HP: I beat the otome game at Hogwarts

Chapter 60 Lonely Fall in the Alley

“This is the last one.” Theodore Nott solemnly fed Laputa a fry.

“You just told Laputa he could only have one,” Leila scoffed, “but now you have half a fry left.”

“I ate a lot too.” Theodore Nott relied entirely on self-deception to maintain his “strict master” persona.

Lyra rolled her eyes inelegantly upon hearing this, probably because lying through one's teeth is one of the essential skills for every Slytherin.

That's not right; she's starting to have academic biases.

"It's alright, let Laputa eat whatever he wants, it's on me today." Leila waved her hand generously and ordered a lot more ice cream, fries, and fried chicken.

Okay, Lyra paid for all the food and drinks they had together before, not only because she insisted on having Theodore Nott try Muggle food, but also because Theodore Nott didn't have any Muggle coins.

The first time Leila Hardra Theodore Nott ate a crepe on the street, the other person very politely offered to pay with a shiny gold Galleon. The huge gold coin made the stall owner's eyes pop out, and he thought they were foreign tourists.

In the end, Lyra paid the bill in pounds, forcing Theodore Nott to abandon his aristocratic rule of not letting ladies pay the bill.

Perhaps it's a case of "the more lice, the less itchy; the more debts, the less worry," because although Theodore Nott still denies it verbally, he is increasingly disregarding aristocratic etiquette and completely letting himself go.

Every time Lyra went to pay the bill, someone would stare at Theodore Nott with a scornful look, as if he were shocked and disdainful that "he was on a date with a beautiful woman and still let her pay for it."

Some young Muggle boys even volunteered, claiming they were far more generous and charming than her current boyfriend.

Once, when Leila and Theodore Nott were dining at an Italian restaurant, they encountered a kind couple. When they saw Theodore Nott calmly waiting for her to pay the bill, the wife secretly pulled her aside and said that dating shouldn't be based solely on looks; other aspects are also very important. The husband, on the other hand, deliberately turned towards the direction Theodore Nott was sitting and loudly told her that she should never marry a gigolo who lives off a woman, and that a man with responsibility is a truly good man.

Lyra was both amused and exasperated, while Theodore Nott ignored her. As the two walked out of the restaurant side by side, unaffected, everyone in the room watched with pity as the young Lyra, already head over heels in love, was seen off.

“Well, actually, I’m here to say goodbye to you and Laptour in advance,” Lyra said. “Bell will be seven weeks old soon, and his tail will start to fork. If I continue to stay in a Muggle hotel, it will cause me trouble.”

“You should have left there long ago,” Theodore Nott said calmly. “A wizard should live in the wizarding world.”

Leila: "I'm planning to move to Diagon Alley, which will make it easier to buy school supplies."

"Now that everything is planned, what are you still worried about?"

"How did you figure that out? Well, it's because of Bell," Lyra said, somewhat surprised by Theodore Nott's keen observation. "I'll definitely come back to Muggle places sometime in the future, and what will happen to Bell then? I'll absolutely not cut off Bell's forked tail, but minors can't use magic outside of school, ugh, so annoying—"

“A true wizard has countless ways to achieve his goals, instead of just foolishly worrying,” Theodore Nott said with a haughty raised eyebrow. “Meet me tomorrow afternoon at the usual time in front of the Muggle Hotel.”

*

Golden curly hair, green eyes, ordinary features, and a thin, bony figure—he was unremarkable no matter how you looked at him.

"So this is what it feels like to grow seven inches taller!" Leila exclaimed happily, admiring her new height in the mirror. "The air feels so much fresher!"

A burly man with brown hair and brown eyes stood at the door. He was the kind of person who would blend into a crowd and would not stand out. He said bluntly, "Don't look at me. It's not like I'll be your future height."

"Tsk, maybe I'll be even taller when I'm an adult!" Lyra didn't argue with Theodore Nott because he had kindly provided the Polyjuice Potion and she would need him to lead the way through the alleyways later.

You should know that she is very concerned about the possibility that she might not grow to be very tall in the future.

"Let's go! I can't wait to get going!" Leila shouted excitedly.

*

Half an hour later, because of her slurred speech from using Floo Powder, Lyra managed to fall out of the fireplace and into a small alley, but she sadly discovered that she was lost.

"Cough, cough—" Leila felt that when she opened her mouth in the fireplace just now, she inhaled a mouthful of hot soot.

Floo's way of traveling was far from comfortable. Lyra felt as if she had been sucked into a giant socket, her body spinning rapidly, like a teddy bear being scrubbed in a washing machine.

The deafening roar still filled her ears. Fearing she had entered the wrong furnace, Leila desperately tried to open her eyes, but the swirling green flames made her extremely dizzy. She also felt as if she had been hit by many hard objects, and her left arm hurt as if it were broken.

She struggled to open her eyes, but could only see a series of oven doors flashing by blurry. The spaghetti she had eaten for lunch was churning in her stomach... Lyra screamed in her heart that she would never use Floo Powder again, but at this moment she could only pray that this journey would end soon.

Finally, she felt like a rag doll, thrown onto the cold stone slab.

“Nott?” Lyra called softly to her companion, but no one answered.

After a while, she was no longer so dizzy and got up from the ground, covered in coal dust.

A person stood blankly, unsure of where he was. In front of the stone fireplace of a spacious but dimly lit wizard's shop.

Leila tried to brush off the dust and make herself look more presentable.

But this eerie shop doesn't seem to need respectable customers either—

On the shop shelf, on a long velvet cushion, lay a withered human hand, a stack of bloodstained playing cards, and a lifeless glass eyeball.

A hideous mask hangs on the wall, mocking passersby.

Various human bones were displayed on the counter, and rusty, tooth-like instruments hung from the ceiling.

The good news is that, judging from the dark, narrow alleyway seen through the dusty shop windows, this is exactly where she and Theodore Nott originally intended to go—Knockdown Alley.

The bad news is that she and Theodore Nott have become separated.

"Welcome, uninvited guest—"