Chapter 26 Egg Controversy and Duel Invitation
Hearing that other people experienced a rather uncomfortable tossing and turning sensation when performing Apparition, Hodu had no such problems at all.
He burst into laughter on the spot, feeling as if he had magically gained an Anywhere Door, able to decide wherever he wanted to go on his own.
Even a small place like Hogwarts could no longer contain him now.
Because of this, he no longer had to endure the terrible food at the school.
For all three meals a day, he could completely resolve them directly by returning to his hometown, and come back to class after eating his fill; this kind of life was truly overly comfortable.
The only troublesome part was probably having no money on hand.
But this could hardly be considered a difficult problem.
Once he learned the Disillusionment Charm, he could completely take a stroll around the national treasuries of a few countries.
After the stacking of the Apparition trait and Treasure Perception, money was no longer something Hodu needed to worry about.
In the time that followed, he tried Apparition several times again, choosing desolate places like deserts and high mountains as his landing points.
Used time and time again, his control over this ability obviously became much more proficient.
Later on, he could even change the scene before his eyes with every step he took.
That feeling was like the entire planet had fallen within his control range; there was no need for extra perception at all, and his body could complete the movement by instinct.
Long distance was like this, and short distance likewise had not the slightest obstruction.
A place a few meters away could be reached with a single thought, and in his own perception, that little distance was no different from an instant.
Not knowing how long he had tossed about, Hodu finally ended his experiment and sat back down on the bed.
Not long after, Harry and the others also returned to the dormitory, and conveniently brought him some food.
Harry handed the food over and asked, "Hodu, does your stomach still hurt now?"
"It's already fine."
Hodu waved his hand indifferently, took the lunch and glanced at it, discovering that it actually contained two eggs inside.
Ron had already lain on the bed, and couldn't help complaining to Harry: "What on earth is going on today? How come there are eggs everywhere? Could Hogwartshave changed its profession to raising chickens?"
Hodu immediately shut his mouth, lowered his head to eat silently, and put on an expression that this matter had nothing to do with him whatsoever.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he pretended, it was useless.
In the afternoon, Hodu was called over by Professor McGonagall.
Until then, he learned that the commotion he had stirred up had been completely exposed.
After all, those were five thousand eggs; trying to keep it from the school was obviously quite unrealistic.
Professor McGonagall sat behind her desk, her spectacle frames sliding down a bit along the bridge of her nose.
She looked at Hodu through her lenses, her tone still calm: "Mr. Hodu, can you tell me why you want to do this?"
She had taught at the school for many years and had seen all kinds of bizarre scenes, yet she still couldn't figure out what on earth Hodu bought so many eggs for.
Five thousand eggs, plus an expenditure of one hundred Galleons.
No matter how one looked at it, this was not a consumption scale a student should have.
Hodu had long prepared his excuse and answered open-mouthed: "I've been learning to cook recently, Professor."
This explanation was far too far-fetched; even he himself felt that he hadn't fooled around with enough seriousness.
However, Professor McGonagall hadn't planned to investigate the matter to the end anyway; after all, Hoduwas a Gryffindor student, and although this behavior was exaggerated, it wasn't outrageous to an unacceptable degree.
Furthermore, on the Sorting Ceremony day he could even take out the sword of gryffindor, so no matter how one looked at it, he was a genuine Gryffindor.
As long as he didn't eagerly run off to challenge a Dragon, it was already considered something to be thankful for.
Professor McGonagall rubbed her brow and continued: "I hope you will immediately stop this kind of spending behavior and put your energy into your studies. Otherwise, I can only write a letter to Hannah, letting her manage your consumption problem."
This was already plainly bringing out parents.
"Alright, Professor."
Facing such a warning, Hodu could only obediently nod.
After leaving the office, he quickly thought of something.
It seemed that Bitun's channel for purchasing goats couldn't be used temporarily; otherwise, if Professor McGonagall really mailed a letter to Hannah, things would become troublesome.
But now, he didn't need to rely on Bitun anymore either.
He had already found a more convenient way.
His hometown was big enough; a mere ten thousand goats was nothing at all.
Hodu could completely finish eating one here, and then change to another county to continue eating.
With so many counties, spread out, ten thousand goats were nothing to be afraid of.
If he wasn't picky, eating raw ones directly would certainly save more time, but Hodu was a particular person after all and hadn't been driven to that extent yet.
After afternoon Herbology ended, he couldn't wait to part ways with Harry and the others, ran into a lavatory alone, and then performed Apparition, returning to his hometown.
But he had obviously miscalculated one thing—time difference.
Just as he appeared in his hometown, Hodu found that the sky was completely pitch black, with not much time left until the early morning hours.
