Chapter 275 Balint and Charlie

Hungarian is a language that can frustrate anyone whose first language is English. Anthony and Hagrid could only rely on smiles, simple gestures and body movements to communicate with the residents of the town.

When Hagrid fanned his arms exaggeratedly and said the word "dragon" loudly, Anthony had no time to worry about the attitude of the International Statute of Secrecy. The residents led them past the children skating on the ice with confusion and enthusiasm, showed them the chicken coop, and took out chicken sandwiches after Hagrid shook his head.

After several failed communication attempts, the residents of the town had no choice but to give up and let Anthony and Hagrid wander around the path, discussing how to contact Charlie Weasley. Anthony managed to ask people for a glass of water and barely soaked the rock cake to eat.

The children seemed to think that big guys like Hagrid were very interesting. They followed them in groups, whispering and laughing secretly. The ginger cat poked its head out of Anthony's backpack and looked at them with disgust, only to receive a more excited round of discussions.

"What's wrong?" Anthony turned around and saw his cat pressing his ears in annoyance and glaring at the children behind him. He immediately put his backpack on his chest to separate the ginger cat from the lively group of people.

Hagrid lowered his head and saw the ginger cat, showing a warm smile from behind his thick beard: "Oh, good afternoon."

The cat stared at him for a while, turned his head and got back into the backpack. Anthony reached into the bag with his free left hand, rubbed the cat's fur in the dark to comfort it, and got a few wounds. He calmly pulled his hand out and zipped up.

His three pets enjoyed the journey on the snowy mountain very much - the cold wind was whistling, the snow was blown up by the wind, and the broken branches buried in the snow were ready to trip people at any time - but the moment Anthony and Hagrid got back into the carriage, the ghost chicken and the ghost mouse disappeared without hesitation, and the ginger cat shook its fur and got into Anthony's backpack.

From the moment Anthony showed Hagrid his luggage, Hagrid seemed to treat his backpack as some kind of magic prop that could hold various animals with a traceless extension spell, and he was not at all curious about how Anthony could fit a cat, a chicken, and a mouse in his bag at the same time without looking like an animal abuser.

The moment the cat's head disappeared from the top of the backpack, Anthony heard another universal sigh from the child behind him, one of which was particularly close.

After zipping up his zipper, he turned his head and saw a child wearing a woolen hat, wrapped tightly, with a pair of shiny black eyes showing between the scarf and the hat. The child gestured something with his hands in mittens and repeated a word.

"Cat?" Anthony guessed, pointing to his bag.

The child nodded vigorously, leaned over and rummaged in his bulging pants pocket for a long time, took out a bag of snacks that Anthony didn't recognize, and pointed to the backpack.

"Sorry, it doesn't like dealing with people." Anthony shook his head regretfully and refused.

The child hesitated, put the snack back into his pocket, pointed at himself with his thumb, and said, "Balint."

"Balint?" Anthony repeated.

The other party patted his chest and nodded heavily: "Balint." He quickly ran to the sign of a nearby store, patted the wall to signal Anthony to look over, then read the name of the store again, and repeated again, "Balint."

Anthony smiled and pointed at himself: "Henry."

Balint immediately repeated: "Henry."

"Henry," Anthony agreed, squatted down, raised the backpack on his chest and introduced, "Cat." He gestured to Balint again, "Balint."

Balint said happily: "Cat!"

Just then, they heard a cry of surprise. Anthony looked up and found that a child was holding the filling of Hagrid's ferret sandwich upside down in his hand, screaming half in fear and half in excitement.

"Ouch!" Hagrid said in annoyance, reaching out to try to take it back. The children screamed and scattered, leaving Hagrid standing there blankly, holding two pieces of shriveled bread.

Anthony held up the rock cake in his hand, which had not yet been completely softened: "Muggles may not realize that it is your lunch, Hagrid."

"Oh... okay..." Hagrid said frustratedly, taking a bite of the bread.

Balint hesitated, took out his snacks again, and tried to put them into Hagrid's big hand on tiptoe. Hagrid was stunned for a moment, lowered his head and smiled at Balint.

Balint smiled back at him cautiously and introduced in a low voice: "Balint."

...

Under Balint's leadership, they walked around the town. Under the Christmas tree in the square, Hagrid took out a small bow and arrow from his donkey skin bag that had everything and gave it to Balint. Anthony searched his pockets and found a pack of bubble gum that he had put in at some point, a kind of magic candy that was not too much.

Balint was so happy that his face was shining. He took Anthony and Hagrid to a small stall, where he had a serious discussion with the owner for a long time, before taking off his gloves, taking out a small cloth bag wallet from his pocket, counting out the coins and banknotes, and buying a huge, bread-like thing for each of the three of them.

It was a cylindrical thing. The stall owner would wrap pieces of dough spirally around the cylinder, coat them with sugar, and then slowly rotate them in the oven.

It wasn't until their shells turned brown and crispy, and the alluring sweet smell of caramel floated in the air. Balint urged him to say something to the shopkeeper, that Anthony and Hagrid were able to take the steaming bread and express their emotions. He expressed his gratitude to Balint with body movements, while imitating Balint, tearing off the still hot bread and stuffing it into his mouth.

By nightfall, they already knew it was the best food in town. Among other things, Balint told them which tree was the tallest in the town and where the best shoemaker lived. Like a proud collector, he led the guests quickly through the dazzling collection, and then stopped in front of his most prized treasure, patted it on the wall or tree trunk, and gave a proud thumbs up.

However, when the sky starts to darken and light purple slowly climbs into the sky, it is time for the collector to close the treasure box and slowly close the door to the treasure house. Lights came on in the small houses on both sides of the road, and the sound of clinking pots and pans and the gurgling sound of water flowed from every window. After some gestures, Anthony and Hagrid learned that Balint also needed to go home for dinner.

