Despite the cloudlessness of the sky, the old trees in front cast a dark, cool shadow, and after a few seconds, Harry's eyes made out a house among the clutter of tree trunks. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoIt seems strange that someone would choose such a place to live, or let the trees grow around the house, blocking out all light and the view of the valley.

He didn't know if it was inhabited; The walls were covered with moss, many of the roof tiles had fallen off, and in a few places the rafters could even be clearly seen. The house was surrounded by nettles, and the top of the house had touched small windows covered with thick dirt. However, just as he was sure that no one would live there, a window clicked open, and from it came curling smoke, as if someone was cooking.

Ogden walked forward quietly, looking rather cautious. He had just stepped into the shadows of the trees when he stopped again and stared at the front door, on which a dead snake had been nailed.

With a rustle and a bang, a ragged man jumped from the nearest tree and landed in front of Ogden, who sprang back quickly, stepping on his gown and stumbling.

"You're not welcome here." The man standing in front of them had thick hair and was tangled in a lot of mud, and it was impossible to see what color it was. He was also missing several teeth. Small, dark eyes staring ahead. He should have looked funny, but not like that; The effect is a little chilly, and it's no wonder Ogden takes a few steps back when he speaks.

"Uh...... Good morning. I'm from the Ministry of Magic—"

"You're not welcome here."

"Uh-I'm sorry-I don't understand you," Ogden said nervously.

Harry thought Ogden was too dull; It seemed to Harry that the stranger had made his meaning very clear, especially as he was wielding a wand in one hand and holding a blood-stained knife in the other.

"Surely you can understand him, Harry?" Dumbledore whispered.

"Yes, of course," Harry was a little confused, "why can't Ogden—?" ”

His gaze swept to the dead snake on the door again, and suddenly he understood.

"He's talking about Parseltongue?"

"Very good," Dumbledore nodded and smiled.

The ragged man was closing in on Ogden, knife in one hand and wand in the other.

"Now, listen carefully—" Ogden began, but it was too late: with a thud, Ogden fell to the ground and grabbed his nose with his hand, and a disgusting yellow slime squirted out of his fingers.

"Mofen!" A loud voice said.

An elderly man hurried out of the hut and slammed the door behind him, the dead snake on it swaying pitifully. The man was shorter than the previous one, and the proportions of his stature seemed strange; He has broad shoulders, somewhat long arms, bright brown eyes, thick, short hair, and wrinkles on his face, which make him look like an energetic old monkey. He walked over to the man with the knife, who was giggling at Ogden, who was lying on the ground.

"Ministry of Magic, huh?" The old man stared down at Ogden.

"Yes!" Ogden said angrily, covering his face. "I guess you're Mr. Gunter?"

"Yes." Gangter said. "He hit you in the face, didn't he?"

"Yes, he hit!" Ogden snapped.

"You should let us know about your visit, shouldn't you?" "This is private territory. You can't walk in and not let my son defend himself. ”

"Against whom, man?" Ogden got up from the ground.

"Nosy people. Uninvited people. Muggles and filthy guys. Ogden pointed his wand at his nose, which was still bleeding a lot of yellow pus, and the pus disappeared immediately. From the corner of his mouth, Mr. Gonter said to Morfin, "Go inside." No arguments. ”

This time, Harry, who had been prepared, heard the Parseltongue; Even he could distinguish the kind of hissing that Ogden heard, in addition to what they were saying. Morfen seemed to be about to object, but his father glared at him in a menacing manner, so he changed his mind, and walked slowly back to the hut with a strange wobbling step, slamming the door behind him, and the snake swaying miserably.

"I'm here to visit your son, Mr. Gonter," Ogden wiped the last bits of pus from his coat. "That's Mofen, right?" "Ah, that's Mofen," said the old man nonchalantly, "are you a pureblood?" He asked suddenly and defiantly.

"That has nothing to do with today's conversation," Ogden said coldly, and Harry couldn't help but have a little more respect for Ogden.

Apparently Gangter didn't think so at all. He squinted at Ogden's face and muttered in a distinctly offensive tone, "Now that I think about it, I seem to have seen a nose like yours in the village down the hill." ”

"I don't doubt that if you allow your sons to attack them," Mr. Ogden said, "maybe we can go in and continue the discussion." ”

"Go in?"

"Yes, Mr. Gont. I've already told you about it. I'm here for Mofen. We've sent an owl—"

"Owls are useless," Gonte said. "I don't read letters."

"Then you can't complain that you haven't been notified of a visit," Ogden said sharply, "I'm here because of an incident earlier today that seriously violated wizarding laws—"

"Alright, alright, alright!" Gangt roared. "Come to this bloody room, you're in for a treat!"

The house seems to come with three small rooms.

The main hall, which serves as both a living room and a kitchen, has two doors open.

Sitting in a dirty armchair, leaning against the smoky stove, Mophin was fiddling with a live pit viper with his rough fingers, and softly chanting in a parseltongue: "Hiss, hiss, dear little snake, you are singing on the ground, be nice to Morfin, or he will nail you to the door." ”

In a corner next to the open window, there was the sound of shuffling feet, and Harry realized that there was someone else in the room, a girl in a tattered dress that was almost the same color as the dirty stone wall behind her. She was standing next to a dirty black stove with a steaming kettle on it. She paled in comparison to the dilapidated-looking pots and pans on the shelves above.

Her hair was thin and dry, and her face looked plain, pale, and gloomy.

A pair of eyes, like his brother, stared straight ahead.

She was slightly cleaner than the two men, but Harry still felt that she was the worst person he had ever met.

"My daughter, Merlot," said Gonter reluctantly, seeing Ogden looking at her suspiciously.

