In recent days, Hertok felt his luck was particularly bad; he inexplicably lost his golden membership card while watching an opera in France, and his previously smooth Potion research suddenly encountered a host of problems, directly hitting a bottleneck.
Even taking the Felix Felicis he had stored before didn't improve his luck.
Hertok hadn't yet reported the loss of the golden membership card to the Extraordinary Potioneers Association, nor did he dare tell anyone else about it.
Sometimes, too many people knowing about something can bring a lot of trouble.
Hertok never expected that placing a lost and found advertisement in The Daily Prophet would help him recover his golden membership card.
Through his connections, Hertok found someone to help him with a prophecy: the golden membership card would be brought to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Currently, he should go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and negotiate with Dumbledore to identify the boy who found the golden membership card among the students one by one.
However, this was undoubtedly not a good idea.
Just as Hertok was still agonizing over the matter, someone sent him a letter via owl, and the letter paper read: You seem to have encountered some minor trouble; I can offer you help.
P.S. I enjoy evening tea on the terrace at eight o'clock.
The sender's name was Bard Broad.
Hertok knew Bard Broad; both were members of the Wizengamot, but they hadn't really conversed much.
After all, their areas of expertise were completely different, as were their scopes of communication.
There's a reason why different professions are like mountains apart.
Nevertheless, Hertok still planned to visit Bard Broad; since he wrote him a letter, it certainly wasn't without purpose.
A quarter to seven.
Hertok arrived at the lakeside early; the cool wind blowing in his face temporarily dispelled the summer heat.
"He really is a guy who loves to enjoy himself," Hertoklooked up into the distance, squinting slightly, and murmured, "Apparition is actually forbidden here?"
Hertok lit the tip of his wand, walked along the lakeshore, and finally stopped at a dilapidated pier, looking at the only small broken boat on the pier, falling into a brief silence.
Hertok got on, and the small boat, carried by the night wind, sailed towards the small island in the lake under the cover of night.
The boat traveled for some time, arriving at the pier of the small island in the lake before sinking, where a House-elf was waiting to welcome Hertok.
"My master asked me to wait for you here, Mr. Hertok Dagworth, please follow me." The House-elf bowed to Hertok, then led the way with an oil lamp.
They walked on a path paved with pebbles, and along the way, they passed through several defensive magicspells before entering the manor.
"Good evening, Hertok, you arrived earlier than I expected." Broad greeted his guest while sitting at a round table on the terrace.
"I'm here, tell me, what good news do you have?" Hertok suppressed his anxious emotions and asked.
"Oh, it seems the rumors are true; you lost something valuable." Broad smiled and gestured for Hertok to sit down.
Hertok sat down, continuing to patiently listen to the other party's idle talk; as long as Broad could provide him with some useful information, he didn't mind waiting a little longer.
"I have a young friend who wrote to me a while ago, telling me he encountered some strange things." Broad poured some red wine into the glass in front of Hertokand continued, "He said he had just returned from a vacation in France, but inexplicably received a letter from the Ministry of Magic because he used Accio in France. However, in reality, he had only just finished his first year and hadn't even mastered how to use Accio."
Hertok opened his mouth but ultimately remained silent.
"This is a gift he brought back for me from his vacation in France, Muggle red wine, it tastes quite good." Broad finished speaking, looking at Hertok with a half-smile.
No matter how foolish, one could understand the meaning of Broad's words; the young friend he spoke of was most likely the boy who found his golden membership card.
"What's his name?" Hertok took a deep breath and asked in a low voice.
Broad did not answer immediately, but simply looked at Hertok calmly and retorted, "How do you plan to handle this? Go directly to him and demand the item, or?"
"It doesn't seem to concern you, does it?" Hertokcouldn't help but blurt out, but regretted it the next moment.
"Of course it concerns me." Broad looked Hertok up and down, shaking his head, "It seems you need a glass of red wine with ice to cool down."
Hertok fell silent, and after a long time, he said, "I apologize, I was rude. I've encountered a lot of bad luck recently, and my temper is a bit short."