Midnight in this era wasn't as lively as his previous life; there weren't many places on the street worth him walking around.
Thinking for a brief moment, he activated Apparition once more.
After his figure dissipated, Hodu appeared in Modu in the blink of an eye.
The crowd of people here was obviously incomparable to a small county; even at this hour, the prosperity was just beginning to reveal itself.
He wandered around Modu casually for a while, and ultimately returned to Hogwarts.
The time over there was truly too late, and it wasn't suitable to continue activities outside.
After returning to school, Hodu didn't return to the dormitory, but instead dove headfirst into the Library, starting to look for books recording household spells.
With his ability, learning magic was merely a matter of taking a glance, but finding the target from a massive collection of books was obviously not that simple.
By the time the time came to five or six in the afternoon, he had completely mastered a bunch of daily life skills.
Whether it was cooking or weaving clothes, it could no longer stump him.
Besides that, he also discovered an unexpected harvest in a book on advanced charms.
A spatial expansion magic recorded inside was likewise classified under household magic, and this thing was something Hodu couldn't be more familiar with.
It was precisely the Undetectable Extension Charm.
This was a genuine advanced magic, and the learning difficulty was quite high.
Now relying on the ten-thousand-fold trait, he even saved himself the hard work, easily mastering it just like picking something up for free.
Hodu immediately cast a spell on his money bag.
After the spell fell, the space inside the money bag expanded smoothly; as for other uses, he hadn't thought of any yet.
The next morning, Hodu sat in the Great Hall eating as usual, but at this moment saw Malfoy reappearing.
The injuries on Malfoy's hands had completely disappeared, and his face had also recovered its usual arrogant appearance.
But when he caught sight of Hodu and the others, his expression immediately turned gloomy, obviously still remembering the torture he had suffered before.
After finishing the meal and leaving the Great Hall, Harrywas suddenly bumped by someone behind him so that he staggered, and his arm also took a heavy collision, hurting him so much that he hummed on the spot.
Seeing clearly that the person who made a move was Malfoy, Ron immediately said angrily: "Malfoy, what kind of madness are you acting!"
"Get lost, poor redhead."
Malfoy glared at him coldly, "This matter is not your turn to manage."
Behind him also followed two henchmen.
After saying this, Malfoy lowered his voice and stared fiercely at Harry.
"Harry, that account from last time hasn't been settled yet. Do you dare to go to the trophy room tonight? Let's have a duel between Wizards there. If you're scared, then don't come."
As his voice fell, he didn't give Harry any time to answer at all, turned around and left directly with the two henchmen, making it clear he had no intention of giving Harry a chance to refuse.
Hodu slightly narrowed his eyes, always feeling that this scene before him was a bit somewhat familiar.
However, the few of them didn't continue tangling, and quickly hurried off to the classroom.
Chapter 27: Wooden Stick, Cerberus, and Nimbus 2000
"Harry, are you really going tonight?"
As soon as class ended, Ron couldn't help asking.
"Of course I am, I'm not scared of Malfoy." Harry answered very directly.
Ron nodded immediately: "Then I'll go with you."
Hodu listened from the side, but understood very well in his heart. That fellow Malfoy was most likely setting a trap for them.
"Is it possible that he has no intention of going at all, and is just deliberately tricking you into going over?" Hodutactfully reminded him.
"I was thinking the exact same thing!" Hermione had somehow already overheard their conversation and immediately chimed in, "You guys still trust Malfoy? If Professor finds out, Gryffindor will definitely lose points!"
Ron never really liked her bossy attitude, and upon hearing this, he snapped right back: "What's it to you? Don't act like you're the only smart one!"
"How is it none of my business?" Hermione glared at him, "Those house points were earned for Gryffindor through all my hard work. If you guys cause the house to lose points, what right do you have to stop me from caring?"
This time, Hermione couldn't really be said to be wrong.
Ever since she enrolled, the house points she earned alone were almost equivalent to a third of Gryffindor's total earnings.
In previous years, Gryffindor's house points were at the bottom year-round, but this year, thanks to having Hermione, their standing forcefully climbed to second place.
At the very top was still Slytherin. After all, no matter how formidable Hermione was, she couldn't prop up the entire house all by herself, and as for the rest of the people in Gryffindor, there were truly quite a few who dragged them down. Being able to maintain their current ranking was already not easy at all.
"I won't let Malfoy think I'm a coward!" Harry was somewhat irritated by Hermione's attitude, and after dropping these words, he simply stopped paying attention to her.
Hodu glanced at Ron and shook his head inwardly.
It seemed he still had to let Ron bring something along for self-defense. If Malfoy really showed up with people, at least he wouldn't suffer a loss.