"Balint." Balint made a gesture of eating, and then drew a circle with his hand in front of him, "Henry, Hagrid?" He repeatedly pointed back and forth between the three of them, and smacked his lips to show that he was eating. He tilted his head and looked at Anthony and Hagrid questioningly.

"Gee, I think he wants to invite us to dinner, Henry," Hagrid said.

"I think so, but isn't that too much trouble for Balint?" Anthony said.

Hagrid agreed: "Yes." He scratched his head and thought for a while, patted his belly, and said to Balint, "Hagrid, you are full, you are full."

Balint also patted his belly. Hagrid took a deep breath. Even through his moleskin coat, he could clearly see Hagrid's belly bulging. Balint chuckled and looked at Anthony.

Anthony also patted his belly and said, "Henry, you are full."

Balint arched his body, holding his stomach in a very deflated posture: "Balint."

Anthony and Hagrid both laughed. Hagrid nudged Balint, signaling him to leave. Balint hesitated for a moment, raised his head and looked left and right at Anthony and Hagrid, waved to them, and skipped away along the path.

"What do we do now, Henry?" Hagrid asked, lowering his arm that was waving to Balint.

Anthony said: "If we can buy the right train tickets..."

Suddenly, they all heard a familiar, crisp chirp. An owl glided out of the night, wings outstretched and a letter on its legs.

It circled around Anthony and Hagrid twice, and landed on Hagrid's shaggy, messy hair. Hagrid unhooked the letter from its lap and shook out a package wrapped tightly in newspaper.

"What is this?" Hagrid asked, picking up the small package with two fingers.

"Read the letter first," said Anthony, pointing to the piece of paper with "READ ME" written in capital letters on the back.

Hagrid opened the letter and read: "Dear Professor Anthony and Hagrid:

"I hope this owl can find you successfully. Since I didn't see you at the train station, I guess there are some small changes on the road. The Ministry of Magic in Hungary attaches great importance to scholars from Hogwarts visiting the Fire Dragon Sanctuary, so it has been temporarily approved Apply for our inbound door key.

"Enclosed is a teaspoon that is activated in a manner that makes contact with any human skin.

"Yours truly, Charlie"

Anthony carefully wrapped his hand in a scarf and picked up the small long object wrapped in newspaper: "This is the door key." He looked around, and Balint just happened to take them to a very secluded alley. , "Hagrid, you start it. I'll catch you."

"Oh, okay." Hagrid said, lowered his head and checked his luggage, unfolded the newspaper in his palm, and carefully placed his fingers on it.

Anthony grabbed his coat and felt a sharp tug. Everything around him was spinning and blurring, and he felt that his feet were about to leave the ground——

"Henry! Hagrid!" he heard someone shout.

Anthony tried his best to keep his eyes open, and vaguely saw Balint running over panting from the rapidly rotating scene.

The ground disappeared. Anthony lowered his head. Balint and the alley were rapidly becoming a speck of ink in the swirling landscape. The wind whistled in his ears. The next moment, he felt his feet suddenly hit the solid ground. He couldn't help but bump into Hagrid.

"Are you okay, Henry?" Hagrid said, reaching out and pulling him up.

"I'm fine," Anthony said, unzipping his backpack and checking it out. The ginger cat was fast asleep. In the dim light, it was hard to tell where his head was buried. It looked like he was carrying a giant short-haired ginger cat.

"Long time no see, Hagrid," said a voice.

Anthony looked up and recognized almost immediately that it was Charlie Weasley. He is shorter than Percy, Fred or George, and his trademark red hair is longer than all of them.

"Oh, Charlie," said Hagrid, looking very happy. "How are you doing? How is Nob?"

"Very good; very good. Both answers are very good." Charlie said, extending his hand towards Anthony, "You must be Professor Anthony."

"Call me Henry," Anthony said. "I don't remember you being one of my students." He shook Charlie's hand and noticed some burn marks on his wrist that extended into his sleeve.

Compared to the photos Anthony had seen at the Burrow, Charlie Weasley standing in front of him looked much more mature, with a confident and gentle look.

"Well," Charlie said. "How was the trip? Where did our owl find you?"

"A small town on the border between Hungary and Austria," Anthony said. "Speaking of which, where are we now?"

They were standing in a small, empty room with tiled floors. It was dark outside the window, so Anthony could only see the reflections of the three of them through the window.

Charlie grinned. "Ah, that's right. Hagrid, Henry - welcome to the Hungarian Fire Dragon Sanctuary."

He turned around and pushed the door open. The wind immediately poured in, making a whistling sound in the room.

Hagrid stepped to the door and then held the door frame and calmed down, his coat fluttering in the wind.

Anthony walked up to him and looked outside. The first thing that came into view was a dark mountain range, and the forest stretched into the night at their feet. They were in a half-empty little house, overlooking the entire mountain forest.

"Running Gorgon," Hagrid muttered beside Anthony, with an infatuated look on his face, "This is the habitat of the Hungarian Horntail."

"Yes, they are very close partners of the Romanian Fire Dragon Reserve." Charlie said, "Although the two Ministries of Magic often quarrel, that has nothing to do with our Fire Dragon Researchers. I borrowed three dormitories from them-let's go, if we go back too late, things will become a little troublesome."

Anthony asked curiously, "What kind of trouble?"

"They may activate an emergency missing person alarm. You know, worried that we will be eaten by dragons or something." Charlie said as a matter of course, "This is the activity area of ​​the Hungarian Horntail. Although they usually eat sheep and goats, believe me, if they have the opportunity to change their taste and eat a person, they will not refuse."

"Oops." Anthony said.

"Three trainee researchers have been eaten." Charlie warned them, "That's why they are always recruiting in this reserve."