Chapter 1: The Hogs Head And The Janitors Work

(A/N: This will be a slow-paced story. With even slower updates.)

(A/N: I hope I portrayed the characters right.)

---------------------------------------------------

The Next Morning…..

Gale felt weak. He hadn't eaten anything in a day and was completely starving. While the water from the water fountain helped clear his head a bit, he was still hungry. It had been a long time since he had starved like this.

Sitting up, he groaned a little, adjusting to his surroundings. Blinking, Gale exhaled, heart, thumping rapidly. It wasn't a dream. He truly was in this magical world. No tricks.

But still. He really needed food. More specifically, Gale wanted a baguette. Why? Because baguette. With some creamy Yorkshire Clam Chowder. The combination would do very nicely. Too bad he couldn't at the moment. For one, he wasn't sure that they sold Baguettes in Hogsmeade, and second, he wasn't sure that they sold creamy Yorkshire Clam Chowder in Hogsmeade either. So it was a lame problem.

He lay on a small hill he had found the other day, just sitting here. Flourishing his hand, the green card from yesterday appeared before Gale's face. Was he going to use it, and manifest the Ten Rings? Nope. Not right now, not right here. He had to maintain complete secrecy until he found a source of food.

"Bloody hell…. Young one, you look wasted." Then, a loud baritone voice reached Gale's ears. In surprise, he scrambled to his feet, looking at the old man before him.

The old-timer was tall and thin, having long stringy grey hair a messy beard. He had piercing blue eyes and an unsavory expression. He looked very familiar to a certain bearded wizard that Gale remembered from the series. He wore an old bartender's outfit, with a dirty leather apron.

"D-dumbeldore?" Gale scratched his head, before remembering that this wasn't really Mr. "Greater Goods" style.

"Bah. Bloody fool. The name is Aberforth." The old man growled in annoyance, clearly not enjoying being identified as the other. Gale's eyes widened for a split second before he collected himself, calming down. Aberforth continued on speaking:

"Eh. Whatever. What's wrong with you? Lookin' a little pale. And sitting out here? Shouldn't you be goin too….. Hogwarts?" He finished his sentence in some spite.

"Urgh…. I'm starving. Haven't had anything to eat in a while." Purposedly ignoring the question, Gale voiced out his current struggle.

Aberforth stared at him in the eyes for a few seconds, before sighing. He waved his hand, beckoning for Gale to follow him.

They walked for a bit in silence, before Aberforth led him off the main street, and down to a building that was really out of place among the others. It was a tall one, wonkily made from many different varieties of wood, and it was obviously quite old, partially falling apart. At the front, a crooked signboard read: "Hog's Head" As if to prove the point, the silhouette of the head of a hog was emblazoned in its side.

They moved around, and into the back of the building. Gale looked around, marveling at his surroundings. They had arrived inside of a small dingy little kitchen. It was an old rotting place, with some mold growing on the walls and the lights above flickering. Aberforth ordered him to sit down at a small wooden stool, while he went off to get something.

Sitting there awkwardly, Gale wrinkled his nose, as a deep stench assaulted his nose. Like rotting fish. It was bearable though, Gale had smelled worse. After a bit, Aberforth came back with a plate of stale bread and a dirty cup filled with water.

"Eat up lad." He said in a neutral, borderline cold tone.

Gale hesitated for a second, noticing the plate was covered in grime and oil, before screwing it and taking a bite. It tasted like how one would normally expect stale bread to taste, dry and…. Stale.

He didn't touch the water though. It looked sort of dirty.

Munching on some bread, Gale stared into the distance, lost in thought. If this was the Hog's Head… Then from what he remembered correctly, wasn't there a secret entrance into the Room Of Requirement?

It was behind a portrait upstairs if he remembered. Cliche, but effective in hiding a passageway. It was really a coincidence that Aberforth had encountered him sleeping there.

Gale crunched down with great vigor, stuffing bread after bread in his mouth, albeit with some manners.

FInishing, he stared at Aberforth, who stared back at him.

Sighing, Gale spoke out:

"Hi. The name is Gale. Rather not say my last name. I'm a squib, who hitchhiked on the Express, and now I'm here. Why I decided to come to Hogsmeade? In search of a better fut- I honestly have no idea."

Gale was a very honest person most of the time. To him, it wouldn't make much of a difference if he spoke most of the truth. No harm in it.

Aberforth stared at him, eyes glinting creepily, before nodding, supposedly believing his story.

"So…. Gale, what're you gonna do now?"

Gale shrugged, patting his stomach. Then, eyes glinting, he said:

"Do you perhaps… Need any help? With the bar? Like in the kitchen?" He had previous experience with working in restaurants before, and he didn't really have anywhere to go at the moment. Didn't want to be homeless. "Don't worry. I have prior experience Also don't need high pay.. Just want somewhere to live.."

"Hm. Well, the bar's been getting annoying recently. Might need a helpin hand."Aberforth grunted.

"So, is that a yes?" Gale replied, tilting his head.

"Sure thing. Just don't mess up." The old man said, growling.

"Oh? Why are you trusting me, anyway? We just met about twenty minutes ago?" Finishing off some crust, Gale wiped some breadcrumbs off his mouth.

