novelhk Page 186
Page 186
"I understand, who would wear a blue tassel on their head?"
Xiaolong's words made Levin both angry and amused. It took him a long time to explain to her the difference between a wig and a tassel.
Just then, Penelope called out to her. The student council president, her hair disheveled and looking rather disheveled, smiled and said to Levin:
"By the way, Levin, I've borrowed your Cirira for now. You don't mind, do you?"
Levin looked at Cirira, and the girl immediately crossed her arms and said warily, "That's enough for today. You don't want to come back, do you?"
Levin smiled and shook his head, saying to Penelope, "Alright, you can take her. I've given permission... for today only."
Penelope chuckled. "That's good. Then don't bother us for now. It's girls' time."
With that, he and Cirira headed toward the Elegant Wizard Clothing Store.
Levin waved and reminded him, "Remember to meet at the square at five o'clock."
Then he looked at Hermione and said, "Then let's go for a walk together."
"Ok!"
Hermione was also very much looking forward to exploring the wizarding village of Hogsmeade with Levin.
The fleeting glimpse she had just caught was not enough for this Muggle wizard; it couldn't satisfy her curiosity at all.
Therefore, Levin's dating plans are different for Hermione, who is full of curiosity and not yet of dating age.
The two of them naturally headed to Honey Duke, a restaurant they had missed earlier.
It's just in time; it's almost noon, and none of us have had lunch yet, so we can eat here.
At least Levin and Cirella ate some cake at the tea house, but Hermione's stomach had been empty since morning.
By this time, Honeydukes had already been snapped up, and there weren't many people there. From this perspective, Levin's strategy of visiting during off-peak hours was correct.
The two entered the shop and saw rows of shelves filled with the most delicious and juicy candies: large chunks of creamy yellow almond candy, sparkling pink coconut ice cream, honey-colored toffee... hundreds of kinds of chocolates were neatly arranged, and a large tub of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
Right in the center is the signboard: a huge bucket of honeydew.
Then, they saw another wall with "special effects" candies:
Super Bubble Gum can fill a room with bluebell-colored bubbles that won't burst for days;
And then there's that strange, crunchy, and fragile hairy tooth mint candy.
These tiny, black pepper rascals can make anyone who eats them breathe fire.
Ice mouse, eating it will make your teeth chatter from the cold!
The toad-shaped mint ice cream really makes you feel like a toad is jumping around in your stomach after you eat it!
And there are also thin, crisp feather-shaped candies made of sugar threads, and explosive sandwich gummies.
Each one looks very tempting.
Hungry Hermione decided to try the restaurant's signature dish, Spicy Honey Candy.
These sweet honey candies taste really great; Levin and Hermione ate quite a few.
But the one that eats the most is Aiwu.
After being summoned by Levin, the little guy had never seen so many sweets at once, and he stuffed his mouth until it was bulging.
Halfway through his meal, Ai Wu suddenly stopped chewing, his expression freezing.
Because she felt her four feet lift off the ground—she was floating!
"This candy is amazing! Did you see that? I actually flew up, even though I didn't flap my wings."
"What's going on?" Hermione was also very puzzled. "Why is the little dragon acting like this?"
"That's the effect of eating too much Tsizzle Honey Candy," Levin explained. "This effect comes from one of the ingredients in Tsizzle Honey Candy: the Billiewig stinger."
“I remember this material.” Hermione recognized it immediately. “We learned about it in first grade. It was one of the ingredients for ‘Clarity Agent’.”
“That’s right, but that stimulant only exerted a portion of the stinger’s properties.”
Levin nodded and explained to her, "Actually, the Billiewig needle comes from the Billiewig worm. It's an insect native to Australia. If you get stung by it, you'll feel dizzy and then float away."
"I see, no wonder the little dragon floated up." Hermione said, realizing she had learned something new.
So from then on, Levin could only wander around the candy store like he was leading a balloon by its long tail.
Soon, Hermione witnessed another extraordinary sight:
A wizard who appeared to be a Hufflepuff ate a red candy, and then flames spewed from his nose and mouth.
"Oh my god!" Hermione exclaimed, tugging at Levin's sleeve, "How did he do that? Doesn't he feel hot?"
After careful observation, Levin concluded: "Actually, it's not real flame, it's just a kind of red smoke."
As he spoke, he frowned and began to analyze the situation based on his expertise in alchemy and potions:
"I think it might contain dragon blood... no, that's too expensive. It's probably salamander blood, fire ash snake eggs, horseradish... I can't tell the exact ingredients. I need to buy some and study it to give a definitive answer."
"Oh my God, child, please don't do this."
Ambrosio Froome, the owner of Honey Duke, stepped forward and said with a wry smile, "You're really amazing. With just one glance, you've revealed most of the recipe that I've been working on for a long time. This is a trade secret."
"I'm sorry, boss, I was just doing potions research with Hermione," Levin said apologetically.
"Are all the potions research conducted by young wizards at Hogwarts this hardcore now?"