As for himself, he wouldn't keep them company tonight. Rather than running off to the trophy room to toss about, he might as well just sleep obediently.
The first class in the afternoon was Charms Class. After Hodu handed in his assignment, Professor Flitwick's attention was first drawn by its astonishing length, and then the more he read, the more shocked he became.
"Mr. Hodu, this is simply wonderful. It's hard to imagine this is an assignment completed by a first-year student." Professor Flitwick held the parchment, his tone full of amazement, "There is a lot of content in here that even inspired me, which is enough to prove its value. It's a pity you're still a first-year now; if your grade were higher, I would definitely invite you to join the Charms Club. But I believe that day won't be too far away."
He didn't think Hodu had copied it from somewhere. Some of the viewpoints in the assignment were extremely novel, and Professor Flitwick had never seen them in other materials before. As the Charms Class Professor of Hogwarts, he naturally had the ability to judge whether this content had any fluff or not.
"Thank you for the compliment, Professor Flitwick." Hoduresponded politely.
The surrounding gazes falling upon him made Hodu feel somewhat carried away.
Is this the treatment of a top student? It feels pretty good.
Especially Harry and Ron; the way the two of them looked at him was as if they were meeting him for the first time, obviously not expecting that Hodu, who usually kept a low profile, had secretly turned into a top student.
Hermione's expression, however, did not look very good. Not even she had received such an evaluation from Professor Flitwick, so by what right did Hodu?
"Based on this assignment, I have decided to add ten points to Gryffindor." Professor Flitwick subsequently announced.
For Gryffindor, house points were the most direct form of recognition. Although they had a rather strange logic—the worse they got points deducted, the more it proved they were Gryffindors—gaining points was still a happy thing after all.
As soon as class ended, Hermione unceremoniously took Hodu's assignment over.
She read it carefully from beginning to end, but as a result, she fell into awkwardness. The knowledge involved inside was too deep; she had no way to fully understand it at all.
And precisely because she couldn't understand it, Hermione became even more suspicious of Hodu. She wasn't unfamiliar with Hodu; this level of content, no matter how one looked at it, didn't look like something he could write entirely on his own.
It's just that suspicion was suspicion; she had no evidence, so she didn't voice it out on the spot.
When night arrived, as Harry and Ron quietly left the dormitory, Hodu even purposely took a glance. Ron was indeed carrying a wooden stick in his hand, obviously having taken his warning to heart.
Judging by their current strength, this thing's deterrent power might even be stronger than a wand.
Hodu didn't follow them; after lying down, he quickly fell asleep. When he opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning.
Harry and Ron didn't know what time they came back last night either; at this moment, they were sleeping like two rocks. Hodu and Neville took turns pulling and tugging at them for quite a while before finally managing to wake the two of them up.
They hurriedly rushed to the dining hall to finish breakfast, then rushed all the way to the classroom, almost being late.
As soon as he sat down, Ron leaned over to Hodu's side and lowered his voice to say: "You really should have gone together with us last night! The things we encountered were so wonderful, you have no idea what you missed!"
Listening to his tone, which was so excited it was almost flying, Hodu had actually already guessed the answer.
Sure enough, Ron quickly began talking about the process of how they encountered the Cerberus.
"That fellow's heads, every single one of them was as big as a hut! With one bite, it could crush both of us together!" Ron spoke excitedly, completely showing no trace of how terrified he was when facing the Cerberus last night.
Speaking to the end, he revealed a bit of regret: "But Harrythinks that Cerberus might be guarding something. We can't go talking about it everywhere."
Otherwise, judging by Ron's personality, he probably would have told this adventure to everyone long ago.
For Harry and Ron, this matter could be considered a thrilling experience, but to Hodu, it was nothing more than a small episode. Over the next few days, they would occasionally discuss what the thing guarded by the Cerberus actually was, but Hodu didn't participate in it.
Next, he didn't take any other special actions either. A fusion slot in the myriad things fusion system was still empty, and he wasn't in a rush to use it, preparing to finish the exclusive task of fusing the Dragon first. After the progress points increased more, he would consider how to arrange things next.
On Thursday morning, Harry received a package. After opening it, inside was a brand-new flying broom—Nimbus 2000.
At the same time, the matter of Harry joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team was also officially confirmed.
In the blink of an eye, it was Friday noon. Because this week's classes had already ended, counting the afternoon, they had a full two and a half days of holiday, so whether it was Harry, Ron, or Hodu, their states were much more active than usual.
As for homework?
No one took that thing to heart.
After finishing lunch, Ron enthusiastically proposed: "Harry, accompany me to play wizards chess this afternoon!"
