Chapter 226: Meeting on a Narrow Road

"Lack of appetite..." The clerk lowered his head, looked at the huge mouse from behind his glasses, and muttered, "Okay, let's take a look."

A ferocious-looking owl flew over and landed on a large cage on the counter - which contained a group of sleek and elegant black mice - the owl looked at the black mice with piercing eyes, and then at the black mice. Looking at the fat mouse on the counter, he lowered his head in interest.

"Go, go! It's not that you have a loss of appetite!" The clerk waved the owl away impatiently, "Reese, could you please add some owl food to the trough - I'm sorry, sir. Let's take a look at your mouse. This What is it, bitten by a cat?”

"Yes," Anthony said, leaning over with the clerk to look at the small, white healed scar on Scabbers' belly. The black mice squeaked beside them, scrambling to stick their noses out of the wire bars of the cage, looking at Spot lying on his back.

The clerk nodded, turned Banban over again, and stared at its sparse hair.

"Is it still very lethargic?"

Anthony said firmly: "Yes." When he lived in the Burrow, he often heard Ron and the Weasley twins quarreling over Scabbers and Elon. Fred and George liked to emphasize that Scabbers was "fat and lazy." , only eat, drink and sleep.”

The clerk pinched Banban's tail again. "How old is it?" she asked Anthony.

"I don't know," Anthony said. "I guess at least three years old?"

"It's pretty good that a mouse like this can live for three years." The clerk told him, "Does it usually eat nuts?"

"Uh... I don't know." Anthony tried to remember life in the Burrow. "I guess it sometimes eats the crushed peanuts on the peanut cookies."

"When was the last time you were in heat?"

Anthony hesitated: "I don't know."

"Is teeth grinding bad?"

"I am not sure……"

The clerk's eyes flickered back and forth between Banban and Anthony's faces.

"Did you find it in the trash?"

"No." Anthony said seriously, "This is my friend's pet."

"Ah, I'm very sorry." The clerk said, "Of course you are not, but sometimes we do encounter customers who deliberately make fun of us." In order to apologize, she put on a pair of thicker glasses and caught Banban Look carefully in front of your nose.

She frowned and hummed meaningfully.

"What happened to its left ear?" she asked.

Anthony studied the spot pointed by the clerk's finger in surprise, and then realized that Spot's left ear was damaged.

Probably seeing that his answer would be "I don't know" again, the clerk smacked his lips, bent down and rummaged under the counter for a while, found nothing, straightened up, and said loudly: "Reese, please go and look for it in the warehouse. Some rat tonics!”

"Okay, coming right away." Reese responded loudly across several rows of magic rabbits and cats.

"Please wait a moment, sir." the clerk said, continuing to look at Banban, "and its front paws - look, there is a toe missing here." She shook her head, "This mouse has suffered a lot. It can survive It’s incredible that it’s been that long.”

Anthony felt the need to defend the Weasleys: "His owner was very kind to him. I think this was an injury he suffered before he came to my friend's house."

"I believe it, sir." The clerk murmured, squeezing Ban Ban's bulging, limp body, "To be honest, we also have a magic potion that can repair pet's broken limbs. It may be a little more expensive, but it can make your life better. Do you want your pet—or your friend’s pet—to be whole again?”

"How expensive is it?" Anthony asked.

"Four Gallons and Five Sickles," the clerk said, pointing to the black mouse next to him, "Or you can also consider buying another mouse for your friend. They can do some interesting tricks, and they are relatively cheap. Nine Sickles.”

Seeing Anthony looking over, the black mice immediately jumped around with their tails on their tails, showing themselves off vigorously.

"Thank you, but I don't think its owner would want to replace it with a mouse." Anthony said, "They have a deep relationship. How far can the potion you just mentioned repair it?" He looked at Scabbers, "It fell off Does the hair belong to a severed limb?”

"No." The clerk said, "However, unless it is damaged by black magic, I guarantee that you will bring back a mouse with intact ears and intact front paws. Look at this paw. For a mouse, the front paw is The claws are much more important than the back claws... Oh my god, you gave me the rat booster? What are you doing here, Rhys?"

Anthony raised his head and saw the clerk named Reese staring at Scabbers, his face twitching strangely. His eyes were very strange, but he still slowly handed the small red bottle of Mouse Strengthener to the impatient waiter.

Anthony glanced at him and looked away. There were always some weirdos among wizards, and he was getting used to it.

"Ten drops every three hours, or three drops every hour." The clerk said, "Three sips can make seven knuts."

"Great, thank you." Anthony said, counting the coins from his wallet and handing them over. "Please seal it for me. My way back is still a bit bumpy."

"No problem." The clerk said, neatly wrapping a few more circles of tape on the outside of the bottle for him, and even tied a bow for him.

Anthony nodded and smiled at her, took the reagent bottle, and reached out to grab Banban——

A hand suddenly grabbed his wrist. Reese held Anthony tightly and smiled calmly: "May I know the name of this mouse, sir?"

The clerk shouted: "Reese Lambert! What are you doing!"

Anthony looked at Reese in surprise.

"Scabber," he said, "It's called Scabbers."

Reese repeated: "Scabber." He looked down at Ron's mouse. Scabbers seemed unaware of his gaze, just holding the peanuts given by the clerk and chewing them contentedly. Anthony looked at Reese inquiringly.

Reese let go of Anthony: "Excuse me, sir." He didn't explain further, just nodded to Anthony apologetically, and directed the broom and rag to clean up the pet store again.

Anthony left in confusion amid the clerk's apology. Scabbers comfortably held a handful of peanuts in his pocket.

...

I don't know if it was an illusion, but after leaving Florin Fusco's ice cream shop, Anthony always felt that someone was following him. He turned his head and looked around, but didn't find any clues.

