Chapter 348: There Are No Softies Dealing with Magical Creatures
The Oak Barrel Pub.
A popular haunt near the Romanian Dragon Reserve, it was packed any time the door swung open. Dragon keepers often gathered here on their days off, unwinding with a glass of brandy or almond mead. But they weren't the only regulars; all sorts of folk filled the place.
It was a bit like The Hog's Head in Hogsmeade, with a mixed crowd—tourists, shadowy figures in dark hoods hiding their faces, and elderly witches who looked like villains in a fairy tale. And, of course, there were non-humans among them.
At the far right of the bar sat a Goblin with a ragged bag and a reputation for cheating, though he called himself a traveling merchant. Nearby, a Centaur who had parted ways with his tribe was eagerly offering to tell fortunes.
"Bang!"
The door to The Oak Barrel Pub suddenly flew open, drawing a few heads. A frail-looking wizard entered, glasses perched on his nose, exuding the air of a Ministry office clerk who spent his days hunched over reports.
I bet he's just another tourist who came to see the dragon reserve, someone mused, and the thought was likely shared by many. The reserve was famous, attracting scores of admirers each year.
Most of the pub's patrons returned to their drinking and boasting. A few regulars muttered, predicting that Old Brown, the bartender, would profit once more from tourists by peddling his "aged" wine.
But no one saw fit to warn anyone; as long as tourists were drinking, no one really minded what was in their glasses.
The bespectacled wizard didn't linger at the bar or order a drink. Instead, he headed straight for a corner table where two others sat: a broad-shouldered man with a thick beard and a hulking frame, and a robed figure who concealed his face beneath a wide hood.
"Roy failed," said the bespectacled wizard, taking a seat and helping himself to a glass of dragon brandy already on the table. "All twelve of them. Roy was the only one who got away—he betrayed his companions and ran. Aurors from the Romanian Ministry of Magic just took the others in."