bunch of fashionable blond hair on his forehead and two earrings on his ears, he looks rather pleasing to the eye compared to the other old goblins with big bellies.

"My name is Hoffa, what's the matter?"

The goblin nodded and pushed his monocle.

"It's Bach, isn't it?"

"Yes." Hoffa was very surprised.

"Why did you come here? I have been waiting for you for three days." The goblin complained, "My name is Indo, please take care of me."

He extended his hand skillfully, like a salesman.

Hoffa held the opponent's hand, his heart fluttered, and he looked up and down the goblin dressed by the staff, thinking, what did he do to make a goblin wait for three days. You must know that these creatures are extremely stingy, do you owe him money?

But Indo said quickly, "A few days ago, a wizard asked me to do something. He asked me to wait here for a child named Hoffa."

As he spoke, Indo coughed, rummaged in his trousers pocket, took out a crumpled letter from a pile of blue copper coins, and handed it to Hoffa.

"This is the letter that the wizard asked me to send you."

Hoffa quickly took a look at the letter. There was no signature on the letter, and there were only some English words in circles on it.

······

Last time I didn't prepare two grants

I asked Indra to take you to Gringotts to pick it up

he is a nice leprechaun

Get along with

see you at school

Very concise words, but Hoffa knew who wrote the letter at a glance. It was Dumbledore. It turned out that he hadn't forgotten himself. Hoffa couldn't help feeling warm, and he was relieved.

Anyway, there is still one person in this world who misses me, so I don't need to work part-time.

After reading the letter, Hoffa looked at the goblin in front of him more and more pleasing to the eye

Wait, why is this guy rubbing his hands all of a sudden and smiling so philistinely?

Hoffa asked suspiciously, "What are you laughing at?"

The goblin pushed his glasses and said with a smile: "The situation is like this, but something unexpected happened."

"What accident?" Hoffa had a bad premonition in his heart.

"The accident is that this guy has been playing cards in my shop for three days, and he has lost for three days." It was Tom who answered Hoffa. The bar owner folded his arms and sneered, then turned and left. Ignore Hoffa.

He looked at the ashamed goblin in front of him, then at Tom's back, and then at the goblins collecting money at the card table.

Hoffa felt that several dementors were kissing him, and traces of souls slowly floated out of his seven orifices.

"You mean? My entry grant"

Indo: "That's right, I have already been defeated by my subordinates."