The thin, balding man scrutinized Levin for a moment, then suddenly said, "I recognize you. You're Levin Green, the one who earned a First Class Medal for slaying a chimera! You were also on the dragon-slaying quest during the summer! No wonder you could spot the 'Pepper Boy's' background—I've heard many young wizards at Hogwarts mention you, they..."
Everyone says you're a genius, and seeing you now, I can confirm that the reputation is well-deserved.
Hermione was somewhat surprised by Froome's praise.
She never imagined that her close friend was so famous in the wizarding world that even a shop owner could recognize him.
So her gaze toward Levin became even more adoring.
Chapter 203 Harry Eavesdropping
Although Levin had promised that it was just a research activity, Froome still handed over two large jars of pepper.
"Pepper Boy is my latest product, how does it taste?" Froome asked, waving the candy at them.
Levin and Hermione didn't stand on ceremony. After thanking them, they opened a jar and each ate one.
Then they began to spew flames at each other, just like two real fire dragons.
The fire wasn't very hot; it only made Levin feel a warm sensation in his nasal cavity.
It's still far from being as powerful as the true breath attack of a Chimera.
But then again, besides Levin, how many wizards in the world have actually experienced breathing techniques?
Besides the special effects, the Pepper Boy itself tastes pretty good, sweet and spicy, and tastes like popping candy.
In fact, creating all sorts of interesting effects with potions isn't difficult.
The challenge lies in how to make the pastries taste even better while maintaining the special effects.
In fact, Ambrose Froome was a potion master, but he specialized in food potions.
During his student days, he was a favorite of Horace Slughorn, the Potions professor at the time, and was invited to become a member of the Slug Club. Even his first job was introduced to him by his mentor, Slughorn.
“It tastes fantastic, this is truly a successful product. I already foresee it becoming a huge success,” Levin praised.
“Thank you for your kind words.” Froome laughed heartily, pleased with Levin’s praise. “In fact, most of the little wizards bought my Peppery Little Rascal this morning.”
“Seriously, Mr. Green, have you ever considered collaborating with me after you graduate? With your skills, you could definitely develop all sorts of delicious candies,” Froome suggested half-jokingly.
This sounds familiar; when Levin was working in Diagon Alley, his bosses said the same thing to him.
“Of course, I don’t even need you to pay me. All I need is for you to teach me how to make these pastries and candies,” Levin replied jokingly.
"You're not planning to learn from me and open your own shop, are you?" Froome asked suspiciously.
“No, I don’t need that money.” Levin waved his hand and said sincerely, “I just want to learn it so I can go back and make it for the people around me, like her.” As he spoke, Levin looked at Hermione.
At this moment, Hermione seemed to suddenly become interested in the pink coconut ice cream on the shelf, and looked down at it intently.
But Levin could sense that the girl's lips were subtly curling up.
Froome, oblivious to their flirting, smiled wryly.
"What a pity. Even if you were willing to come, our little shop can't afford a genius of your caliber. Alas, dragon slayer."
"Don't even mention slaying the dragon, we haven't even had lunch yet," Levin complained.
“Okay, what would you like to eat? It’s on me today,” Froome said generously.
Levin and Hermione ate a pumpkin pie, two crucible cakes, a plate of ice mice, several chocolate crucibles, and a few licorice wands, and drank two cans of fruit syrup.
In fact, a lot of these ended up in Ai Wu's stomach.
But even a large crucible-shaped cake and a licorice wand couldn't make her fall from the sky.
With no other option, Levin and Hermione could only stroll through the streets of Hogsmeade, holding Aiwo's hand and sipping pumpkin soda, after finishing their meal.
“I never expected you to be so famous here.” Hermione remarked as they walked. “You’ve only just met, and Froome has already given us so many sweets. He’s such a nice guy.”
"It's not as good as you imagine," Levin ruthlessly shattered the girl's fantasy. "He did this to please me—because I can easily recognize his dessert recipes, he's trying to shut me up."
"Is that really how it is?" Hermione was speechless.
But after thinking about it, he nodded: "Okay, the adult world... I'm not surprised."
While passing by Joko's joke shop, Levin saw the Weasley twins.
Zonco's Joke Shop is a favorite spot for Hogwarts students when they visit Hogsmeade Village for shopping and playing pranks, as it sells many materials for tricks and magic, satisfying the young wizards' wildest imaginations.
The items sold here include dung bombs, spittoons, frog egg soap, and nose-biting teacups.
The twins' entrepreneurial idea also came from Joko Widodo's joke shop.
However, their current skill level is insufficient to develop prank products as good as Zonko's, which is why they sought Levin's help during the summer vacation.
Levin guessed they came here to buy goods and find inspiration.
Just as the two were about to leave, they suddenly saw Fred clutching his stomach and talking to George.
Then Fred left, leaving George alone.
To everyone's surprise, after turning the corner, Fred immediately straightened up, showing no signs of diarrhea, and jogged towards the intersection.