"I understand." Broad didn't blame his rudeness and handed Albert's letter to Hertok.
After reading the letter, Hertok looked up and asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"It's not what I want." Broad corrected him, "You seem to have caused trouble for my young friend."
"I will compensate him." Hertok said quickly.
"Oh, oh, you seem to… not understand what I'm saying." Broad clasped his hands together, looked at Hertok, and kindly reminded him, "He doesn't need any compensation from you; you just need to clean up the mess you made."
"A mess?" Hertok repeated softly.
"Isn't it?" Broad retorted.
"To some extent, it certainly is a mess." Hertok did not deny this point, "But it's not a big deal."
"It might be a big deal to him," Broad said.
Hertok fell silent, then nodded again to indicate that he understood.
"Thank you, Mr. Broad." Hertok stood up to express his gratitude and then prepared to leave.
"Won't you stay for some evening tea?" Broad asked with a smile, "We can sit down and talk…"
"No," Hertok refused outright, "Thank you for your kindness, but I'm very busy and have a lot to do; I don't have much time to enjoy leisure."
"I think you'll soon be willing to sit down and talk with me." Broad didn't mind, smiling as he said to Hertok, "Next time we meet, it won't be here."
Hertok left the Lake House, boarded the small broken boat again to return to the lakeshore. He already knew the boy's name, and the next step was to negotiate with him to retrieve his golden membership card.
"He's gone!"
No sooner had Hertok left than MacDougall sat down in Hertok's just-vacated seat, picked up the untouched glass, took a sip of red wine, and smacked his lips, "It tastes pretty good. But Anderson didn't send me a bottle."
"Because I'm his Professor!" Broad stroked his beard, smiling happily.
"Do you think Hertok will succeed?"
"If he cleans up the mess he made, he will get his item back," Broad said with a smile.
"By the way, why did you meet Hertok here at my place?" MacDougall asked again.
That's right, the Lake House was actually one of MacDougall's homes; although it was called a house, it was actually a small manor.
"That guy definitely won't get that golden membership card back; when he comes here to find me, he certainly won't find anyone," Broad said cheerfully.
"How did you guess it was a golden membership card?" MacDougall retorted.
"Otherwise, what do you think would make Hertok go to such lengths to find?" Broad said pleasantly.
"Then why…"
"Why would he fail?" Broad retorted.
"Hmm."
"Anderson is different from other children," Broad said softly, "If Hertok tries to solve this with compensation, he's definitely going to get a cold shoulder."
"Hmm, I heard Rowena plans to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts," MacDougall suddenly changed the subject.
"This…" Broad took a sip of red wine and frowned.
MacDougall's tone became very serious, his brows slightly furrowed, "What is he going to Hogwarts for?"
"Does Gerber know about this?" Broad suddenly asked.
"Not clear yet." MacDougall shook his head and said, "Go ask him what's going on!"
"Gerber certainly won't tell Rowena about the inheritance because of their family relationship." Broad shook his head, directly dismissing the most likely possibility: "As a direct descendant of Smith, he must have seen some relevant records. Rowena is very smart; he probably guessed some things from these records."
"He's very smart, but unfortunately, his personality isn't suitable," MacDougall said softly, "And… never mind. Anyway, there are now two suitable candidates; we can just pick one from them then."
"Hmm, before that, keep an eye on them."
"I will." MacDougall smiled and swirled his goblet, "This wine is good. By the way, I won the last bet, didn't I?"
"I remember most of your books were given away, weren't they!" Broad shook his head helplessly, "How many did you sell in total?"
"About half, I guess?" MacDougall thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "A bet's a bet."
"Alright, he's yours." Broad pointed to the opened bottle of red wine. After speaking, he picked up the bottle and poured himself a small glass.
"Come on, let's go find Gerber and clear this up." MacDougall tapped the cork with his wand, and it automatically popped back into the bottle, resealing it.
MacDougall picked up the half-empty bottle of red wine and walked towards the fireplace, with Broad following behind him, disappearing into the fireplace where verdant flames rose.