Became good friends with the Boy Who Lived

Chapter 159 At the Hog's Head

Because this year's DA gathering cannot be so casual, Aries and Hermione have been studying how to better inform others and guard against informants these days. Hermione will also take time to secretly move among students from various colleges to spread the news of the DA gathering.

In a blink of an eye, the day to go to Hogsmeade came. Mr. Filch stood at the entrance like an old hound, staring fiercely at every student going to Hogsmeade village, and sometimes even sniffed them with his nose.

"This old guy was used as a gun by the old toad," said Aeris. "There must be someone behind him who instructed him to do this."

"I can't tell which of them I hate more," Harry said through gritted teeth, "Intercepting students' letters and monitoring the fireplace at Hogwarts, is this something a normal person would do?"

"Luckily nothing happened," Ron said thankfully. "Don't worry, Harry. Cold isn't a fool. He won't take risks again..."

"That's not necessarily true," Hermione said teasingly. "Listen to the tone of his voice the other day. He seems to regard adventure as a part of his life."

Harry remained silent, but his expression became even more worried.

"Where are we meeting, Hermione?" Ron asked. "The Three Broomsticks?"

"No!" said Hermione, "There are so many people coming and going there, it's too conspicuous. Let's go to the Hog's Head Inn on the edge of the village."

Compared to the Three Broomsticks, the Hog's Head looked very shabby and dilapidated. When the companions pushed the door and walked in, there were not many people in the whole pub except for a person dressed as a witch, who was sitting in the corner. He was wearing a veil, and he would lift the veil from time to time to take a sip of Firewhisky.

Aberforth was dozing off behind the bar out of boredom. When he heard someone come in, he raised his eyelids, and when he saw Aeris, his eyes widened again.

Aries smiled at Aberforth, but Aberforth glared at Aries angrily, as if to say: Don't reveal my identity, kid.

Several friends also sat down in a corner.

"Could that witch be Umbridge in disguise?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"No," Hermione replied firmly, "Umbridge is much shorter!"

"I'll get a few bottles of butterbeer!" Harry said and was about to stand up, but was pushed down by Aris.

"I'll go!" said Aeris.

Aeris came to the bar, smiling and whispering hello to Aberforth.

"What are you doing here? Greene boy!" Aberforth asked in a low voice.

"Just meeting up with some friends," Aris said nonchalantly. "Four bottles of butterbeer to start!"

Aberforth put four bottles of butterbeer on the bar. After Aris paid, he picked up the butterbeer and was about to leave. Aberforth whispered, "Don't tell your friends who I am!"

Aeris nodded and went back.

"I've always wanted to try Firewhiskey," Ron said eagerly after taking a sip of Butterbeer.

Hermione glared at Ron, causing him to shrink his neck and stop talking.

"How many people will come?" Aris asked Hermione, and Harry also looked at Hermione.

"Only... three or five people..." Hermione said somewhat unnaturally.

"If three to five hundred people come, this bar won't be able to accommodate them!" Aris joked.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

People entered the bar one after another. Fortunately, there were only about thirty people. Draco also brought a few Slytherin junior students with him. Those younger students seemed to respect Draco very much.

Draco sat next to Aeris and whispered, "Their families have also been persecuted by the Dark Lord and believe that he will return, so I brought them here. They crave the power of revenge."

Aeris nodded slightly.

About thirty people were looking at Aris and Harry. The scene was a little awkward for a moment, then Fred and George jumped out to liven up the atmosphere.

"Let's not just sit there..." Fred said with a smile.

"We have to have something to drink!" George also said with a smile.

People went to the bar to buy butter beer. Aberforth glared at Aris angrily and complained in a low voice: "Are these the friends you were talking about?"

"Then please find us a quiet place, sir!" said Aeris with a smile.

Aberforth glared at Aris again and said only: "Follow me..."

After getting their butterbeer, everyone followed Aberforth to a large basement, where there was enough space for everyone to sit without seeming crowded.

"Hey, sir," Aris whispered to Aberforth as he was about to leave, "that veiled, witch-dressed person outside is Mundungus Franchi. If you don't like him, you can send him away."

Aberforth scowled and left in a hurry.

Aeris saw a painting of a teenage girl who looked exactly like his sister, Ariana.

Aes smiled at the girl in the painting and nodded. The girl in the painting also smiled and gracefully performed a ladylike courtesy to Aes.

After Aerys coughed, he said, "The reason we are gathered here is that the defense team is planning to meet again, but as you can see, Umbridge will not allow such a meeting."

A classmate who had never attended a party said, "But why should we attend this kind of party?"

"Because Voldemort is back, you idiot!" said Ron rudely.

"That's just your side of the story, Ministry of Magic..." the boy continued.

"Perhaps you could show the footage of that day again," Seamus said. "Aeris, if you forged the footage of that day, it would definitely be different if you show it again."

Aeris brewed for a while, and then blew out silver smoke from his mouth. Everything that happened in Riddle Cemetery began to appear in the smoke, and everyone watched curiously.

After all the images were played, Aries waved his hand and dispersed the silver smoke. Everyone looked at Aries in a daze, as if asking: How did you do it?

Aeris shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly, "If you want to learn, I can teach you."

Ernie said, "What is that? Bones, flesh, and blood. Is that how You-Know-Who was resurrected?"

Aris answered: "To be precise, Voldemort never died. He just regained his body through this evil method."

"What about those ghosts?" Cedric asked, frowning and thinking.

"Flashback spell," said Aris. "It should be the moment when Voldemort's wand touched Harry's wand, a similar flashback effect occurred. It's just a guess."

Cedric nodded, but his brows were still furrowed in thought.

The students chattered and asked a lot of questions, and Aris patiently answered them one by one.

Finally Hermione said, "So does everyone agree to join the DA?"

"I've always thought this name is great," Luna said, "Dumbledore's Army. Professor Dumbledore originally had an army of fire elves..."

"That's impossible!" said Hermione flatly.

"Professor Dumbledore's affinity for fire magic is extremely strong," Aeris said, "So, what Luna said is well-founded, but this is not the point of our discussion today, Hermione, don't argue about this kind of thing."

Luna puffed out her chest and Hermione glared at Aeris in disapproval.

"I hope none of us will tell anyone what happened here today," Aris said, "otherwise any of us will be in danger. Umbridge's methods of punishing students are really beyond your imagination. Of course, if it's someone you trust... it's not impossible..."

Everyone agreed.

Hermione took out a piece of parchment and placed a quill next to it. She said awkwardly, "Uh... that... I hope that those who agree to join can sign their names on the parchment..."

Everyone was somewhat unhappy.

Aeris said, "Let's be frank. We have cursed the quill and parchment. The informer will be marked. We have no ill intentions. We are just concerned about everyone's safety."

After saying this, Aeris wrote his name on the parchment first, and Cedric did not hesitate and wrote his name...

After everyone had written their names, Eris took out a handful of gold galleons from his pocket, which he had transformed using stones from the shore of the Black Lake.

As Aerys distributed fake Galleons to everyone, he explained, "I call them pagers. When we have a party, we will send out a notification and the pager will heat up, become heavier, and vibrate. Then you will know. The pager will display the time and place... Just like this, do you see it?"

"Are we students of the same school?" A Slytherin student looked at Aris in disbelief and said, "Transformation Charm, Vibration Charm, Weighting Charm... Are you really only in the fifth year like Draco? You can't do it in the seventh year, right?" The boy glanced at Cedric, who just smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Anyway, the meeting before the party was quite successful, but when leaving, Aries noticed that Aberforth's face looked strange.