Harry shook his head with regret: "No, I have to go attend Quidditch practice this afternoon."
Ron had no choice but to turn his head: "Then Hodu, the two of us play?"
"I have things to do this afternoon too." Hodu directly refused.
"What could you possibly have to do?" Ron widened his eyes, "Can I go with you?"
Hodu blinked: "Library. Are you coming?"
Ron shook his head and refused without even thinking, and afterwards could only run off to find Neville.
Of course, Hodu's words weren't true. He was prepared to make a trip back home to complete the exclusive task of fusing the Dragon.
He had long anticipated that Ron would definitely not be willing to go to the Library, so this excuse was indeed found flawlessly.
Chapter 28: Hodu Retrieves Silver Dollars in Modu
Hodu was very anxious.
After returning to the dormitory, he immediately packed a set of Muggle clothes into his money bag.
It was already twelve noon, but back in his hometown, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening, and the time left for him was not very generous.
He briskly walked out of the bedroom, entered the washroom next to the Gryffindor Common Room, randomly found a stall, and changed into that brand-new suit he hadn't worn many times.
He didn't throw away his Wizard robes either, casually stuffing them back into the money bag.
Once everything was ready, with a thought from Hodu, his entire body disappeared directly from the spot.
The next second, he had already landed on a vast expanse of land.
This time he didn't dare to appear openly like usual, but deliberately chose a remote corner.
There are Statutes of Secrecy everywhere in this world, and his hometown was naturally no exception; as one of the member institutions of the Wizards Federation, it had similarly signed this law that bound Wizards.
If he were caught on the spot by ordinary people, and he didn't know the Memory Charm, things would become troublesome.
If the local Ministry of Magic really detected the abnormality, although it might not be able to trace all the way to Britain, it would definitely bring a lot of inconvenience if he wanted to come back in the future.
For the sake of safety, Hodu didn't even bring his wand.
There is Trace magic inside the wand, and who knows if the Ministry of Magic could discover something through it.
Hodu didn't actually think the other party could detect this place, but being careful was always right.
Besides, the magic he currently knew were just simple everyday magic, which he could cast just as well without a wand, so there wasn't much difference whether he brought it or not.
His luck wasn't bad; the commotion of his appearance wasn't discovered by anyone.
Hodu walked out from the alley.
Under the night sky, the suit on him looked sharp, his appearance was handsome, and since he was still young, passersby would glance at him a few times, but that was about it.
As long as they didn't observe particularly carefully, it was hard to see the traces of mixed blood on him.
His face still leaned toward an Oriental look, only more handsome than ordinary people, and the easiest place to give him away was still that pair of blue eyes.
After stepping onto the land of Modu, Hodu touched his pocket, which was completely empty.
Galleon here would mostly be useless, so he had to get some money first.
Spirit Treasure Perception was activated immediately.
In an instant, large patches of fluorescent light emerged around him.
Usually, in order not to be disturbed by Muggle items, he had actively suppressed this perception; now that he completely released it, there were bright spots everywhere around him.
Hodu re-screened them, leaving only those targets whose light was more obvious and whose volume was as small as possible.
If they happened to be buried underground and were ownerless items, it would be even more perfect.
After this round of screening, the light spots in his perception decreased quite a bit, but the remaining quantity was still ridiculously large.
If he really had to confirm them one by one, he estimated it wouldn't end even when dawn broke.
So he simply spread out his perception, scanning all those targets like a computer scanning files, and quickly figured out what was inside roughly.
Oh ho.
This place truly lived up to being Modu; its history was long enough, and at a certain period, it was even one of the most prosperous and developed cities.
The things hidden underground were completely a treasure trove.
Paper money, on the contrary, was rare.
That thing hadn't appeared for long, and it was periodically replaced; even if it could be used before, by now it had long since expired, unless sold as an antique.
But precious metal objects were very plentiful.
There were gold bars, silver dollars, and even people burying them box by box underground.
Digging out a box at random would basically mean ordinary people wouldn't need to strive anymore for the rest of their lives; if exchanged for real estate here, even descendants could enjoy the blessings along.
Besides gold and silver, Hodu also perceived quite a few firearms.
Although the styles were a bit old, they were preserved quite well, and when taken out, they surprisingly looked like new.
Antiques were likewise not lacking; porcelain vases and jade pieces came one after another.
Hodu clicked his tongue in amazement as he watched.
If he were willing to take the time to dig out all the treasures underground in his hometown, becoming the richest man didn't seem like a difficult task.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of things were of no use to him now.
After all, he was only an eleven-year-old child; if he really took gold bars to exchange for money, even if the shopkeeper didn't give in to greed, they would directly call the police.