Aberforth remained silent for a second before he said one word:

"Intuition."

"I see." Gale nodded. "So, when do I start?"

"Eh. Tomorrow. Make yourself at home upstairs. Those stairs to the left. Got space." Aberforth lumbered off, long beard swaying about.

Gale smiled. Housing acquired….. But now that he thought about it…. This was Aberforht Dumbeldore. A powerful Wizard. Legilemens. Occulemency. Whatever that crap was. It was mind reading. He froze awkwardly. For obvious reasons, he didn't want his status as a transmigrator to be revealed.

[Worry not. They cannot see…..]

A flashing text appeared before Gale's eyes, causing him to jolt. They cannot see…. He had a rough idea as to what that meant….

It relieved him very much. Very much indeed.

Getting up, Gale made his way up the rickety wooden stairs Aberforth had mentioned before. This was the start of a new life. The true start. And he would live it, the way he wanted!

Two Hours Later….

"Eww….." As of now, Gale had said these words about thirty times in the past five minutes. This place really was a shithole. Dragging the ratty bedbug-infested mattress outside, he walked to a stream nearby, literally throwing it in, washing out all the gunk and such that had collected about. For the past few minutes, he had literally been dragging things down to clean up. The Hog's Head was a germaphobics nightmare. Sticky mud-caked carpets, bed-bug-infested mattresses, you name it, they had it.

He hadn't dared touch some of the stuff in his guest room though. As an avid fan of the Harry Potter franchise, he knew that opening or cleaning out some stuff was not a good idea. There might be some…. Magical critters that could give him a really bad time. So for now, he cleaned the more menial, cleanable stuff. The ones that were most likely not infested with pixies and whatnot.

Washing off a rag in the stream, Gale scrubbed it with some soap. The soap was environmentally friendly, as it said on the label, which hopefully meant that he wasn't polluting anything.

Aberforth was at the counter, dealing with some customers at the moment, so he was probably unaware of what Gale was doing.

After rinsing and repeating for another few minutes, Gale felt that the mattress should be mostly done with. He laid out the mattress and some other stuff on a relatively clean mat he had found, that was discarded nearby.

Wiping some sweat off his forehead, Gale felt like it was going to be a very long day….. Grabbing a dripping rag, a dry rag, a plastic container, and some soap, he stomped down over to the back of the bar, ready to do some more menial tasks, in order to make his room as hospitable as possible.

Going up the stairs, he walked up through a dirty sitting room, which was still, one of the cleanest places in the Hogs Head. Stopping for a moment, Gale stared at a painting above the fireplace mantel, who stared back at him kindly. A portrait of Ariana Dumbledore, the youngest of the Dumbeldore siblings, and also the rift between Albus and Aberforth Dumbledore.

Also, the painting led to the secret passageway to the Room Of Requirement.

Shaking his head, Gale walked on over to a rotting wooden door. Like most of the stuff in this bar, it was in great disrepair. Putting down the plastic container, which was filled with water, Gale began scrubbing the handle. This would be the first step in his ultimate home renovation….

One Hour Later…

Gale had his room sparkling clean. While the room was still rotten and smelled partially of goats, all the walls and furniture had been scrubbed clean. No Scourgify needed.

All he had to deal with, were the draperies, which Gale suspected were infested with Doxys.

As long as he didn't irritate them or touch the draperies, things would probably be fine. Besides that, all he needed were his mattress and the other stuff drying outside, and then he would be good.

"Hm. Quite the hard worker I'd say." That familiar baritone voice chuckled behind him, and Gale whipped around, finding Aberforth looking about.

"Thanks. All I have to do is wait for the mattresses to dry, and for some way to deal with the draperies over there, and I think I'm fine." Gale said, wiping some sweat off his forehead.

"Mm. Doxy's eh? Let me handle this." Aberforth beckoned for Gale to step back, as the old man raised his wand at the ready.

Gale breathed in heavily. This would be the first time he would ever see magic….. While it was against a few biting fairies, still. Magic.

Standing at the doorway, Gale watched with bated breath.

Without saying a word, the younger Dumbeldore brother flicked his wand, sending a jet of magic at the cloth covering.

A loud bang occurred, and the Doxies appeared. This was the first time Gale had encountered Doxies, and least to say, he was stunned. Although he couldn't see them clearly, they appeared to be hairy and black, buzzing about and rushing towards Aberforth, their aggressor in rage.

Meanwhile, the old man made his move once more, another spell shooting off, this one, a bright red. Making contact, with a loud bang, the doxies had been sent out through the window, and with the shattering of glass, Aberforth had banished them from the household and onto the streets of Hogsmeade.

Making another movement with the wand, the glass repaired itself, the dusty draperies, flying away in the early noon breeze.

"T-thanks." Gale said, eyes as wide as saucers.

"No problem kid. Ya seem like a hard worker. That'll help in the long run." Aberforth walked off down the stairs, the rickety stairs creaking after him.

Immediately after he left, Gale fell to the floor, heart beating rapidly. Magic. This was magic. And those were magic creatures. He truly was in the Wizarding World…. Boy was this going to be fun.

---------------------------------

You thought it was going to be exciting. Heh. It was just a cleaning segment.