With his ability to create illusions, Townsend was able to hitchhike into the city of London.

Looking at the townhouses on both sides of the street, Townsend had the feeling of returning to Beckland. Of course, you have to leave behind the modern street lights and neon signs.

This is a metropolis with more than 6 million people, so it is understandable why even though it is close to the middle of the night, the streets are still full of traffic and crowds.

Of course, there is also the reason for the holiday, and from the roadside signs and banners, Townsend can tell what day it is - Christmas Eve.

After twelve o'clock, it is Christmas, the most important holiday for the British, and for the whole West.

"Oh, it's amazing, it's amazing!" Smaug's voice kept coming from the sea of consciousness: "Master, this world looks much more interesting than the previous world. ”

"Look at the glowing words on the wall, has the power of magic flooded the streets?"

"That's neon." "It has nothing to do with magic. ”

"And these mounts running around in the streets!" Smaug emphasized, "It's much slower than mine, but I can't see the breath of life on these mounts, don't tell me it's not magic!" ”

"It's a product of technology." "Technology is a complex thing, and it's hard for me to explain to you why I'm going to buy you a copy of 100,000 later, provided you learn the language of the world," Townsend. ”

"Now shut your mouth, you've influenced me to think."

It is not easy to find wizards in a large city of millions of people, after all, there are only a few thousand wizards in the entire British wizarding world, and no more than 20,000 at most. As a reference party, the former Townsend was taken aback when he got this number.

The so-called Dark Lord Voldemort, who threatens the entire wizarding world, is only a threat to thousands of wizards, compared to the base of human beings, he is equivalent to dominating a village. In the end, it failed.

Of course, the first generation of the Dark Lord was a little bigger, he at least shocked the entire European wizarding world, and also extended his tentacles to North America.

With the exception of Hogwarts, a thousand-year-old school of witchcraft and wizardry, the only pure wizarding village in Britain is Hogsmeade, which is located next to Hogwarts, and most of the other wizards are scattered all over the United Kingdom, and some even use Muggle shielding and obfuscation charms to mingle in Muggle society.

Without someone in the circle to guide the way, ordinary people may not be able to find traces of wizards for the rest of their lives.

Of course, this doesn't make it difficult for Townesend.

When a soothsayer wants to find a place, he can always find it unless he is completely unaware of his destination, or if there is a stronger force interfering.

In fact, Townsend was standing in front of one of the entrances to the wizarding world.

He looked up at the old, somewhat out of place sign that read "Leaky Cauldron Bar".

Unlike the rest of the street, the entrance to this bar is so clean that no one passing by seems to see it, and they don't feel that there is something wrong with such an old bar in the middle of such a modern street, and sometimes there are people in and out of the bars wearing pointed hats.

This is typical of Muggle shielding and confusion.

These two spells did not stop Townsen's vision, and he straightened his clothes—a decent black suit, a top hat with delicate stitches, and a pair of shiny leather shoes.

Townsend has always been very strict with his image management, people with ragged clothes and sloppy manners naturally stand at a lower starting point when socializing with others, while people with decent clothes are more likely to gain the trust and respect of others, which is human nature.

Of course, the wizarding world is more traditional with magical robes and pointed hats, which really doesn't fit Townsen's aesthetic.

In short, the first thing Townsend did when he entered London was to get himself a set of outfits.

Entering the Leaky Cauldron Bar, the light suddenly became dim, and the lighting in the bar was still kerosene lamps and candles, probably because of Christmas Eve, there were only a few customers scattered in the bar, and behind the narrow bar stood an old man in a black vest.

Wizards were more conservative than Muggle societies, preferring to spend time with their families during major holidays.

"There's a fresh face." The old man at the bar looked up at Tang Sen and said, "Guests from the East, what do you want?" ”

Townsend walked over, sat down at the bar, and snapped a gold Galleon.

"I need a little food, a room." It's not a curse now, Townsend doesn't want to get drunk, and alcohol affects his thinking.