Hodu first looked around to confirm there was no one nearby, before letting the soil beneath his feet slowly move.
His body sank rapidly as if falling into a swamp.
Before long, his trace was completely invisible from the ground, and even the pit left behind closed on its own, recovering without a trace.
The underground space was very spacious, but once the upper entrance closed, the surroundings immediately plunged into darkness.
Hodu raised his finger, and a spot of light lit up at his fingertips, with a brightness almost like a two-hundred-watt incandescent lamp, quickly illuminating the surroundings brightly.
Lumos!
An armchair molded from soil quickly formed behind him.
Hodu leaned back and sat down, and the chair steadily supported him.
Immediately after, the soil in front parted on its own, and a passageway continuously extended toward the target.
Underground pipes were avoided one by one, and the direction didn't have many bends.
The armchair then moved, practically like a car speeding underground, carrying Hodu to rush all the way along the passage.
The speed was shockingly fast, almost catching up to a bullet train, and because the road was straight enough, even turning was saved.
Before long, the target arrived.
A tattered black cloth lay on the ground, and a corner of the silver dollars wrapped inside was already exposed.
Hodu stood up, crouched down, grabbed the strip of cloth and pulled hard, then casually threw that piece of black cloth aside.
There were only thirteen silver dollars, not a large quantity, but they were temporarily enough for him to use.
Hodu took out his money bag from his suit inner pocket, untied the string on it, and opened the mouth of the bag.
The silver dollars on the ground flew up one after another as if guided by something, quickly diving into the money bag, making a crisp sound when colliding with each other.
With the items in hand, he didn't intend to stay any longer.
The newly opened passage began to close up, and the soil on both sides squeezed in from all directions, as if wanting to crush his entire body into the underground.
At the very moment when the soil was about to touch his body, Hodu's figure disappeared once again.
He returned once again to that initial alley.
Magical power circulated within his body, and all the tiny mud spots on the suit fell off, making the clothes clean again without leaving even a trace of dust.
Hodu walked out of the alley and quickly found a gold shop by the roadside.
This shop not only sold gold and silver, but also did recycling business.
"Boss, please take a look at these for me first."
He walked into the shop.
The boss behind the counter was a lean old man with reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and wearing a simple white undershirt.
The old man's hair was sparse; viewed from afar, it looked like young grass just emerging from the soil, and without close inspection, it was almost indistinguishable from being bald.
Sitting by the door was also a sturdy, dark-skinned big man.
As soon as Hodu entered the door, that man's gaze stayed fixed on him.
Hodu reached his hand into his suit inner pocket and pinched out the silver dollars he had just retrieved.
The surfaces of the silver dollars were still stained with soil.
The boss took one and immediately recognized it.
"Silver dollars?"
He brought the item close to his mouth, puffed up his cheeks, and blew hard on it.
The silver dollar instantly emitted a crisp sound.
The old man lowered his head to check each one, and said casually, "Thirty yuan each, that's my price for you."
Chapter 29: Selling Silver Dollars and a Huge Appetite at the Mutton Restaurant
Hodu's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Thirty yuan a piece?"
"Was this because they saw he was young and intentionally taking him for a gullible fool to fleece?"
"Not selling, farewell!"
He tucked the silver dollars back into his pocket and turned to leave.
Before long, Hodu returned to the shop.
Watching him re-enter, the boss wore a somewhat teasing smile on his face.
"Little fellow, do you believe it now?"
"What I quoted is a conscience price."
"If I didn't think this thing might appreciate in value later, I wouldn't even bother giving thirty yuan."
The old man clearly didn't take Hodu's abrupt departure just now to heart, and after finishing, he looked at him cheerfully.
Hodu didn't say anything for a moment.
He had indeed judged wrong before.
These silver dollars were not yet regarded as antiques, nor did they have any collection value to speak of, and the stock on the market was far from small, which was why they could only sell for this price.
The scrawny boss before him hadn't taken the opportunity to rip him off.
After leaving just now, he had run to a few other shops to inquire, but the subsequent quotes were even more outrageous, each driving the price lower than the last.
Having gone full circle, he had no choice but to honestly return.
"Then three hundred and ninety it is."
The boss counted out the money and handed it to Hoduwith a smile.
Hodu took it, knowing in his heart that this sum of money wasn't a small amount nowadays, but to call it a lot was still far from the truth.
He put the money away inside his clothes, suddenly remembering another matter, and casually asked, "Boss, how much can pounds be exchanged for recently?"
"Around fourteen yuan or so."
The boss thought for a moment. "This thing changes every day, nobody can say for sure."
"If you really want to exchange, I can actually get foreign exchange certificates here."
The old man's gaze towards Hodu became a bit strange.
