Chapter 43: A Good Day in Hogsmeade
The walk to Hogsmeade was a long one. I was used to taking the school carriages to get from the train station to the school and I had never realized how far it actually was by foot. It was a nice walk, though, because with all the studying I had been doing recently, I hadn't had the chance to stretch my legs.
On the other hand, I also hadn't noticed how pretty everything was either. It was just starting to get colder, so the air was cold and the wind was sharp on our faces. The trees around us were swaying in the breeze, giving me the impression that they were dancing. Since it was morning again, the sun was high in the sky, and it reflected off the lake creating an almost blinding but dazzling effect.
By the end of the walk, my legs were tired and burned a bit in protest of the strain I was putting them through, but it felt so good to finally be using them again.
Hogsmeade was very different from Diagon Alley. Where Diagon Alley had been ridiculously packed and busy, I could imagine that if not for all the teenagers running around all over the place, Hogsmeade would be a quaint and slow-paced little village. It was somewhere I could see myself living at some point in the future.
Hogsmeade was the sort of village that I was sure my parents would have been much more comfortable with. I suddenly wished that this had been where we had come to buy my school things before my first year. Maybe then they wouldn't have been so overwhelmed by the wizarding world.
Suddenly, Ron interrupted my thoughts by dragged me into Honeydukes. Though Honeydukes was clearly an extremely popular store judging by the number of people crammed inside, I didn't really see the appeal. Candy had never been something I loved. As Ron gaped over the myriad displays, I looked around for something suitable to buy to bring back for Harry. I had, after all, promised to buy him some.
I wasn't sure what Harry would like best, so in the end, I got little samplings of almost everything. When Ron found me again in the back of the shop, his arms were full with chocolate.
"Hermione, you're getting all of that?" he asked in shock.
"Of course not," I said. "It's for Harry. Don't tell me you plan on buying all of that?" I asked, looking at his arms, which were even fuller than mine.
"Oh, come on Hermione, don't tell me you're not buying some for yourself too," Ron said, trying to rearrange his arms to make it look like he was carrying less than he really was.
"Actually, no, I'm not. Candy rots your teeth," I replied, heading to the counter with my pile of candy for Harry.
Ron followed me, his mouth wide and gaping. "You mean you're not getting anything for yourself?" he asked.
"Nope," I replied. "It's not that big a deal Ron, really. I'd just rather spend my money on something more useful than candy."
"Well okay then," Ron said, looking at me as though I was crazy.
After I had paid for Harry's candy and Ron had paid for his, we agreed to try out a place called the Three Broomsticks. It was a restaurant, so we went up to the bar to order, but we weren't really sure what to get. We asked the witch who was working there, Madam Rosmerta, what she recommended, and we sat down at a table off to the side with our large bags of candy, a couple of sandwiches, and a mug of butterbeer each.
I was a little wary of the butterbeer at first. I took an experimental sniff, which caused Ron to start laughing at me.
"Come on Hermione, it's not poisoned!" he said, proving it by taking a sip of his own. "Woah, it's really good," he said, his eyes growing wide as he looked down at his mug.
I laughed and took a sip of my own drink. Ron was right, the butterbeer was amazing. Like its name would suggest, it tasted like liquid butter, except not in the disgusting way butter would taste if you just melted it and drank it. It was smooth, like milk, and very sweet, which led me to believe that it also had a lot of sugar in it. There was also some unidentifiable flavour present that really made it come together as the best thing I had ever drunk.
My second sip was more like a gulp, and since the Butterbeer was still really hot, I ended up burning my tongue. I cried out, and this caused Ron to laugh at me again.
Suddenly, Ron's eyes went very wide as he looked at something behind me. "Hermione, what is that?" he asked, pointing at something.
I turned around in my seat as inconspicuously as I could, but who or whatever it was that Ron was looking at had its back to me, so I couldn't see it.
"I don't know," I said, turning back around and shrugging at Ron.
"Looks like an ogre or something," Ron said, reaching into his bag of sweets from Honeydukes and starting to eat some fudge.
I rolled my eyes at him and continued to sip my butterbeer.
"Would you like to try a piece?" Ron asked, holding out a piece of the fudge to me. "You know, since you didn't buy any."
"Ron, candy rots your teeth," I said.
"So what? It tastes good!" Ron exclaimed.
"I think I'll pass," I replied.
"Just one bite," Ron said, shoving the fudge across the table.
"Alright, fine," I said, chuckling. I ate the fudge, which I had to admit, was pretty good despite the fact that I could feel the cavities forming. "Thanks, it was really good." I said when I had eaten it.
"Ready to go?" Ron said now that both our mugs and plates were empty.
I agreed and we left, heading to Zonko's Joke Shop on Ron's request. Ron spent a long time marvelling at all the displays and reminiscing about pranks that Fred and George had pulled on him in the past, now knowing where they got their materials. I had to persuade him not to spend the last of his money on ridiculous junk, because I knew he probably didn't have much left after Honeydukes and he probably wouldn't be getting anymore until Christmas.
After we left the joke shop, I convinced Ron to go into Dervish and Banges, the wizarding equipment shop. He didn't understand what was so exciting about it after a candy shop and a joke shop, but I loved it. In the end, Ron had to drag me out, and we went next door to the post office.
The post office was huge. It was one large room filled with hundreds of owls, all labelled for specific locations. Neither Ron nor I had any intention of sending a letter, and when the wizard who was working there realized this, he shooed us out.
Next, I saw a shop called Scrivenshaft's, which I begged Ron to let me enter. Just as we stepped foot inside, Ron announced that he was even more bored than at Dervish and Banges. I shushed him, looking over at the witch at the counter, but she wasn't paying attention, she was helping some other students.
I ended up purchasing some parchment and quills because they were so pretty. I would have spent a longer time looking around, but Ron kept complaining, so we left.
It was getting late, and we only had enough time to go into one more shop. I let Ron choose because I had chosen the last two, not including the post office. We ended up going into Spintwitches, a sporting goods shop, where Ron gazed longingly at all the products, probably because he wished he hadn't spent all of his money on candy. I was just as bored as Ron professed to have been in Scrivenshaft's, but I didn't say so out of politeness.
When Ron was finally done, we made our way back up to the castle. I couldn't believe how wonderful the day had turned out. I mentally checked for the headache I usually had at about this time of day, but it wasn't there.