"Then you have to try our special fish and potato pies." The old man picked up Jin Gallon and said, "On such a good day, it must be uncomfortable to be alone in a foreign country, how about another glass of wine?" The food and room are left over enough money for a good glass of whiskey. ”

"No need." Townsend shook his head, "Is there an up-to-date newspaper?" ”

"Of course, do you want the Daily Prophet or the Wizard Weekly? I have a comprehensive newspaper here, and I can find even third-rate magazines that sing the same thing. The old man was obviously bored all day, and talked very much, especially when faced with a new face:

"Everybody calls me Old Tom, and of course I'd be happier if you removed the prefix about age. What should I call you? ”

"Don." Townsend spoke, "Let's have a Daily Prophet." ”

"Oh, strange surname, you must be from China, wizards in that country are very rare, they are not very willing to communicate with the outside world." Old Tom pulled out a newspaper from under the bar and said, "I have to warn you, if you want to know something, don't trust the newspaper, there is so much nonsense on it, especially lately, how can they say that about Dumbledore-"

Old Tom patted his forehead, paused, and said, "I'm sorry, I may have talked a bit too much, but surely you've heard of Dumbledore's name, right?" ”

"Of course." Townsend nodded and unfolded the newspaper: "Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, known as one of the greatest white wizards in the world. ”

The newspaper headline photo showed a short, fat woman in a shaggy cardigan and a framed document in her hand.

The headline reads: "Ministry of Magic Issues Education Decree No. 25." 》

The subtitle reads: "Senior Investigator Umbridge Threatens to Further Improve Bad Practices at Hogwarts." 》

"Umbridge?"

The plot about this woman in the original book came to mind in Townsen's memory.

It's Christmas 1995, and Harry Potter is in his fifth year, and a few months ago, Harry Potter announced that the Dark Lord has returned, and the Headmaster of Hogwarts has endorsed it, but the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, apparently doesn't believe, or rather doesn't want to believe, that the dead will return.

As a result, he not only controlled the Daily Prophet to smear Harry Potter and Dumbledore, but also enacted a lot of education laws, sent Umbridge to be the professor of the Defence Against the Dark Arts class at Hogwarts, and later became a senior investigator, eroding Dumbledore's control over Hogwarts little by little.

Townsend remembers that at the end of the school year, Umbridge even managed to take Dumbledore's headmittance, until Voldemort made a public appearance after nearly a year of hibernation and broke Fudge's lies to bring Dumbledore back to Hogwarts.

"It's a good time, too." "At the very least, it's much less difficult to get into Hogwarts now than it was before. ”

In the past, Dumbledore was the sole proprietor of Hogwarts in the selection of the instructors, and Townsend did not believe that wealth could directly affect the white wizard, who was already over a hundred years old.

Townsend gently read out the so-called Education Decree No. 25.

"The High Investigator will henceforth have the highest authority over all punishments, sanctions, and deprivations of rights involving Hogwarts students, and shall have the power to modify such punishments, sanctions, and deprivations of rights imposed by other faculty members."

"Hehe-" Old Tom from behind the bar let out a sneer, "This is equivalent to taking most of the power of Hogwarts, wait, if this continues, this thousand-year-old school will definitely be destroyed by Fudge and Umbridge." ”

"I don't know much about that." Tang Sen smiled and said, "Mr. Tom, you seem to have a lot of opinions about this senior investigator?" ”

"Everybody knows what she's like." Old Tom snorted, "She's a disgusting toad, no, I have to apologize to the toad, those little pets are so much cuter than her." ”

"The kind of person she sees only the dazed Fudge and what he can bring to her, and she will teach all the little wizards badly, using her despicable, shameful political methods!"

"Old Tom!" Someone next to him reminded: "These words can't be passed on." ”

Old Tom glared at the man dissatisfied, and said, "You are all old acquaintances, will you still denounce me?" As for this wizard from the East, speaking of which, I haven't asked you why you came to England yet, you should have registered with the Ministry of Magic, right? ”

"Of course." Townsend smiled, "I'm not the kind of person who would enter the country illegally, as for my purpose-"

Townsend clicked on the newspaper: "I've heard of the name of Hogwarts in my hometown, and I've been longing for it for a long time, and I'm thinking about whether I have a chance to go to Hogwarts to communicate." ”

"Obviously this isn't a good time, Don." Old Tom said: "Now that Hogwarts is full of miasma, Dumbledore probably doesn't have the time to arrange exchanges, and not every wizard is qualified to communicate with Hogwarts professors. Speaking of which, what kind of knowledge do you want to exchange? ”

"Divination."

Tang Sen said seriously:

"I'm a soothsayer."

(End of chapter)