He had just felt that this child's eyes didn't look like a local's, and didn't expect him to actually be a foreigner.
Yet the other party's fluent Mandarin was actually smoother than what he himself spoke.
"Fourteen?"
Hodu's brow twitched gently; this exchange rate was much higher than he had imagined.
Over at Gringotts, one Galleon could be exchanged for five pounds.
Calculated this way, wouldn't one Galleon be able to trade for seventy yuan?
Two hundred Galleons could turn into fourteen thousand yuan.
Good grief, two hundred Galleons directly crossed the threshold of a ten-thousand-yuan household.
A ten-thousand-yuan household in this era wasn't some common saying seen everywhere in later generations; its gold content was quite substantial.
As for ten thousand Galleons, exchanging it out would be a full seven hundred thousand.
Placed in the present, this could already be considered quite wealthy.
Hodu didn't feel that everything in the Muggle world was worthless just because he had become a Wizard.
Especially things like the real estate market—barging in with seven hundred thousand in 1991, waiting a dozen or twenty years to see how much wealth could be rolled out, made one's heart race just thinking about it.
Furthermore, this was legal property that could be openly justified on the surface, requiring no exhausting effort for him to toss around.
Thinking of this, he immediately put the idea of exchanging Galleons into his future plans.
Of course, if he really needed to use money, he didn't necessarily have to resort to Galleons.
Hodu pulled back his thoughts and swept a circle around the shop again.
He currently looked like just an eleven-year-old child carrying a sum of money, which would inevitably attract some people's malicious intentions.
However, in this shop, aside from the boss, there was only the lazy muscular man by the door, with no other customers.
Only then did he relax slightly.
It seemed he still had to find time to learn some offensive magic, otherwise he couldn't even manage self-preservation.
Not to mention just him alone, other first-year students were much the same; nominally they were Wizards, but if they really started a fight with Muggles, it was hard to say who would fall into whose hands.
"We'll talk if there's a need."
Hodu's expression was calm. "When I have foreign exchange on hand, I'll come find you."
This kind of money-changing business appearing in a small gold shop sounded rather unorthodox.
However, the boss was quite fair when taking the silver dollars, at least not arbitrarily driving down the price.
After leaving the gold shop, Hodu walked around the city casually.
The night was thick, and there were quite a few people outside enjoying the cool air and taking walks.
People walked slowly, mostly with relaxed smiles on their faces, and there were pairs of young lovers holding hands by the roadside.
This kind of bustling everyday atmosphere made Hoducouldn't help but curve the corners of his mouth upward.
Walking along, he suddenly stopped outside a shop.
Smoke continually drifted out from the window cracks, and the aroma followed, drilling its way out.
Hodu glanced at the sign and discovered it was a mutton restaurant. Business inside seemed quite good, so he pushed open the door and walked in, sitting down by an empty table.
A waiter quickly welcomed him over.
It was a young girl who visibly froze for a moment after seeing Hodu, as if she wasn't quite sure whether she had misread.
Judging by his appearance, Hodu was indeed still a child, but he wore a well-tailored suit, making his entire persona completely out of tune with the surrounding kids. At first glance, he really looked like a shrunk-down adult.
"Little friend, where are your adults?"
The girl maintained a smile, her tone very gentle.
"I came by myself."
Hodu pulled out the money he had just exchanged, waved it in front of her, and said, "Don't worry, I can afford it."
Only then did the waiter set her mind at ease and begin helping him order.
Hodu ordered quite a lot in one breath. Listening to it, the girl couldn't help but remind him, "These portions are not small; I'm afraid you won't be able to finish them alone."
"Pack up the rest."
Hodu smiled. "How bad is it to waste food."
Saying so with his mouth, what he genuinely wanted to verify was the judgment method of the exclusive quest.
Would the system actually count these things he ate as swallowing an entire goat?
If as long as the same weight was reached, that would be much more convenient.
It couldn't possibly make him learn from a Dragon and swallow raw meat along with internal organs all at once, could it?
Taking advantage of the waiter bringing over a pot of boiling soup base, Hodu specifically asked a question.
After confirming that the mutton brought up indeed came from a goat, he was completely at ease.
The system specified a goat; sheep meat might not necessarily pass muster.
According to Hodu's past experience, the reason the system allowed him to cut corners was purely because this thing wasn't smart enough, like a cheat plugin casually cobbled together by a programmer with loopholes everywhere inside.
But a loophole is a loophole, and requirements still existed.
If a sheep were used to substitute for a goat, the quest would most likely not recognize it.
While chatting, he also learned from the waiter that the meat yield rate of an adult goat was roughly between forty and fifty percent, usually only yielding thirty to forty catties of meat.