He went to Flourish and Blotts for a walk. Just as Daniel said, the shop was being cleaned up. There was no place to stand in the shop, and everyone was too busy to pay attention to him.

"Why was the cleaning suddenly brought forward this year?" Anthony asked, standing on the ladder to avoid the broom under the bookshelf.

Daniel looked around, approached Anthony, and whispered indignantly: "It's all because of the Ministry of Magic... In order to pass the Muggle Protection Act, they have disturbed the entire Diagon Alley. Knockturn Alley has thrown its garbage everywhere, and they don't care. They only arrest shops like us that are open and aboveboard for questioning... Last month..."

"Daniel! Where's the purchase register!" Someone shouted at the other end of the bookstore, "Another banned dark magic book was found!"

Daniel cursed and shrugged at Anthony: "You see, Henry, I don't have time to entertain you for the time being. Alas, I really I don't like dealing with these dark arts..."

"I do have a suggestion." Anthony grabbed the ladder and dodged a few copies of "Flying Quidditch" that flew through the air. "If you agree, I think the restricted section of the Hogwarts library will be happy to accept them. If there are books that are too dangerous, as far as I know, the private collections of professors are also quite terrifying."

Daniel's eyes lit up: "Yes! Great, Henry, if you are willing to help us contact the Hogwarts Library..."

"I will write to you." Anthony nodded, happy that he had more possible research documents.

...

After leaving Flourish and Blotts, Anthony walked around Diagon Alley, then chatted with Tom at the Leaky Cauldron for a while, and bought a bottle of brandy to give to Hagrid. After he finished all this, he came out of the Leaky Cauldron and planned to buy some Muggle white wine for the cat, instead of the water-mixed stuff at the Leaky Cauldron.

Anthony silently counted the number of pounds in his wallet in his mind, while thinking about how many bottles he should buy.

He suddenly stopped. The feeling of being watched came back.

This is a deserted alley, facing the backyards of two bars. They all stand quietly in the sunlight, with their doors closed.

Therefore, Anthony can only faintly hear the traffic and the noise of people on Charing Cross Road. If you listen carefully, you can seem to hear the music coming from the record store, but it will soon be blown away by the November wind.

Walking through this secluded road, he will arrive at a large supermarket that amazes him. People will drive and carry boxes of goods home.

Anthony turned around and faced the air: "If you want to do something, this is the most suitable place."

Silence.

A plastic bag was slightly trembling at the base of the wall due to the wind that turned in, hanging on the broken bricks. The empty beer bottles rolled on the ground, making a creaking sound.

"I have no ill intentions, sir."

A man walked out of the shadows, still wearing a wizard's robe. He raised both hands, and awkwardly but skillfully showed Anthony the wand in his pocket.

"Mr. Reese?" Anthony asked not too surprised.

"My last name is Lambert," Reese corrected, still smiling. He didn't seem to expect Anthony to realize that he was following him so quickly.

Anthony sighed: "What do you want, Mr. Lambert?"

"I know this is weird," Reese said, "I must be crazy. Sir, can I know your name?"

Anthony looked at him and didn't speak. No less than eight ways to curse him by name flashed through his mind, each of which meant that the other party was also a fugitive from Azkaban.

He looked at Reese carefully, and suddenly saw a tattered suitcase at Reese's feet. Anthony couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. From the novels he had read, if "tracking" and "suitcase" appeared in the same chapter, they usually meant things like "confidential documents", "money" and "weapons".

"Oh, this." Reese glanced at the box, "That's my luggage, because I was fired."

"I'm sorry to hear that news." Anthony said, "But, Mr. Lambert, I still don't understand what you want."

Reese took a step forward.

"I want an answer." He said softly, "I'm sorry, sir, I'm so confused..."

"Excuse me, what?"

"That mouse." Reese took a few steps forward and whispered, as if afraid of waking something up. "That mouse, sir. Can you please let me take another look?"

Anthony stared at him. Reese's hands were still raised high, his eyes full of earnest expectation. Banban was sleeping in Anthony's pocket, snoring softly.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't agree to it." Anthony said, "I promised someone to take the mouse back safely."

"I just need to take a look at it." Reese said, "Take a look at it. It's very important to me, sir."

He sounded too much like a lunatic. Anthony looked at him and then at his suitcase. In a flash, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.

"You killed the clerk!" He said in disbelief, "You killed Lawton, the clerk of the Owl Shop!"

Reese's eyes widened in surprise.

"I didn't!"

"That was Lawton's box." Anthony said very confidently, looking at Reese vigilantly, "There is still owl feces on it that hasn't been wiped off." He held his breath secretly, sensing that there were many dead rats and foxes on this street.

"That's not - I'm Lawton, sir," said Reese, suddenly putting on a sad face, "I'm Lawton."

Anthony was immediately horrified. He was facing a guy who kept changing his identity, and the other party was chasing him because of Ron's Scabbers. No matter how you look at it, this matter is too bizarre.

"If you just want to see it, I can send you a photo of it." Anthony said.

"This is different, sir," said Reese (or Lawton).

Just then, Scabbers woke up. It stuck its head out of Anthony's pocket holding a peanut.

The next moment, Reese's face suddenly showed a complex expression that was difficult to recognize. Anthony vigilantly reached out to protect Scabbers, but Reese had already pounced on him and knocked Anthony to the ground. Reese pressed one hand tightly against Anthony's pocket and pulled out his wand with the other hand.

Scabbers screamed in fear and dropped the peanuts in his hand.

"Hello, old friend. I suppose you didn't recognize me?" Reese said gently, his wand poking the mouse's throat. "I'm really surprised... You don't realize that you hold things in a different way than other mice, do you, Scabbers - Peter?"