The Hog's Head was not a place students were meant to come, just as people like Mundungus were not allowed in the Three Broomsticks. Aberforth did not like seeing students in his pub either, so teasing a pair of young wizards was not really a problem in itself.
"Teasing them? You think you're funny, do you?" Who knew that today Aberforth would take a different view. He glared at Mundungus and drew his wand.
"Looks like I need to teach you a lesson and remind you whose turf this is."
Before the sentence had even finished, a spell blasted Mundungus backwards.
Mundungus really was out of luck today, running into Aberforth of all people.
Aberforth was in a bad mood. His highly respected older brother had contacted him and told him to keep an eye on the area around Hogwarts, especially for any sign of the Dark Lord.
Talking to his brother was never a pleasant experience, especially when the two of them had differences that could never be reconciled.
So Aberforth was in a foul temper. He would carry out his brother's request to the letter, but that did not stop him from being unhappy about it, just as he never went to see Dumbledore, yet still chose to open a pub in Hogsmeade and gather intelligence for him.
So when he saw Mundungus, the thief he had personally ordered out before, Aberforth grew even more annoyed.
And when Aberforth was annoyed, he found an excuse to beat somebody up. That was how simple he was.
He did not use any lethal magic. Instead, Aberforth pummeled Mundungus half to death with one basic spell after another, drawing out scream after scream.
The drinkers inside the pub crowded to the windows and doorway with their glasses in hand, enjoying the rare entertainment.
"Well done, Aberforth. That bastard had it coming!" one wizard who had been robbed by Mundungus shouted, waving his arm. "Hit him harder."
He had a grudge against Mundungus, so naturally the worse Mundungus looked, the happier he was.
The others had no particular enmity with him, but there was still something deeply satisfying about watching a thieving nuisance get what he deserved.
The one-sided beating lasted a full two minutes. By the end, Mundungus was flung to the roadside like a rag, and Aberforth went back into the pub without a second glance.
He had not expected venting his temper by beating someone up to feel this good.
As he walked, Aberforth reflected that for one brief moment he had wondered whether he had been a little too impulsive. Beating someone up in broad daylight could easily cause trouble.
"But it also establishes authority." He quickly convinced himself and, without looking back, returned behind the bar and began thinking about how to thoroughly sweep the area around Hogwarts.
He felt better and got back to work.
Mundungus, on the other hand, was in for a miserable time.
A repeat thief who also dabbled as a shady middleman was a very tempting target, especially when he was lying there completely defenseless.
Quite a few people drank at the Hog's Head who were not exactly honest folk.
Inside the pub, a few wizards exchanged glances and instantly understood one another. They were all in the same line of work.
So they went out together, picked up Mundungus, who had been sprawled on the ground too long to get up, and hauled him into a nearby alley.
Before long, muffled screams came from the alley. A little later, several very satisfied-looking wizards came out again, tugging at their trousers.
Don't get the wrong idea. They had not been doing anything strange. Their pockets were simply so stuffed that their belts were sagging.
Mundungus had been carrying quite a few good things on him, and those wizards had just cleaned him out completely.
The group exchanged satisfied smiles and headed back into the Hog's Head to celebrate with a drink. Aberforth, behind the bar, merely glanced at their grinning faces before lowering his head and pouring each of them a glass of Firewhisky.
"This round's on me," he said.
"Bless you, generous Aberforth." The wizards laughed and accepted their drinks. "A toast to our haul."
"And one to Mundungus too. He was carrying quite a fortune," one of them suggested.
"Right. A toast to Mundungus."
Laughter rang through the pub, and the whole place was full of cheer.
None of that had anything to do with Mundungus, who was lying in the alley clutching his backside and aching all over.
"Damn bastards. Once I recover, I'm going to rob every one of your homes clean." Mundungus pushed himself up against the wall, stood shakily, and spat toward the pub.
By sheer coincidence, the spit landed squarely on a passing black cat with sleek, glossy fur.
The cat turned its head, looked at the saliva on its coat, then slowly looked up at Mundungus. Its eerie green pupils narrowed into slits.
"You... get lost." The stare made Mundungus feel a chill all over. He kicked at the cat, but it dodged nimbly.
"Damn it, even you want to bully me?" Furious, Mundungus yanked out his wand to teach the cat a lesson. To his surprise, the creature was ferocious enough to pounce straight for his face.
"Mrow!"
With that strange cry, Mundungus's screams rang out through the alley once again.
Not long after, the alley fell quiet. The black cat emerged, thoroughly satisfied, licked the blood from its paw, flicked its tail, and sauntered away.
A short while later, Mundungus crawled out of the alley in humiliation, one sleeve shredded into rags and his face covered in scratches.
He had failed to beat a cat. The damned thing had been too agile, and none of his spells had landed.
"Why am I this unlucky today?" Mundungus gritted his teeth, and George's final words before leaving suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
"If you take what you shouldn't, watch out for a curse."
"What I shouldn't have taken?"
Suddenly he thought of the Galleon George had dropped.
Now that he considered it, the timing of that coin rolling out really had been suspiciously perfect.
"Could there have been a jinx on it?" Mundungus considered the possibility.
If there really was some kind of curse on that coin, the first thing he needed to do now was get rid of it.
He hastily pulled out the money pouch he had hidden close to his body, the one that had not been stolen, and fished it open. Earlier, he had casually stuffed that Galleon inside.
The Galleons and Sickles inside clinked and jingled together. The shining gold had completely mixed into one heap, and Mundungus himself could no longer tell which one was the coin he had just put in.
Should he throw them all away?
He hesitated for a moment, then still could not bring himself to do it.
That was all the money he had left. Throwing it away would hurt too much.
"I'll just spend it. As long as I spend it, it'll be fine." Clinging to that hope, Mundungus raised his wand and Apparated.
His body vanished at once, and when he reappeared, he was back inside his home in Knockturn Alley.
"All I need to do now is get rid of those Galleons quickly." Enduring the pain, Mundungus looked up, only to find that there was already a group of people standing inside his house.
He froze for a moment, then recognized several familiar faces among them.
They looked like werewolf wizards.