"Good morning," Ogden said.

She didn't answer, just looked at her father in horror, turned her back to the room, and went on moving the jars on the shelves behind her.

"All right, Mr. Gonter," said Ogden, "to cut to the chase, we have reason to believe that your son, Morfin, had cast a spell in front of a Muggle late last night. Suddenly, there was a deafening thud. A jar in Merlot's hand fell to the ground.

"Pick it up!" Gangt yelled at her. "Is that all, picking up from the ground like a filthy Muggle, what is your wand for, you useless garbage?"

"Mr. Gangter, please don't do this!" Ogden said in shock, by this time Merlot had already picked up the jar, her face flushed a little, the jar she held in her hand fell to the ground again, trembling and pulling out her wand from her pocket, pointing at the jar and muttering a spell hurriedly, the jar flew away from the ground and smashed into the opposite wall and split in half.

Morfen let out a maniacian laugh.

Gangt screamed, "Fix it, you useless idiot, fix it!" ”

Merlot stumbled across the room, but before she could raise her wand, Ogden raised his own wand and said calmly, "Restore as before." ”

The jar was immediately restored.

Gonter looked at Ogden for a moment, as if he was about to yell at him, but he seemed to change his attention: he turned to his daughter sarcastically, "It's lucky to have a nice guy from the Ministry of Magic here, isn't it?" Maybe he'll take you away from me, maybe he doesn't mind the dirty squib......"

Without looking at anyone and not thanking Ogden, Merlot picked up the jar and put it back on the shelf with trembling hands.

Then, she stood silently with her back to the wall between the stove and the window, as if she wished she could sink into the stone and disappear.

"Mr. Gonter," Ogden said again, "as I have said: the reason I have come—"

"I just heard that!" Gangte snapped, "So what? Morfinn gave a filthy Muggle what he deserved - so what? ”

"Morfins have violated the laws of wizards." Ogden said harshly.

"Morfins have violated the laws of wizards." Gaunt said in imitation of Ogden's voice, sounding both pretentious and blunt. Morfen giggled again. "He taught a dirty Muggle, and now it's against the law, right?"

"Yes," said Ogden, "I'm afraid." ”

He pulled out a small roll of parchment from his inner pocket and unfolded it.

"And what, his verdict?" Gonte raised his voice angrily.

"This is a subpoena for the Ministry of Magic to hold a hearing—"

"Subpoena! Subpoena? Who do you think you can summon my son at will? ”

"I'm the captain of the Magical Law Enforcement Team," Ogden said.

"And you think we're scum, don't you?" Gont screamed as he approached Ogdon, pointing a dirty finger with yellow nails at his chest. "The scum who came running around when the Ministry of Magic called them? Who do you think you're talking to, you filthy little mudblood, don't you? ”

"I remember I was talking to Mr. Gonter," Ogden said cautiously, but still holding his ground.

"That's right!" Gonte roared. Harry initially thought Gont was making a lewd gesture, but immediately realized that he was showing Ogden the ugly black stone ring on his middle finger, and he dangled it in front of Ogden's eyes. "See this? See this? Any idea what it is? Any idea where it came from? It's something we've had in our family for centuries, and it's been pureblood for centuries! This ring is set with a stone engraved with the coat of arms of Pifrey, do you know how much it is worth? ”

"I really don't know," Ogden blinked, the ring dangling an inch below his nose, "it's not about our topic, Mr. Gonter. Your son has committed—"

Gaunt yelled angrily and ran towards his daughter. As his hand reached for her throat, Harry thought for a moment that he was going to strangle her; Then he dragged his daughter to the gold necklace around her neck and brought her to Ogden.

"See this?" He yelled at Ogdon, dangling a heavy gold box pendant in front of him, while Merlot gasped for breath.

"I saw it, I saw it!" Ogden said hurriedly.

"Slytherin's!" Gonter shouted, "Salazar Slytherin's! We're the only remaining descendants of him, what do you think about that, eh? ”

"Mr. Gonte, your daughter!" Ogden warns that Gonter immediately lets go of Merlot; She staggered away and returned to her corner, rubbing her neck and gasping for air.

"So!" Gonte triumphantly said as if he had just ruled out all possible controversies, proving a complex argument. "Don't talk to us like mud on your shoes! Generations have been pure-bloods, all wizards - much more than you think, no doubt! ”

He spat on Ogden's feet. Morfen giggled again. Merlot curled up by the window, her head down, her slender hair covering her face, she said nothing.

"Mr. Gonter," said Ogden tenaciously, "I am afraid that neither your ancestors nor mine have anything to do with the matter at hand. I'm here for Morfin, Morfen and the Muggle he spoke to late last night. According to our sources," he said, "glancing at the parchment," Morfen cast a vicious spell on the said Muggle, causing him to develop a very severe form of measles on his face. ”

Morfen laughed heartily.

"Quiet, kid," Gonter snarled in a parseltongue voice, and Morfen fell silent again. "So, what if he did?" Gonter defiantly said to Ogden, "I think you've wiped that Muggle's dirty face clean, and his memory is the same—"

"That's not the problem, is it, Mr. Gonter?" Ogden said. "This is an unjustified attack, against an unarmed person—"

"Ah, the first time I saw you, I classified you as a Muggle lover," Gonte sneered and spat on the floor.

"There was no progress in this discussion." Ogden said firmly. "Your son's attitude is a clear indication that he has not shown a trace of remorse for his actions." He glanced at the parchment again. "Morfins will attend a hearing on 14 September to answer the accusations that he used magic in front of a Muggle and caused harm and misfortune to that Muggle—" Ogden was interrupted. Outside the window there was the sound of clanging horses' hooves and loud laughter.