Hodu had actually considered exploiting loopholes.
Being goats just the same, choosing a small lamb would definitely make the weight much easier.
Before long, plates of sliced meat were brought up one by one.
Too lazy to continue pondering, he started eating directly.
The taste of the dipping sauce, the rising steam in the pot, plus the noisy sounds from nearby tables combined surprisingly well.
Hodu ate more and more engrossed, completely temporarily tossing the exclusive quest to the back of his mind.
This meal made him thoroughly satisfied.
The heat steamed his cheeks red, the corners of his mouth were stained with oil, and sweat beads on his forehead fell one after another.
In the end, he simply took off his suit jacket and casually placed it aside.
When his stomach could no longer cram anything inside, there were still several plates of uncooked mutton placed on the table.
Hodu lowered his head to estimate: he had eaten at most a catty or more just now, which was still far from a goat's meat yield, let alone completing the portion of an entire goat.
Thus, he quietly activated his Spirit Devouring Talent.
The moment the mutton slices entered his mouth, they were rapidly swallowed and decomposed under the effect of the talent.
Those scalding, tender meat slices hardly stayed long; in the blink of an eye, the remaining several plates of mutton on the table were swept clean by him.
A passing waiter was dumbfounded on the spot, and after snapping back to her senses, she hurriedly ran into the kitchen, as if going to find the manager.
Soon, a manager walked over, cautiously asking Hodu if anything felt uncomfortable.
That was a full five catties of mutton; a normal adult couldn't possibly finish it all at once, let alone this eleven-year-old child right before his eyes.
What the manager worried about wasn't that Hoducouldn't afford the bill, but that he would eat himself to death with bloat right here in the shop.
If a human life really was lost, this business wouldn't need to be run anymore in the future.
Chapter 30 Mutton and Boggart
Facing the manager's inquiry, Hodu could only helplessly explain that he was fine.
It was just that the shop clearly couldn't let him continue eating there.
Yet a mere five jin of mutton was still far from his goal.
Since there was no way to finish it on the spot, he would take it away to finish.
Braving the waiter's weird look, Hodu started ordering again.
The mutton in the shop was about three yuan and fifty fen per jin, and he immediately asked for sixty-five jin, requesting all of it to be blanched and packed to go.
"Ah?"
The waiter froze on the spot, mouth wide open, as if suspecting something was wrong with his ears.
Hodu had to casually find an excuse: "There are many people at home."
The female waiter finally came back to her senses, her expression instantly turning quite complicated.
This wasn't just having many people at home; it was clearly throwing a banquet, right?
In her eyes, Hodu had practically become the young master of some wealthy family.
After all, it was her first time encountering someone ordering mutton by spending money like this.
Before long, the waiter hurried back and told Hodu some bad news: the shop didn't have sixty-five jin in stock, and the remaining mutton added up to only nearly thirty jin.
Hodu knitted his brows slightly.
It was a bit less, but for now, he could only accept these first.
He immediately checked out, counting out one hundred and twenty yuan from his pocket.
After paying, Hodu couldn't help but sigh with emotion that the things here were really cheap.
He suddenly had a strong déjà vu feeling of watching short web dramas.
He worked hard to save one hundred yuan, only to have to open a VIP channel when withdrawing money, or even arrange for someone to escort him specially.
Such a thought flashed through his mind, and the attention of others in the mutton restaurant was also attracted by him.
Hodu could sense those people glancing at him from time to time, whispering among themselves, but he didn't care at all.
Taking advantage of the time the back kitchen was preparing the mutton, the waiter ran out again.
Before long, a hanging sign appeared outside the shop door, which read: Sold Out Today!
According to Hodu's request, the mutton was put into boiling water in batches to be cooked.
Afterward, the store clerks scooped out all the meat slices, leaving no soup behind, packed them into plastic bags respectively, and then put cloth bags over the outer layer.
Soon, Hodu walked out carrying several large bags.
This setup dumbfounded everyone in the shop.
When Hodu passed by them, the meaty aroma drifting from the bags clearly drilled into everyone's noses.
Those cloth bags looked quite heavy, but in Hodu's hands, they were as light as if they contained nothing.
No one noticed that he had already quietly cast a Levitation Charm.
After leaving the mutton restaurant, a new problem followed.
Where should this mutton be taken?
He couldn't possibly carry them all the way back to Hogwarts.
Hodu walked into an alley nearby, and his figure disappeared silently, just like when he arrived, without disturbing anyone.
The next moment, the daylight suddenly brightened.
The bright sunlight blinded Hodu for a moment, and it took him a long while to calm down and clearly see the scene before him.
Ahead was endless seawater, and beneath his feet was covered with fine gravel.
