"Good evening, Mrs. Collins!"
The old lady's voice was soft, but Andy still heard her - even the cold night wind couldn't scatter her voice.
It is her!
Bathilda Bagshot!
The famous historian of magic and the author of the History of Magic textbook.
Andy had seen this old lady quite a few times before when he had come to his grandfather's house to play, but he had just never paid much attention to her.
Well, it was mainly because Andy was a bit scared.
After all, the image of this old lady was so appalling, she looked like an evil old witch written in a fairy tale, who could give you a poisoned apple at any time.
It wasn't until Andy studied the history of magic and did some research on the author of the history of magic textbook that he truly realized how awesome this old woman was.
She is the true Know-It-All of the Wizarding World.
She was older than Dumbledore and had been studying the history of magic since the last century - not just the history of the British wizarding community, but the history of magic of the whole of Europe, which she knew like the back of her hand.
"What's wrong?" Helen asked.
"Nothing."
Andy coped, then said, "Mrs. Bagshot lives alone, right? I want to go over to see her tomorrow and bring her some gifts or something."
"Good!" Helen nodded.
"You're not afraid that she'll eat kids?" Isabel looked at Andy and winked.
Andy didn't have the heart to smack the little girl's head.
Andy had tried to scare the little girl like this before, but the little lass wasn't afraid, she even went to Mrs Bagshot's house to explore.
Soon, the group of three arrived at Andy's grandfather's house.
"Hi! Andy, long time no see, how's life at Hogwarts? Is there anything you're not used to?" Andy's grandfather, Norman Collins, was a very easy-going man, he looked a bit fat, but the fat was just right.
"Everything's fine." Andy went up to Norman and hugged him.
Grandmother Veronica Collins brought up some cookies, fruit, and hot cocoa, and a few of them sat around the fireplace, chatting together about how they used to study at Hogwarts.
When Kyle got off work, the family had a hearty dinner together.
The next morning, Andy took the gifts prepared by Helen and took Grandfather Norman's camera with him, and went out of the door wearing thick clothes.
Andy went to the war memorial to take some pictures and then went to the ruins to take some pictures.
There was a wooden sign at the ruins with some blessings in honour of the Potter family, and a lot of wizards in the magical community had left messages on it.
Andy decided to send these pictures to Harry for Christmas.
The photos were both memorable and economical at the same time, they didn't even cost a copper Knut.
After taking the pictures, Andy went all the way to Bathilda Bagshot's house.
Asking a senior for advice on something is actually the same as pursuing a girl.
First, you have to be thick-skinned enough, don't care how close the relationship is, just ask when you meet, and as for whether it's a success or not...that can only be known after you open your mouth.
It's blood profit if its success, and no loss if its failure.
Thump, thump!
Andy knocked on the door.
Squeak!
Without having to wait for a while, Mrs. Bagshot opened the door trembling, "It's little Collins, ah? Boy, do you have any trouble?"
"Mrs. Bagshot, I've come to give you a Christmas present." Andy raised the gift in his hand and gestured.
"You've put your heart in it! Come on in, boy, it's cold out there." Mrs. Bagshot stepped to the side and gestured for Andy to enter.
An ancient house of some age, a grey-haired, wrinkled, and hunchbacked witch, and she's inviting you into her house...
To be fair, the scene was still a bit creepy.
At least Andy was a little spooked.
"Thank you, ma'am!" Andy said thanks and walked in stiffly.
There was a fireplace burning inside the house, and candles were lit on the surrounding walls, but the light inside the house still looked a little dim. The environment of the house was not too dirty, but Andy still smelled a damp and mouldy odour.
Most wizards really didn't care much about cleanliness.
It was obvious that a single magic could take care of things, but they just never cleaned the room.
Maybe they thought it would look more mysterious?
Andy stepped on the floorboards and caused a 'squeaking' sound, only after placing the gifts he brought on the table, he looked around the room once more.
On the cabinet in the room was a curved box with a number of photographs on it. As Andy looked at the photos, the people in them were looking at Andy.
Andy noticed that the person in one of the photos was very handsome, he had blonde hair and a lazy demeanour, and he winked mischievously at Andy when he looked at him.
"Ma'am, who is this?" Andy asked curiously.
"That's my nephew's grandson."
Mrs. Bagshot said softly, "Sit down, child."
"Thanks!" Andy said thanks and casually found a chair and sat down.
"Where is your grandson, ma'am?"
Andy continued, "Isn't he coming to spend the holidays with you?"
Being young has the advantage of being young.
It is commonly known that children's words are unrestrained, and some of them would seem very rude when spoken by an adult. But coming from the mouths of small children, they were often not minded.
"He can't come."
Mrs. Bagshot didn't seem to want to mention it much as she asked, "Anything to drink, my child?"
"Thanks, a cup of tea would be nice," Andy said.
When Mrs Bagshot brought a cup of hot tea, Andy asked again with a curious face, "Ma'am, I heard that you used to be a neighbour of Professor Dumbledore? I'm curious, what was Professor Dumbledore like as a child? Would he be as mischievous as other children?"
"Albus!"
Mrs Bagshot recalled, "That child was very mature, he loved to study magic, every time he came back from Hogwarts on holiday, he would hide in his room by himself to read books and write papers."
"His younger brother even argued with him a few times over this, saying that he neglected taking care of his younger sister to study magic."
Dumbledore had a younger sibling?
Well, that's normal. Who in life doesn't have a few family members?
Andy put on a look of disappointment, "I was expecting to hear some embarrassing stories about Professor Dumbledore!"
"Embarrassing stories? Of course, there are."
Maybe it was because Andy was young, or maybe it was because it had been too long since she had talked to anyone, when Andy asked a few questions in a row, Mrs. Bagshot's words gradually increased.
She told a lot of interesting stories about Dumbledore's childhood, and she even introduced her own grandnephew to Dumbledore to get to know him, and they became very close friends.
This was actually nothing, just a simple past story of two young people becoming friends.
However, when Mrs. Bagshot, in an unintentional moment, revealed her grandnephew's name, Andy's entire mind was blown.
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