This was a small island in the Atlantic Ocean.
Whether there were any human traces on the island, Hoduwasn't clear, and he couldn't be bothered to care.
He casually found a beach to sit down, unpacked the bags, and started eating the mutton, while simultaneously activating the Soul-Devouring talent, letting the sea breeze blow past him.
It didn't take long for the meat slices in the bags to all go into his stomach, leaving not even a bit of residue behind.
Hodu checked the system and found that when he had eaten about twenty-five or twenty-six jin, the progress of fusing with the Dragon increased by a little bit.
Counting the part he ate earlier in the mutton restaurant, he had swallowed a total of nearly thirty jin of mutton altogether.
It seemed that the system's standard for judging a goat was thirty jin of meat, and things like internal organs weren't needed.
After getting this conclusion, Hodu finally relaxed a bit.
After eating his fill, he simply lay down on the beach to sunbathe.
Eating and then lying down, this was the good life he should truly pursue.
While enjoying the sunlight, Hodu calculated his next arrangements in his heart.
As long as he got enough money, the exclusive task could continue to be completed.
Calculating a goat as thirty jin of meat, ten thousand of them would be three hundred thousand jin.
Converted, that was one hundred and fifty tons.
If dump trucks used for carrying sand and mud were really used to haul it, it would take at least dozens of them, and just thinking about that scene was exhilarating enough.
Calculating according to the price of the mutton restaurant, three hundred thousand jin of mutton would cost one million and fifty thousand.
In other words, it would hollow out the entire family fortunes of one hundred and five ten-thousand-yuan households.
The more Hodu calculated, the more he sighed with emotion; to complete a single task, it actually required using this much money.
However, he obviously wouldn't honestly go and buy ten thousand adult goats.
Instead of calculating by the weight of adult sheep, it would be better to find a way to find ten thousand little lambs.
In this way, the mutton needed to be eaten should be much less, which could be considered continuing to pull a fast one.
After sunbathing for a while, Hodu finally got up and prepared to leave.
He took the money bag out of his suit pocket, pulled out the Wizard robe inside, and then began to change clothes.
With a shift of his mind, he locked his destination onto the restroom of the Gryffindor Common Room at Hogwarts.
When casting Apparition, he could actually perceive in advance whether there was anything at the transmission location, at least he wouldn't crash head-on into any objects.
Hodu carefully sensed one of the stalls, and after confirming that there was no one inside, his figure instantly disappeared from the island.
Only a few garbage bags were left behind in place.
The breeze rolled up the bags and blew them into the azure seawater.
After walking out of the restroom, Hodu returned to his dorm and found that he was the only one inside.
And it was still early now, with quite a bit of time left before three o'clock in the afternoon.
Hodu lay back on the bed and began to ponder the issue of making money.
Actually, the most cost-effective method was to get the gold bars buried underground in Modu here and exchange them for pounds.
But if he really did it, the troubles wouldn't be few.
Now he was just a child, and he still had to conceal his identity as a Wizard, and even less could he use magicpowers casually in Muggle society.
How could a child swaggering through the streets with gold bars not be targeted by people?
In comparison, Gringotts was undoubtedly much safer.
No matter what, those Goblins couldn't possibly prey on him.
Ultimately, the trouble still stemmed from his appearance and age.
If he were already an adult, at least it wouldn't be so easy to arouse suspicion.
Thinking of this, Hodu suddenly paused.
His gaze slowly lit up, and there was already a next fusion target in his mind.
Boggart!
This creature could change its form at will.
If he could fuse with it, the traits obtained should be quite good.
Hodu jumped down from the bed all at once, but a new problem followed: Where on earth should he look for a Boggart?
Was there a place selling related materials in Diagon Alley?
After much deliberation, he still decided to ask Hagrid first.
When it came to magical creatures, Hagrid could definitely be considered an expert.
Hodu immediately left the common room, went down the stairs to the first floor, walked out of the Castle, and hurried toward the Forbidden Forest.
Before long, he was standing outside Hagrid's hut.
"Oh, you're asking about a Boggart?" After listening, Hagrid brewed black tea for Hodu while wrinkling his face, "I really hate those guys. Every time I run into them, there's never any pleasant experience."
Hodu taking the initiative to come over and ask about magical creatures actually made Hagrid look very happy.
When talking about the Boggart, he also perked up.
"No one has ever seen their true appearance," Hagridcontinued, "because the first time you see it, it will turn into the shape you fear and hate the most."
He was indeed very experienced in this area, and once his chatterbox opened, he couldn't stop.
"However, a Boggart itself isn't very dangerous. Um... if you want to collect items related to it, I'm afraid you can only go find their corpses."
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